I do want
to ask you, you sit
on the Financial Services Committee,
so I want to ask you about
another crisis in this country.
And that is the fact
that there is no agreement yet
on what to do
and how to raise the debt ceiling.
You endorse Donald Trump for president?
I want to play for people what he said
at CNN's town
hall this week
about the debt ceiling and defaulting
followed by JPMorgan's
CEO, Jamie Dimon reacting.
Listen.
You might as well do it now
because you'll do it later
because we have to save this country.
Our country is dying.
The US defaulting
would be massively costly,
you know, for everyone
concerned, for all of us.
It's psychological.
It's really psychological
more than anything else.
And it could be very bad.
It could be maybe nothing.
One more thing.
He don't know very much about
it is very pretty.
To categorize what is the actual default
that is potentially catastrophic.
You would agree that a default is
catastrophic for our economy, right?
I would completely agree.
And the
the value system here in Washington, D.C.
has always recognized that
and President Trump did.
President Biden is the first one.
He said, respectfully, Congressman.
He said, I disagree with Donald Trump.
You want me to say that
I disagree with Donald Trump.
He knows better.
But when he was president, he negotiated
to make sure
that it was signed and done
and gave the Democrats
overwhelmingly $300 billion
a year more to spend.
And so he did negotiate
He was successful in that.
We need that
same kind of statesmanship now.
We really appreciate you
being on your a key voice in
both of these issues.
Congressman, come back, ma'am.
Thank you. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.
We're joined by Democratic
Congressman Adam Schiff of California.
He's a member of the House
Judiciary Committee.
He's also a candidate
for the United States
Senate from California. Right now.
Congressman, thanks so much
for joining us.
With just a few weeks
until a potential, God forbid,
default of the nation's debt.
How concerned are you to hear tomorrow's
plan meeting
between President Biden
and the congressional leadership
has now been pushed back?
Well, I'm mostly
concerned with the Republicans
that continued insistence
that they will default on the debt
if they don't get the draconian budget
that they want.
They were more than content
to have the debt ceiling
raised while Trump was president
They weren't threatening to derail
the economy at that time.
But now they want to use this
as a big bludgeon.
And their continued insistence on that
really threatens
You know,
from the perspective of Californians.
The Social Security checks
for about 6 million Californians,
their budget alone
would threaten
millions of visits
to the VA in California by veterans.
So they're basically saying,
pick your poison.
We can cut veterans benefits.
We could cut off
food for people who are hungry
or we're going to take the economy
over the cliff
and costs that Californians
and people around the country
about 20,000 of their retirement savings.
Should Speaker
McCarthy keep the House in session
until this crisis is averted?
And should President Biden skip the G7
summit in Japan?
Well, I think what McCarthy
ought to do
is schedule a vote on a clean debt
ceiling bill.
Democrats will support it.
He can vote against it if he wants.
I think
there are enough reasonable, rational,
you know, at least a dozen Republicans
who will support that
rather than go over the cliff.
So we don't really need to keep
the Congress in session.
We just need to be able to vote.
You should schedule a vote
on a clean debt ceiling,
and that would resolve that.
And separately, we'll debate the budget
If he wants to shut down
the government later over the budget.
You know, he's done that before.
Republicans have done that before.
I think it's a disaster for the country.
But we shouldn't even flirt with default
on our debt.
Absolutely.
That would be a disaster for the country.
Indeed.
Turning to the end of
what's called title 42, Congressman,
the Biden administration
is known for two years
that this policy would eventually end.
So why are they just now scrambling
to implement new measures
to deal with this surge?
Well, there was
some uncertainty in the courts
about when it would come to an end.
Now, I favored it coming to an end.
But but I think that, you know what?
They're trying to do in surging are,
you know, surging
folks from the guard
to the border
to help with ministerial tasks,
not with law enforcement, will provide
additional resources.
We're also going to have
a surge of resources
to some of these communities
along the border that for a long time
have been,
you know, making their shelter and food
and other
humanitarian supplies available
to migrants.
These communities also need help.
And we ought to be treating
these migrants, you know, with with,
I think, warm hearts
because of what they've gone
through to get there.
I don't think we should be treating them
like criminals.
So it's a big task.
It was it's
been big
for the last couple administrations.
But what we need
most of all is a comprehensive approach
to our immigration policy
that reflects the values of the country
and that we've been pushing as Democrats
for a long time.
But we haven't found a willing partner
in the GOP House
Republicans did just pass a border
security bill
that would restart construction
to the border wall
and reinstate Trump's remain in Mexico.
Policy.
Does that speak to just how far apart
each party is right now in addressing
the clearly broken immigration system?
It really does.
It would
come a long way
since George W Bush was president
when he
supported a comprehensive immigration
solution
to now where you know, in the GOP,
they view essentially
a crisis at the border
as a political gift
that never stops giving to them.
So they haven't shown any interest
in really solving this.
Their border plan
would just go back to the Trump
era of trying to build a wall,
trying to separate
kids from their families,
trying to turn people
who are fleeing to this country
because it's unsafe for them at home
and to criminals.
This is certainly not the answer,
but it's the only answer
they've been giving now for years.
I do wish
there were some good faith
like there was back in the days of George
W Bush to the realization
that the system is broken.
It's going to take both
parties to fix it.
And and I do think Democrats,
when we control both houses
and the presidency,
need to invest the political capital
to get this done as well.
But but right now,
as long
as the government is divided,
it'll take both parties to fix this.
Congressman Adam Schiff,
thanks so much for joining us.
Thank you.