Speaker 1 (00:00):
President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office, and boy, has it been historic. Together we have secured the border, restored peace through strength, squashed inflation, supercharged our economy, and delivered on the one big, beautiful bill. America is safe, prosperous, and great again. But Democrats continue their dangerous rhetoric that is endangering law enforcement agents. I mean, an officer gets shot by an illegal alien in New York. Do you think that's a coincidence? Because I don't. It's their policies, it's their rhetoric. My question is, did their policies lead to this rhetoric, and all this rhetoric lead to this attack? I mean, ask yourself that. I'll let you be the judge of that. Do you think their policies and the rhetoric hurt law enforcement agents or help them? Just ponder on that for a minute.
(01:03)
This week, House Republicans will return home for our annual work period. And during this work period, we are going to work with our members to take our message coast to coast. And we're going to make sure that we have the Democrats own their message because we all know they like to weasel out of their message. And we're going to take our message from Long Island to the suburbs of Los Angeles. The American people will hear how the One Big Beautiful Bill will benefit them. We are going to correct the truth with the other half of the truth because all Democrats have right now is fear-mongering. They have no plan, no vision, and no leader.
(01:46)
I'm planning to be in my district this week to speak with Michiganders, but I'm also going to be traveling with some of our frontline members from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. We will visit actual manufacturing facilities where the workers, the American taxpayer, will benefit from the one big beautiful bill, and we'll be having conversations with that. I'm sure along the way. We're going to stop at a few restaurants, maybe get some takeout where their staff or delivery drivers will enjoy the benefits of no tax on tips. The bottom line is this, the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill will be felt positively everywhere. And working families, their bottom lines will be increased.
(02:34)
Imagine how Democrat district visits are going to go. That's if they stay in their own districts. But remind the Democrats, the Democrats voted against securing the border, remember that? Biden said, "We can't do that." No, we just needed a president who actually could do that. So remind the Democrats, remind the Democrats that it's the Republicans who are actually unleashing American energy. Putting money back into our economy, making us energy independent again, expanding the Child Tax Credit. And I'll hear all that fear-mongering about all the rural hospitals are going to shut down. We actually created a Rural Hospital Fund that can actually, the monies go to these hospitals. They don't have all this bureaucracy in between. Wow, that's a solution for a change. But you won't hear the Democrats talk about that.
(03:30)
Generational investments. We made generational investments in our national security, no tax on overtime, no tax on tips. Every single Democrat voted to kill millions of jobs, give federal benefits to those who never should receive those benefits before. Remember, the Democrats are making sure that Medicaid is not there for the people who need it most, by allowing the waste, the fraud, the abuse to actually continue, and to give it to illegals over Americans who need it more than anything. And take those thousand dollars of paychecks from hard-working Americans. Remember, they voted to increase every single working family's tax rate. I'm so sick and tired of hearing, "Oh, my gosh, it's a tax rate for the rich." No, it's not.
(04:22)
Think about this. This is a fact, and I'm curious if you've asked any of the Democrats this. They voted to raise a taxpayer's income who makes $48,000, which would be in the 12% tax bracket, they voted to raise the tax bracket from 12% to 25% if you make $48,000. I don't know any of you think $48,000, is that a tax break for the rich, a tax incentive for the rich? No, you're taking money from working-class families. Make the Democrats own, ask them why they voted for the biggest tax increase in history. Ask them why. I don't think these meetings are going to go very well.
(05:03)
Now, I hope the Democrats are home and the local press will hold them accountable, and to explain why they voted to kill American jobs, especially when they're already somebody who voted no, but notice every Democrat takes the dough. It's ridiculous, and we will continue to bring these fallacies to life. We will continue to correct the truth with the other half of the truth, and the fear-mongering from the Democrats has got to stop. Now to talk about this and the importance of the One Big Beautiful Bill for people in her district with me is Congresswoman, Jen Kiggans. Thank you.
Jen Kiggans (05:40):
Well, thank you so much for including me this morning in your press conference. I'm Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, and I proudly represent Virginia's second district, which is home to a large percent of veteran population. In the country we have about 6% of our population who has served in our great military. And in my district we have more than twice that, about 13%. So I'm here today to talk about the veteran perspective and the wins for the veteran community, and the One Big Beautiful Bill.
(06:08)
I am a veteran, I served as a Navy helicopter pilot for 10 years of my life. I'm married to an F-18 pilot who served for 20 years. And I'm also very proudly a navy mom to a future naval aviator. So the people in my district, we are regular everyday Americans, we just put service to country first. And not only if you are a veteran, but if you work with the veteran community and the defense community in my district. The wins in the One Big Beautiful Bill are important to us. We are hard-working, we are business owners, we are small business owners. We are parents, we are moms and dads. We are people who care about community safety.
(06:40)
So the wins in this One Big Beautiful Bill from the economy side, the extension of the tax breaks, the no tax on tips and overtime. The wins that we know are veterans will feel more in their bank accounts. We're used to living on fixed income like we did in the military, we know that each and every penny counts and how hard we have to work to earn our money. We want to keep more of our paychecks, we want our veterans and all Americans to feel like they have more in their pocketbooks. So those are the biggest wins for the veteran community.
(07:06)
The border security piece is important because we care about community safety, and we know that every state is a border state, even Virginia. So we care about the people that are around our neighborhoods, that are around our kids' schools, that are watching our families. That community safety piece is important, and knowing that we have a secure border, knowing that we're not letting people from the terrorist watch list, that as veterans we have concerns about. Who is in our country? Who is here to do us harm? But I think most importantly, the biggest wins for a lot of us in the veteran community was that $150 billion defense plus up.
(07:38)
So many of us joined and signed up to serve again in our great military for our great country because of the chaotic withdrawal in Afghanistan. We saw weakness on the world stage, we saw what it looks like when our country doesn't prioritize peace through strength. The world is a very dangerous place, and now as a military mom, really I care about that issue. And so many people in my district, so many of our children are serving, so many of my neighbors and friends. So for me, that peace through strength piece is the most important piece.
(08:06)
And we're seeing Republicans put our money where our mouth is and prioritize quality of life, quality of service initiatives for our military. We're seeing next generation strike fighter funding, we're seeing money for 16 more ships being built. There's $9 billion for quality of life, 29 billion for shipbuilding, 16 billion for shipyards in depot, which we know are in need of repair, $9 billion for air superiority. We need to prioritize this piece through strength part, and that's what this One Big Beautiful Bill does.
(08:35)
During the Biden administration, we had defense spending at an all-time low. We know that in times of our greatest piece, defense spending is about 5 to 6%. President Trump has not only agreed to do that for our country and for our military, but also he's encouraging our allies to do that, and we're seeing them get on board with that too. So I can't just emphasize enough the importance of prioritizing defense spending and what this Big Beautiful Bill does for that. As Republicans and as veterans who care about how much money we have, we also want to make sure that we are not wasting money. And the programs, the reforms that we've put in place for Medicaid is important. We know that we want to keep that program for people who need it the most. We have plenty of veterans who are disabled, who are Medicaid recipients. I want to make sure that program is there for them. So the reforms we put in place are so important. But it's certainly a privilege to be able to represent, again, a district that has one of the largest veteran populations. These are great wins for the American public, great wins for the veteran community. And I'm very proud to be a part of this effort. Thank you so much.
Tom Emmer (09:36):
[inaudible 00:09:34] Great job, Jen. Over the weekend in New York City, an off-duty Customs and Border Protection Officer was shot in the face during an attempted robbery by two illegal aliens. These two criminals were allowed into our country by the Biden administration, where they both have gone on to commit multiple crimes, assault,
Tom Emmer (10:00):
Kidnapping, larceny and now attempted murder make up their rap sheet. Senseless dangerous sanctuary policies put these criminals back on the streets after their numerous arrests, enabling them to wreak havoc on innocent Americans. The damage done by the Biden administration's deliberate open border policies cannot be understated. We are still feeling the consequences of it today, but President Trump, D.H, Secretary Noem, and Border Czar, Tom Homan, are turning the tide. In my state of Minnesota, ICE arrests of illegal aliens have doubled since President Trump took office. And while the local worthless media in my home state tries to spin that as a bad thing, the brave men and women of ICE are getting the worst of the worst illegal aliens off the streets of Minnesota and America, restoring safety and security to our communities. As these officers enforce the laws, they face an 830% increase in assaults. To the ICE agents risking their lives to keep us all safe, thank you. To the Border Patrol agents and custom officers securing our border, thank you.
(11:16)
The One Big Beautiful Bill supports their efforts by giving them the tools they need to continue this critical work, including more ICE officers, more border patrol agents, more border wall and more detention space. These resources strengthen and make permanent the great success that President Trump has already had securing the border and deporting criminal illegal aliens. The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers historic border security wins. It delivers historic border security wins, and we're all safer for it. With that, the Majority Leader.
Steve Scalise (11:56):
Thank you, Whip. Well, it's been a very busy first six months working with the Trump administration to deliver critical wins for hardworking families across America, to deliver wins on those issues that we all ran on, the things we said we would do if we got a Republican White House, Republican Senate, and Republican House. And of course, the One Big Beautiful Bill really is the epitome of so many of those victories. But that's not all we've done. The president has already signed or has on his desk, 31 different bills that have been passed by the House and Senate, on the desk of the President, almost all of which have been signed into law. After today, maybe all 31 will have been signed into law, to continue delivering and getting our country back on track, reversing the damage that was done by Joe Biden in four years. What the Democrats did working with Joe Biden, not just to increase inflation, increase interest rates, to increase regulations and rules that stifled the ability for small businesses to grow.
(13:02)
We've been working hard to reverse all of that. And while we are celebrating all of these wins, we are not tired of winning and the American people aren't either. That's why this week we still have more bills on the House floor, but we also have a lot of work being done in our committees. The Appropriations Committee, this week, is taking up three more appropriations bills in full committee. Tom Cole and his members have been doing an incredible job of getting their bills out of committee. The House has already passed over 60% of all government funding over to the Senate. And this week we're going to see something that hasn't happened in years. The United States Senate is finally taking up a House appropriations bill. That should be something that's always going on in Congress where you see the House and Senate doing their jobs together. But Chuck Schumer for years refused to participate in an normal appropriations process because he wanted shutdowns. He wanted chaos.
(13:59)
It's one of the reasons that Democrats lost the Senate is because the American people didn't want that dysfunction. And John Thune promised there would be a new day in the United States Senate. And Leader Thune is delivering on that. And one of those commitments he made is that we would have a normal working appropriations process. And they're actually doing that this week, moving the Mil Con VA Appropriations Bill and continuing to move more of the bills that we're sending over from the House.
(14:26)
And so as the American people see Washington working for them for a change, we're also going to be going during this district work period and explaining to the American people what's been in a lot of those bills. Because the Democrats have been lying over and over and over again about tax cuts for billionaires. They're talking about hospitals closing. Everybody in America's going to die according to every Democrat. And of course, when the American people look at what's in those bills, they're going, "Wait a minute. The waiter and waitress in America who averages $32,000 a year, is going to get about 1700 more dollars in their pockets." That's real money for working people. And every Democrat voted no. So while they're going back home and explaining and lying about the bills, we're going to start panning out across the country, telling the truth about what really is happening in the economy for working families.
(15:21)
And we're proud of that. We're not done delivering, but I think it's important that we take some time to talk about what we've already done and delivered as we continue to move more bills. Like I said, a lot of work being done this week in committees, Energy and Commerce has taken up the NIL Bill. You're seeing judiciary focus on that report. It's been covered pretty well, but I think there's a lot more to the story about the Russian collusion hoax that started under President Obama and some of those facts are finally starting to come out.
(15:52)
It's interesting to see Democrats want to talk about Jeffrey Epstein all of a sudden. For four years, Democrats hid and covered up the Epstein files. They did. They had it for four years. And Trump's in the courts right now trying to get a lot of that information unsealed so the American public can see it. But we're going to continue pushing for that transparency.
(16:15)
Our committees are going to keep working to deliver more results for American families. That's what we've been doing. That's what we're going to continue to do while Democrats just vote no, they hide, they lie. They try to talk about what they would do if they were in power, but of course, everybody knows what they did when they were in power. They moved a far-left socialist agenda. They're about to elect as their new party leader, a socialist Marxist mayor of New York City. And half the Democrats say, "I want to meet them and take selfies with them." And yet they're not sure if they're going to endorse them or not. But the bottom line is that's where their party has moved in Washington, in New York, but that's not where America is.
(16:56)
Republicans are delivering for Americans, for hardworking families all across the political spectrum. And that's why this economy is finally starting to move in the right direction. Our speaker, who's never slown down, who's never accepted failure as an option, the man who continues to work and is so patient, listen to our members and then ultimately delivering with President Trump on this great agenda, is our speaker, Mike Johnson.
Mike Johnson (17:21):
Thank this leadership team and all of you. Good morning. Thank you, Representative Kiggans' doing an extraordinary job for Virginia and our military families and all of the issues she worked so hard on. Thank you for all that hard work. I tell you what, it's been an exciting six months. Sunday, as you all probably know, marked the first six months of the Trump presidency, the second term. The 47th President has had an incredible run. We're on a winning streak. America's hot again. We're bringing back strength and prosperity and capitalizing and delivering on all the campaign promises that President Trump made on the campaign trail and that all Republicans did by extension. We're really proud of that. And I'll tell you what, history is going to record this to be one of the most consequential, extraordinary first six months of any administration ever, because we have unified government.
(18:10)
The voters in this country gave Republicans the chance to turn this mess around. And we are. So we have the White House and the Senate and the House, and we're using it effectively every single day. And here in the House, we've kept pace with President Trump's extraordinary momentum. He never sleeps. And so we don't get to either. We've been codifying his executive orders at a record pace. We're cementing America First policies into law. We're enacting the full scale of the Trump administration's agenda with the passage, of course, of the One Big Beautiful Bill, sort of a capstone of the first six months. And we've accomplished so much in just that time period. And I think the key is we've done that with unity. As you all have noticed, it's very deliberate. We work very closely, hand-in-hand, the Senate and House Republicans as one united team. That's kind of an innovation in Washington, but a very important one.
(18:57)
And we've demonstrated that, that unity is how we deliver. There's no majority in the history of this body that can wield power unless it stands together. And so I work really hard. We all do. This leadership team does every day, to keep everybody rowing in the same direction.
(19:11)
This morning at our weekly conference meeting, we discuss the upcoming schedule given the Democrats endless efforts to politicize the Epstein controversy and that whole investigation. I want to be clear about this. There is a reason behind what we are doing here. We have a responsibility, actually a dual responsibility here. I've been on record very clearly that I believe in maximum transparency. I think every single House Republican will say the same thing. In fact, they've told me that publicly and privately. They talk about this. We want maximum transparency. We also understand the other part of that duty is that we have to protect innocent victims. Okay? We have to do both things at the same time. What do we mean by that? Look, involved in the Epstein evil, which is what it was, let's call it what it was, there
Mike Johnson (20:00):
There are innocent victims of those unspeakable sex crimes, okay? Some of them were minors, some of them were not. When the Epstein records are turned over to the public, which we must do as quickly as possible, we have to also be very judicious and careful about protecting the innocent. I think everybody in the country should understand the necessity of that.
(20:23)
It is the standard. I used to be a litigator. It's the standard in the court of law in the courts. It's the standard in law enforcement. Anyone who served in law enforcement understands the necessity of that. It is the standard with government agencies, we protect the innocent. So, we cannot be careless in an open release like that. You have to be very careful.
(20:41)
The president himself has said that he wants maximum transparency, and all credible evidence to be turned over to the American public so that everyone can make their own decisions. We're owed that. And we want any individual who has been involved in any way in the Epstein evils to be brought to justice as quickly as possible, and the law should be brought down upon their head. We're unequivocal about that, okay?
(21:06)
We have to make sure that the credible evidence is revealed, and we're doing that. The president has made a request to the courts and the grand jury testimony and the files there, for example, and the court should turn that over, and that will be a continuing and ongoing quest.
(21:22)
Now, what we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats' political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram. The Rules Committee became the ground for them to do that. We're not going to allow them to engage in that charade anymore.
(21:39)
Why do I call it a charade? Because the Democrats are trying to play gotcha politics right now, when as the leader just pointed out, they don't have any moral high ground on this at all. They controlled the Department of Justice for the last four years. Has anyone forgotten?
(21:51)
They had all these files the entire time. They sat on everything Epstein-related for four long years while President Biden was in office. You could draw your own conclusions as to why, but we've been intellectually consistent the entire time.
(22:04)
And I want to say this about my colleagues, Ro Khanna and Jim McGovern and Hakeem Jeffries, and so many others. They've tweeted about Epstein countless times in the last two weeks, but go back and look at their social media accounts, we have, and their public comments. They had exactly zero posts on the subject for the last four years, the Biden administration. Interesting, isn't it?
(22:25)
We all understand that the America first agenda and the American people are best served by putting an end to the Democrats' sideshows, and that's what we're doing by not allowing the Rules Committee to continue with that nonsense this week.
(22:36)
As was noted, we've got tons of very important work going on here. The leader just gave you a small sampling of it, but we're done being lectured on transparency by the same party that orchestrated one of the most shameless, dangerous political cover-ups in the history of this country, or any government on the face of planet earth.
(22:52)
If the Democrats want to talk transparency, I'm happy to rewind the tape. 366 days ago, President Joe Biden was unceremoniously forced off the Democrat ticket. Everybody knows why. Even after millions of Americans had already cast their primary votes for him, the self-proclaimed party of Democracy threw out their nominee, the sitting President of the United States, for his disastrous debate performance.
(23:14)
On the debate stage, President Biden revealed to the American people what Democrats in Congress spent four long years trying to hide, that the President of the United States of America was in rapid mental decline and unable to continue serving as the leader of the free world?
(23:29)
I'm going to say that again. The man holding the most powerful office on the face of the earth, who he now know was being propped up by a staff and Democrats in Congress, was in rapid mental decline. It was as shocking as it was dangerous, and they all participated in it.
(23:45)
Nearly every single one of the Democrats who shamelessly attempted to pull the wool over our eyes still holds office today. You ought to be chasing them down the hallways, asking for their responses on that. We released a 14-minute-long video yesterday with just a small sample of the countless receipts of the Democrats at every level spending this fantastical lie to the American people. I encourage every reporter in this room to go watch that. You ought to use the clips and you ought to go ask them about it.
(24:10)
And remember that the same Democrats who lied to us for years are now trying to convince you they stand for transparency. They participated in one of the greatest political scandals in all of history, and the House Republicans are not going to allow this to be whitewashed from the historical record. We'll continue to investigate and shine light on those who perpetrated this, and provide answers directly to the American people. Now, President Biden's mental condition was poor, but his legacy of achievement in office was even worse. And I've said many times, after those four years of Biden and Harris, every single area of public policy was in a disastrous state.
(24:42)
In Congress and the White House, we've been hard at work from day one of this Congress and day one of the Trump administration trying to undo all that damage of the last four years. And we're laying the foundation for what will make our country safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before.
(24:57)
The American people gave President Trump a clear mandate to enact his America first agenda, and Republicans answered the call. To date, we've enacted 50 of the president's executive orders, from reining in bureaucratic waste, fraud and abuse, to passing commonsense legislation, to delivering our once-in-a-generation legislative victories through the One Big Beautiful Bill.
(25:15)
Let me give you a quick summary. Americans asked for secure borders and safer communities, and Republicans delivered the largest investment in border security and interior enforcement on record. And with the HALT Fentanyl Act and the Laken Riley Act, we're making sure American communities are safe from deadly drugs and illegal aliens that have taken far too many lives.
(25:34)
The American people asked us for bigger paychecks and more affordable gas and groceries, and we delivered on that, too. We delivered the largest working and middle-class tax cut in the history of the United States, and we've torn down Biden-era regulations, like the California EB mandate that was just madness and worked against working families in American energy dominance.
(25:54)
The American people demanded fiscal sanity, and Republicans delivered again. We passed more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts so the government can begin to live within its means again. All of this is real positive change for American families, the kind that they're going to directly feel in their bank accounts, they're going to see it in their neighborhoods, and they're going to count on it for years to come.
(26:16)
Any of these individual feats as standalone bills would've been considered historic achievements by any Republican Congress, and we got them all done all together in the One Big Beautiful Bill. And the more the American people hear about that bill, the more they like it.
(26:29)
There was a Harvard Harris Poll that recently surveyed the individual titles, the individual pieces of the Big Bill, and they found that 17 of the 21 major proposals polled had a majority of support. That's including things like reducing federal spending and imposing common sense work requirements on public assistance.
(26:47)
But while the American people continue to learn about the bill, they'll also begin to feel its positive effects because we did this on a very aggressive timetable. As you all know, we put it on an ambitious timeline to be delivered. Many in this room said it wouldn't succeed. You wrote about it. I read all that. That's fine.
(27:04)
We said we needed six weeks to craft our House budget resolution, and we passed it in February. We said we'd pass our House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill by Memorial Day, and we beat that deadline by four days. We said we'd pass it through both chambers and get it to the president's desk for signature by July 4th. And what happened? We had a big beautiful signing ceremony at the White House on Independence Day. It was a historic day, and it's a testament to what this House Republican Conference can't accomplish when we remain united and working towards a common goal.
(27:33)
Last thought here, a closing note. This is the last Leadership Press Conference before we enter the August district work period. Around here, people call it the August Recess. It is not that. So I know that lots of people in the press corps are going to be able to enjoy some downtime with friends and families, and we commend you for that, but House Republicans aren't going to get to participate in all that stuff because this month of August is not a vacation.
(27:56)
This is arguably the most important work month on our calendar. Why? Because our members go home, they connect with their constituents in person, they host round tables with local businesses and organizations, they meet with community stakeholders and local officials, really, really important components of the job.
(28:12)
And frankly, they need to cut through the false and misleading claims about the One Big Beautiful Bill from the media and the Democrats. As I mentioned. The more people know, the more they greatly favor the bill that we passed, and House Republicans are going to spend the month highlighting how it will positively impact our districts and our communities. With that, I'll take a few questions.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Mr. Speaker?
Mike Johnson (28:31):
Chad.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Good morning. You say yesterday that you were in lockstep with the administration on the Epstein files, but it doesn't seem that you're in lockstep with all of your House Republicans. Now, Thomas Massie, he's just saying in the past hour, "This is going to come back and bite Republicans." What do you say to schisms inside your conference here?
Mike Johnson (28:50):
I say Thomas Massie is the one trying to bite Republicans, okay? I'm not quite certain what his strategy is.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
But it's just just not him. Otherwise, you guys wouldn't be calling off a. Week tomorrow. You'd be able to put your rules on the floor. I understand the issue with the Democrats.
Mike Johnson (29:01):
Yeah, no, I just explained why we're not going to play political games with this. We've all been very clear and transparent. The House Rules Resolution sets a good standard, and requires all credible evidence to be released, and that's exactly where the White House is. As I've said many times over the last-
Speaker 2 (29:20):
[inaudible 00:29:21] floor.
Mike Johnson (29:21):
As I've said many times, there's no daylight between the White House and the House. You have to allow the legislation to ripen, and you also have to allow the administration the space to do what it is doing. The president has said clearly, and he has now ordered his DOJ to do what it is we've all needed DOJ to do for years now, and that is to get everything released. So they're in the process of that.
(29:40)
There's no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that they're already doing. And so, this is for political games. I'm very resolute on this. We can both call for full transparency and also protect victims, and if you run roughshod or you do
Mike Johnson (30:00):
… do it too quickly, that's not what happens. But I'm convinced that the DOJ is going to do their job. The administration is going to do their job and we'll do our job. And so we'll see to it. Yes ma'am. [inaudible 00:30:10].
Journalists (30:11):
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to follow up on that, I know before when you were asked whether or not you would back Mr. Massie for re-election, you didn't give a direct answer. He had some harsh things to say about your leadership yesterday, related to the Epstein files. Have you made up your mind whether or not you would support him or back him against a [inaudible 00:30:27]?
Mike Johnson (30:32):
So as the leader of my party, I lead the incumbent protection program. Okay. That's my job. I go all around the country. I travel endlessly and incessantly. I have to raise over $300 million to do that. And we want everybody to come back. And some people, I try to protect them from themselves. They kick and scream and bite their own colleagues. Some people seem to enjoy trying to inflict political pain on their own teammates.
(30:59)
I'm not going to address anybody individually, but I'll tell you that some here are much more frustrating than others. There's a small, small, tiny handful, but one in particular who's given me lots of consternation. I don't understand. I don't understand Thomas Massie's motivation. I really don't. I don't know how his mind works. I don't know what he's thinking. Thomas Massie could have brought his discharge petition anytime over the last four and a half years. Over the last four years of the Biden administration, he could have done that at any time. And now he's clamoring as if there's some sort of timeline on it.
(31:26)
It's interesting to me that he chose the election of President Trump to bring this, to team up with the Democrats and bring this discharge petition. So do I have some concern about that? I do. But you know, me in my way, I try to follow Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment: Never speak evil of another Republican. My gosh, it's hard to do sometimes around here. I also try to follow the scripture. It says, "Bless those who persecute you." So let me just say about Thomas Massie, could you just accept my Southern bless his heart? Okay. I don't know what else to say about it. We're for maximum transparency. We're engaging in that right now. And we don't need political games.
Journalists (32:01):
But Mr. Speaker, [inaudible 00:32:02].
Mike Johnson (32:01):
Yes, ma'am. Over here. Yes.
Journalists (32:03):
[inaudible 00:32:04].
Mike Johnson (32:04):
Wait, I was pointing to her. Go ahead.
Journalists (32:07):
So health insurance companies are requesting 15% premium increases for next year, and they're deciding the expiration of the Obamacare subsidies. Are Republicans thinking about this? Is there any possibility that they would look at extending those subsidies or any other things to be [inaudible 00:32:26]?
Mike Johnson (32:26):
I think that goes to the end of the calendar year, so we'll have discussion about the issue later. But it hasn't come up yet. I mean, but it's on the radar. Back row, yes.
Journalists (32:36):
[inaudible 00:32:34]. Two questions. First is, did the president or anyone in the administration ask you to delay the resolution until after recess?
Mike Johnson (32:43):
No. No. But as you all know, I speak to the president multiple times a day on a typical day, often, always. And what I know about the president's heart on this is that he agrees with everything I've said here today. He wants maximum transparency, but he's also very insistent that we do not subject people, who have already been victims of unspeakable crimes, to further public scrutiny. And it would be a very dangerous thing to put those people's names out or to do a release of information in a way that is haphazard, where they could be easily unmasked.
(33:22)
And so you have to be very careful about how you do that. I think we have a moral responsibility to do that. We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein, and everybody who was involved in that. Absolutely. And we're resolved to do it, but we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent. And that is a fine needle to thread.
(33:40)
And we could all give ourselves easy political cover and come out and do something in a haphazard fashion. But I would not be able to sleep at night because I know our legal responsibility. I understand what the legal standard is, but more than that, the moral standard. Okay? So we're going to do this and we're going to do it expeditiously, but do it the right way. What is popular isn't always right. And what is right isn't always popular. And an eighth-grade teacher told me that one time, I carried it with me my whole life. We're going to do the right thing here. And the American people at the end will see that we did that in the right way and on the right timetable. Yes, sir.
Journalists (34:13):
Mr. Speaker, right now [inaudible 00:34:14].
Mike Johnson (34:14):
Wait. Wait, hold on. Wait a second. What'd you say?
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Last question.
Mike Johnson (34:17):
Wait, did she say it?
Speaker 3 (34:18):
She did earlier. You just [inaudible 00:34:18].
Mike Johnson (34:18):
Wait, come up here. I didn't hear. Come up.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
You got to say it loud.
Mike Johnson (34:23):
Stand right here and tell them. Tell them. Last question.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Last question.
Mike Johnson (34:28):
Yes. Yes. Thank you. Wait, over here under the clock. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Journalists (34:32):
So just wondering-
Mike Johnson (34:33):
No behind you, right here. Sorry. Go ahead.
Journalists (34:35):
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Russia is still bombing Ukraine and a lot of Ukrainian civilian people are still dying. Do you consider sanctions on Russia before the 50-day period?
Mike Johnson (34:50):
We were talking about sanctioning Russia, but I think the House and the Senate agree that the White House, having given that deadline of 50 days, we need to allow the commander-in-chief and the administration and the Secretary of Defense and the Pentagon to do what they're going to do. And we'll see how that plays out.
(35:07)
But I can tell you the appetite here is that we've got to bring accountability to Vladimir Putin and make this war cease. We need peace over there. It's gone on too long. Too many innocent people are dying. And we don't want further American involvement in this at all. But I do think what NATO is doing, and our allies around the world, may be effective. I think we've all had enough of it, and we hope it comes to an end soon. But we trust the commander-in-chief. He's restoring peace through strength. This is a big part of that. Thank you all so much.