Speaker Johnson Takes Victory Lap After House Passes Recissions Package

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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) spoke with reporters on Thursday after the House passed a recissions package.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, everybody.

00:03Under President Trump's leadership, your taxpayer dollars are no longer being wasted.

00:08Instead, we are fulfilling the promises we made to the American people.

00:11We're going to be better stewards of that here.

00:14Now we're directing all of this towards priorities that truly benefit the American people.

00:18This is a long time overdue.

00:20We just had an important vote here on the floor.

00:22Today's passage of this initial rescissions package marks a critical step

00:26towards a more responsible and transparent government that puts the interests of the American taxpayers first.

00:32We want to thank Doge for their heroic and patriotic efforts.

00:36That work led to this.

00:38This package eliminates $9.4 billion in unnecessary and wasteful spending at the State Department, USAID,

00:45and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds politically biased media outlets like NPR and PBS.

00:51It's just one of the ways that Republicans are codifying Doge's findings and putting taxpayer dollars to better use.

00:57There will be more of this in the days ahead.

01:00We had hoped our Democrat colleagues would join us in this effort.

01:02It's an important one.

01:04All we're trying to do is ensure that every dollar spent by the federal government is used efficiently and effectively.

01:09But rather than expressing concern over the misuse and misspending of funds, our Democrat colleagues have another idea.

01:15They have instead chosen to oppose these reforms simply because Republicans are leading the charge.

01:21While they defend the failed toxic status quo, Republicans will continue to deliver real accountability and restore fiscal discipline.

01:29As has been said many times with this administration, President Trump's leadership,

01:33and here with Republicans in the House and the Senate, it's about promises made and promises kept, and we'll continue doing that.

01:38Mr. President, federal agents go too far the way they treated Senator Padilla today.

01:43Was that a bridge too far?

01:44I saw the same video, a very brief video, that I think many people did.

01:48I think the Senator's actions, my view is it was wildly inappropriate.

01:52You don't charge a sitting cabinet secretary, and everybody can draw their own conclusions.

01:58You can see it's a good debate here.

01:59Did you respond to some of these people?

01:59How can you hear Mr. Secretary?

02:01I'm not going to respond to that.

02:02Look, let me just, hold on, wait just a second.

02:05I think the American people can draw their own conclusions.

02:08They saw a senator acting like wildly inappropriate, I'll be right back.

02:13But what about the way he was treated by the agent?

02:16What I saw was agents asking him to brighten down so that the secretary could continue her press conference.

02:25He refused to do so.

02:26What were they supposed to do?

02:28They have to restrain someone who is engaging in that kind of behavior.

02:31They moved him out of the room.

02:32Threw him to the ground, handcuffed him?

02:34A sitting member of Congress should not act like that.

02:37It is beneath a member of Congress.

02:39It is beneath a U.S. senator.

02:40They're supposed to lead by example, and that is not a good example.

02:43We have to turn the temperature down in this country and not escalate it.

02:46The Democrat Party is on the wrong side.

02:48They are defending lawbreakers, and now they are acting like lawbreakers themselves.

02:53And I think that's oversight, charging a cabinet secretary in a press conference.

02:59I beg to differ.

02:59I think the people do as well.

03:00I think those actually speak for themselves.

03:02Do you have anything to say about lowering the temperature in the country right now?

03:05What would you say?

03:05You know, Scott, I have things to say about lowering the temperature all the time.

03:10I am very consistent in this.

03:11We have been trying to do this since I was handed the gavel in before.

03:14I founded the Honor and Civility Caucus in the Congress, for crying out loud, when I got here in 2017.

03:19I think that we should act according to our offices.

03:22We have a duty and a responsibility to set a tone, an example in our actions.

03:26And I encourage every member of this body to do it in the House and Senate.

03:30We have to turn the temperature down.

03:31We need to be on the side of the rule of law.

03:34We need to be on the side of law and order.

03:36We need to be on the side of calm and not chaos.

03:39And when members go into these settings and act this way, when they push law enforcement agents around,

03:45when they storm cabinet secretaries in a press conference,

03:48I think it's wildly inappropriate behavior, and I think it sets a terrible message in tone for the rest of the country.

03:53Will there be an investigation? Will there be a House investigation?

03:55This is a Senate-side issue, but I certainly hope that behavior is not repeated over the years.

04:00But you're the constitutional officer for this branch of the House.

04:02I am, yes.

04:02You just affect all members, whether they be in the House or Senate.

04:05You're the Speaker of the House.

04:06Yes.

04:06You're the constitutional officer of this branch.

04:09Yeah, and what of it?

04:10I mean, I'm not...

04:10The idea that you said this is a Senate issue.

04:12This isn't... I mean, these are members of Congress.

04:14I mean, yeah, but the Senate does its disciplinary actions over there, and we do ours over here.

04:21We have a certain set of measures, as you all know, and it ranges from censure to removal from committees to ultimately expulsion from the body.

04:29And do you support that for the Senator?

04:31It's not my decision to make.

04:33I'm not in that chamber.

04:33But I do think that it merits immediate attention by their colleagues over there, and that they...

04:39I think that that behavior, at a minimum, is...

04:42It rises to the level of a censure.

04:44I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we are going to do.

04:48That's not how we're going to act.

04:50We're not going to have branches fighting physically and having senators charging cabinet secretaries.

04:55We've got to do better, and I hope that we will.

04:58But I want to say this is a good day for the House chamber.

05:00The first rescinders package is now passed through the House.

05:04I expect it will pass through the Senate.

05:05I expect our one big, beautiful bill will continue to be processed as it is,

05:09and that we'll get it back and get it done on a tight schedule.

05:11I'm still trying to meet our July 4th deadline so we can have a celebration on Independence Day.

05:15And having good legislation passed will put everybody in a better mood.

05:18So I'm looking forward to it.

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