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Washington Mourns Foreign Policy Hawk Senator Lindsey Graham · Balance of Power

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Speaker 2: There's a lot going on, specifically when it comes to
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Speaker 2: foreign policy considerations today, after we saw once again the
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Speaker 2: volume of fire between the US and Iran near the
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Speaker 2: Straight of Hor Moves over the weekend, conflicting narratives from
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Speaker 2: the US and Iran as to whether or not the
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Speaker 2: Straight of horor Moves is indeed open for transit but
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Speaker 2: for Iranian vessels, President Trump says it is not in
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Speaker 2: fact open, as he posted on True Social today that
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Speaker 2: the US will be reinstating the blockade just for Iranian
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Speaker 2: ships and cargo for everyone else, though he suggests the
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Speaker 2: US will be charging a twenty percent reimbursement fee for
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Speaker 2: effectively keeping the Straight open. As he explained in an
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Speaker 2: interview on Fox and Friends earlier.
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Speaker 3: We'll probably run it, will become the Guardian of the Strait.
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Speaker 3: Maybe we'll call it the Guardian Angel of the Strait,
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Speaker 3: and we should be reimburrassed for that. When we do that,
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Speaker 3: we're going to be re embarrassed because the other nations
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Speaker 3: are very wealthy that are on our side, and we
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Speaker 3: can't be expected to do that. But nothing unlike we
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Speaker 3: had for many years. You know, we guarded the straight
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Speaker 3: for fifty years more and we never get paid for it.
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Speaker 4: The President writing in that post on truth Social the
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Speaker 4: process and formation will begin immediately, and that's where we
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Speaker 4: start our conversation with Bloomberg. Washington correspondent Tyler Kendall is
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Speaker 4: on the north lawn of the White House right now, Tyler,
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Speaker 4: Are we already charging for this reimbursement? That's what the
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Speaker 4: President seems to be suggesting, Yeah, Joe.
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Speaker 5: I mean President Trump saying that this is going to
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Speaker 5: happen immediately, though we haven't gotten confirmation from the White
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Speaker 5: House on the specific details of this proposal and how
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Speaker 5: it's going to work in practice, because at first glance,
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Speaker 5: experts are saying that it will very likely counteract international law,
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Speaker 5: which for the most part does state that vessels are
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Speaker 5: allowed to have freedom of navigation through international waterways. Though
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Speaker 5: as you and I spoke about last hour on this program,
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Speaker 5: there is a provision in one treaty that could allow
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Speaker 5: certain states to charge for fees related to services that
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Speaker 5: are rendered if that helps to ensure safe passage. But
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Speaker 5: under this law, it stipulates that that would have to
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Speaker 5: be any of the countries that actually have territory that
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Speaker 5: borders the straight up for moves, which wouldn't qualify for
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Speaker 5: the US. So a lot of big questions here, but
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Speaker 5: it has become absolutely evident that the White House's patients
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Speaker 5: has worn thin when it comes to getting around to
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Speaker 5: the negotiating deal, raising prospects and questions about what the
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Speaker 5: prospects for negotiations look like going forward, because now the
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Speaker 5: US is ramping up that economic pressure that we saw
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Speaker 5: the administration dial back last week revoking that waiver when
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Speaker 5: it comes to allowing Iran to sell its crew to
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Speaker 5: market and Joe and Keiley, that's notable because it's also
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Speaker 5: highlighting how Iran wants to maintain its leverage, is prioritizing
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Speaker 5: control over the strait overmoves, over getting what those potential
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Speaker 5: financial benefits could look like. So a really closely watched
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Speaker 5: dynamic here. We're going to have to see how it
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Speaker 5: ultimately pans out. Because as you both know the rhetoric
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Speaker 5: was escalating today as the two sides traded these threats,
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Speaker 5: but over the weekend we saw them actually trade strikes
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Speaker 5: and the kinetic action just heat up.
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Speaker 2: Indeed, we did Bloomberg's Tyler Kental live on the north
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Speaker 2: lawn of the White House. Thank you so much. And
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Speaker 2: as we consider the US and President Trump's decision making
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Speaker 2: when it comes to Iran, we know that one man
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Speaker 2: had a great deal of influence on this subject, and
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Speaker 2: one was one of the most vocal advocates for pursuing
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Speaker 2: a non nuclear Iran in the United States Senate. One
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Speaker 2: of the most hawkish Republicans, Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina,
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Speaker 2: away at the age of seventy one over the weekend
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Speaker 2: from what his office described as a sudden and brief illness.
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Speaker 2: We now know that there will be someone appointed to
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Speaker 2: replace him, set to be announced by the South Carolina
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Speaker 2: Governor McMaster later this afternoon. President Trump, on true social
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Speaker 2: suggest that he would like that person. He recommended to
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Speaker 2: the governor that it be Lindsay Graham's sister, which, according
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Speaker 2: to Politico, is what the governor has selected, though we
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Speaker 2: have not seen confirmation of that yet. So for more
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Speaker 2: return to Bloomberg's Eric Wasson, who covers Congress for US
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Speaker 2: and is joining us live from Capitol Hills. So Eric,
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Speaker 2: Obviously we don't know who will fill Lindsay Graham's shoes
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Speaker 2: on at least a temporary basis in the Senate, but
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Speaker 2: they are very big shoes to fill whoever it is.
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Speaker 6: That's right, It does look like it will be Darlene
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Speaker 6: Graham on Dardane probably as a placeholder reached out to
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Speaker 6: try to find out she plans to run on it.
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Speaker 6: Certainly if she is the interim Senator, she would have
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Speaker 6: a leg up on others. But there's a large cast
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Speaker 6: of ca characters, from Nancy Mace to Ralph Norman to
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Speaker 6: a Republican represented to ran for governor and failed to
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Speaker 6: Lieutenant Governor Pam Everett who could try to run in
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Speaker 6: this special primary by August eleventh. But it will be
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Speaker 6: very tough shoes to fill, at least on the foreign
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Speaker 6: policy side. For the Hawk contingent, this was someone who
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Speaker 6: had regular contact with Trump, speaking to the present even
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Speaker 6: hours or perhaps minutes before he died, to advocate for
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Speaker 6: his world vision, which is one in which the United
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Speaker 6: States stands strongly with Ukraine, stands strongly with Israel, and
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Speaker 6: takes a very militaristic approach towards Iran. You know, Mike
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Speaker 6: Colin and my colleagues said to me over the weekend,
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Speaker 6: I think it's very true the Irn war wouldn't have
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Speaker 6: happened without Lindsay Graham. I think that's true. He's very
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Speaker 6: much promoting that idea of regime change there. So you know,
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Speaker 6: this is someone whose death is going to be really
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Speaker 6: impactful in terms of a foreign policy and as well.
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Speaker 6: One of the things Congress is trying to do this
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Speaker 6: month has potentially moved a three hundred and fifty billion
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Speaker 6: dollars military budget. He was the budget chairman, would have
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Speaker 6: helped facilitate that. I think that my mind is in
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Speaker 6: a bit of an uphill battle, a bit of a
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Speaker 6: wish list, But we'll see if they can try to
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Speaker 6: cobble together some kind of budget reconcilation bill in his absence.
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Speaker 4: I'm glad you mentioned that, Eric, because the word is
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Speaker 4: that Ron Johnson, the Republican from Wisconsin, will be taking
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Speaker 4: the gavel. I'd be curious to hear if you can
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Speaker 4: confirm that as chair of the aforementioned Budget Committee and
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Speaker 4: what that might mean for a real a hawk like
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Speaker 4: Ron Johnson, a spending hawk, to take control of that committee.
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Speaker 4: There's also the matter of Mitch McConnell, who actually posted
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Speaker 4: a photograph over the weekend with his wife Elaine Chow
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Speaker 4: and explained that he was unconscious after falling that in fact,
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Speaker 4: that was why he was out of Washington, had been
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Speaker 4: moved to a rehab facility. Do we know when he
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Speaker 4: might be back.
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Speaker 6: We don't know what he'll be back exactly. But you know,
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Speaker 6: he suffered polio as a child. He's been diagnosed with
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Speaker 6: post polio syndrome, so he has weakness related to the
6:54
Speaker 6: long term effects of that unfortunate infection, you know, so
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Speaker 6: he is battling that. But yeah, absences certainly felt by
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Speaker 6: John Thun and other leaders who rely on his wise
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Speaker 6: counsel to run the conference. And certainly Ron Johnson is
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Speaker 6: in line to become the budget chairman. You know, that's
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Speaker 6: not the appropriations It sometimes a bit confusing to our listeners,
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Speaker 6: but you know, the Appropriations chairman controls the nitty gritty,
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Speaker 6: the spending decisions on projects. But the budget Chairman will
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Speaker 6: be part of this larger push to go around of
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Speaker 6: those guardrails and do this big military budget. And I
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Speaker 6: think Ron Johnson will insist on offsets, but calling for
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Speaker 6: spending cuts to entitlements to pay for the military, that's
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Speaker 6: not going to fly with a lot of modern Republicans
7:38
Speaker 6: up for re election swing districts. So I think it
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Speaker 6: would tend to stall progress on this.
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Speaker 4: But we'll see great reporting, Eric, and thanks for being
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Speaker 4: there this weekend when we all woke up to this
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Speaker 4: news on Saturday. It was Eric Watson who helped us
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Speaker 4: on Bloomberg this weekend understand the significance of this moment.
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Speaker 4: And Rebecca Heinriz has been awfully busy on social media.
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Speaker 4: I've been watching her news feed that news broke, and
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Speaker 4: we have a lot to talk about with Rebecca, Senior
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Speaker 4: fellow at the Hudston Institute. Welcome back to Bloomberg's TV
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Speaker 4: and radio. It's great to see you. I'm wondering your
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Speaker 4: thoughts on the practicality here. Not to sound cold, Rebecca,
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Speaker 4: but everything that Eric just said is important when it
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Speaker 4: comes to getting an NDAA a supplemental a trillion and
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Speaker 4: a half dollar Pentagon budget across the line. Not to
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Speaker 4: mention the work that Senator Graham did in supporting Ukraine
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Speaker 4: in its war with Russia. Who will fill those shoes.
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Speaker 7: Well, those are big shoes to fill. I know Senator
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Speaker 7: Graham was an inspiration to me. Even though I didn't
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Speaker 7: always disagree on the specifics of the Senator's recommendations, I
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Speaker 7: was always inspired by several things. One, his consistent defense
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Speaker 7: of the United States having a robust military, robust defense
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Speaker 7: and the importance of the United States having good alliances
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Speaker 7: that were very, very strong, and for the United States
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Speaker 7: to have a realistic foreign policy. That was also support
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Speaker 7: that the United States would always be on the side
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Speaker 7: of those who wanted freedom and against mitalitarians. So those
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Speaker 7: are huge shoes to fill. But there are other senators
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Speaker 7: who have been working alongside Senator Graham, Senator Tom Cotton,
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Speaker 7: Rounds Wicker Rish, and so there are other senators. So
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Speaker 7: I would expect that they're going to continue to push
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Speaker 7: President Trump's agenda, especially when it comes to getting the
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Speaker 7: right defense budget necessary for the threats today, which is
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Speaker 7: that one point five trillion dollar top line.
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Speaker 2: Well, and obviously the pursuit of that increased defense budget
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Speaker 2: is something that the Senate is going to be considering.
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Speaker 2: I wonder too, Rebecca, if you believe that the Senate
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Speaker 2: will in fact take up more stringent sanctions on Russia,
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Speaker 2: as Lindsey Graham, of course, was just in Ukraine shortly
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Speaker 2: before his death talking about how there had been an
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Speaker 2: agreement reached with the White House on that package. How
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Speaker 2: quickly do you believe it could advance.
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Speaker 8: Well, I hope it'll be immediate.
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Speaker 7: I would love to see this because all of the
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Speaker 7: ingredients are there for increased sanctions against Russians. The Russian
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Speaker 7: economy is flagging significantly. You even have Russian officials and
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Speaker 7: oligarchs speaking publicly against some of the against the war
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Speaker 7: and talking about the economy flagging. And then you have
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Speaker 7: the Ukrainians advancing on the battlefield, and then Ukrainians contributing
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Speaker 7: to European security, and even Zelenski was the only European
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Speaker 7: leader who publicly went to the Gulf States and provided
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Speaker 7: air defense during Epic Fury, siding with the United States
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Speaker 7: and Israel.
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Speaker 8: Essentially, so Ukraine is in.
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Speaker 7: A great position, Russia is failing, and so I think
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Speaker 7: it's a great moment for the United States to impose
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Speaker 7: these sanctions that Senator Graham so valiantly pressed for for
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Speaker 7: so long, and so it is my hope. And I
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Speaker 7: think that there's lots of momentum from the Congress. And
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Speaker 7: you even saw some positive signals from President Trump at
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Speaker 7: the NATO SAMMA in Ankara.
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Speaker 8: He was very warm towards President Zelensky.
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Speaker 7: And it does seem to me like there's momentum there
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Speaker 7: to get these sanctions passed. And I would name him
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Speaker 7: after the late Senator Graham.
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Speaker 4: As someone who studied nationalscurity and strategic studies at the
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Speaker 4: Naval War College. Rebecca, I'm curious your thoughts on what's
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Speaker 4: happening right now in the Strait. Some would say it's
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Speaker 4: closed because traffic has come down to a trickle here.
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Speaker 4: Most of the boats that are getting through have their
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Speaker 4: transponders off. But the President posting it's open. There is
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Speaker 4: an Iranian blockade and a twenty percent reimbursement fee for
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Speaker 4: everyone else who gets through. As the guardians of the Strait,
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Speaker 4: as he puts, it, will be investing in military protection
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Speaker 4: that will need to be reimbursed. Is this sustainable? What
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Speaker 4: will require of our navy?
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Speaker 7: So I think on this last part about collecting attacks,
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Speaker 7: I think what the President is indicating is he's just
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Speaker 7: frustrated that it's the United States obviously taking the lead
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Speaker 7: role for ensuring safe passage of the strait.
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Speaker 8: But I think that putting attacks.
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Speaker 7: On these on the ships going through is actually going
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Speaker 7: to undermine the purpose of.
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Speaker 8: Trying to get shipped through the strait, which is to.
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Speaker 7: Lower gas prices energy prices for this global commodity. I
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Speaker 7: think a better way would be what Secretary Besson suggested
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Speaker 7: weeks ago, which is that perhaps if you want to
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Speaker 7: compensate those Gulf states who have had infrastructure degraded or
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Speaker 7: destroyed because of Iranian missiles and drones, or American bases
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Speaker 7: destroyed because of Iranian missiles and drones, that you can
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Speaker 7: take some of the frozen Iranian assets and.
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Speaker 8: Use it for those purposes. That makes more sense to me.
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Speaker 7: Or if the President is just frustrated that other countries
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Speaker 7: are not participating and sharing the burden, he can bring
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Speaker 7: in the French and the Brits who have been wanting
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Speaker 7: to participate in clearing the mines out of the Strait
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Speaker 7: of Hormouse.
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Speaker 8: And we saw that out of the NATO summit.
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Speaker 7: That there's still a coalition developing, so perhaps push on
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Speaker 7: that diplomatically. But I do think we don't know exactly
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Speaker 7: how many ships are getting through the strait because those
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Speaker 7: transponders are awful. I think that information will come to
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Speaker 7: light in coming days. But it is because of US
12:47
Speaker 7: Navy basically creating a safe corridor a long oman and
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Speaker 7: getting ships through. I saw the US Central Command said
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Speaker 7: there's something like eight hundred ships that it has shepherded
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Speaker 7: through that corridor over the last two months. The problem
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Speaker 7: is the Iranians want to manage the strait entirely, which
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Speaker 7: of course.
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Speaker 8: Is a no go for the United States.
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Speaker 2: Well, so they're a no goo on that, obviously a
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Speaker 2: major point of contention. There's also contention over the fate
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Speaker 2: of Iran's nuclear program. Hence what feels like a real
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Speaker 2: lack of any progress on the diplomatic front. If we
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Speaker 2: are to believe that the diplomatic process is continuing, Rebecca, ultimately,
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Speaker 2: is the military option the real way forward here if
13:31
Speaker 2: there aren't prospects of a negotiated breakthrough.
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Speaker 7: Yeah, so I'm very skeptical that the Iranians are anywhere
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Speaker 7: near a place where they're going to negotiate in good faith.
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Speaker 7: And because the Iranians are focused almost entirely at this
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Speaker 7: point on the Strait of Hormuz. The head of the IRGC, Fahiti,
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Speaker 7: is determined to continue to use aggression in.
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Speaker 8: The Strait of Hormus.
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Speaker 7: So even if there was anybody in the diplomatic channels
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Speaker 7: working with you, United States, those are not the people
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Speaker 7: who are in the seat of command.
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Speaker 8: It's the IRGC.
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Speaker 7: And that means that until we get the straight fully
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Speaker 7: rested out of control of the IRGC, all these other
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Speaker 7: issues are not going to be things that we make
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Speaker 7: progress on.
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Speaker 8: So I suspect it's going.
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Speaker 7: To take increased military activity on the part of the
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Speaker 7: United States to further intomb or degrade Iran's nuclear capabilities
14:22
Speaker 7: if we make progress there.
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Speaker 2: All right, Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us.
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Speaker 2: Rebecca Heinrix at Hudston Institute or she is a senior
14:29
Speaker 2: fellow with us here on Balance of Power.
14:33
Speaker 4: Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much
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Speaker 4: more coming up after this.
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Speaker 2: Oil is on the arch higher today, back above eighty
15:01
Speaker 2: dollars a barrel on Brent, nearly at seventy six dollars
15:04
Speaker 2: a barrel on WTI, as the oil market contends with
15:07
Speaker 2: the headlines we are getting pertaining to and from the
15:10
Speaker 2: Middle East. Of course, President Trump announced today that the
15:13
Speaker 2: US will be reinstating a lockade against Iranian vessels in
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Speaker 2: the Strait of Hormuz and charging a twenty percent reimbursement
15:20
Speaker 2: fee to any other vessel that would like to transit
15:22
Speaker 2: that crucial waterway. And I would call attention to some
15:25
Speaker 2: headlines that just crossed the Bloomberg terminal as well, coming
15:27
Speaker 2: from Saudi Arabian TV, that Saudi defenses are dealing with
15:31
Speaker 2: a hoothy missile attack that targeted the southern region the Houthis,
15:37
Speaker 2: of course, and Iranian proxy who have shown an ability
15:41
Speaker 2: to disrupt transit through the Red Sea in particular, and
15:44
Speaker 2: of course this could, as we wait further confirmation, represent
15:48
Speaker 2: an escalation, as we are seeing once again a reheating
15:50
Speaker 2: of the tension between the US and Iran and groups
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Speaker 2: affiliated with the Iranian regime. It's all, of course, something
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Speaker 2: that we have been watching closely in Washington that President
16:01
Speaker 2: Trump talks about on almost a daily basis, and talked
16:03
Speaker 2: frequently about with one man in particular in the United
16:06
Speaker 2: States Senate who was a vocal advocate for the US
16:09
Speaker 2: pursuing the operations against Iran originally, and that would be
16:14
Speaker 2: Senator Lindsay Graham, the Republican from South Carolina who died
16:18
Speaker 2: of what his office described as a brief and sudden
16:20
Speaker 2: illness over the weekend at the age of seventy one,
16:24
Speaker 2: leaving behind quite a legacy obviously, Joe, but also a
16:27
Speaker 2: big hole in the United States Senate in terms of
16:29
Speaker 2: his ability to liaise with this White House and liaise
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Speaker 2: specifically the opinion of one of the more hawkish members
16:37
Speaker 2: of the Republican conference in the wing that.
16:39
Speaker 4: That represented maybe the biggest Iran hawk of them all
16:42
Speaker 4: in Washington. And pretty remarkable to see this market reaction, Kayley,
16:47
Speaker 4: This does not look like an effort that we are
16:50
Speaker 4: about to wind up anytime soon. And when you consider
16:53
Speaker 4: the looming debates about a supplemental budget request, what was
16:55
Speaker 4: that sixty seven billion dollars a trillion and a half
16:59
Speaker 4: dollar defense budget. Lindsay Graham was a central figure in
17:04
Speaker 4: pushing that along. Also as chair of the Budget committee.
17:06
Speaker 4: You're going to have, as we just discussed with Eric,
17:08
Speaker 4: Wasason Ron Johnson up there now, who might want to
17:11
Speaker 4: do this a little bit differently when it comes to
17:12
Speaker 4: the dollar signs. We want to get to the policy
17:15
Speaker 4: here in the strait, but also the politics of the
17:18
Speaker 4: man Lindsay Graham with our great panel Bloomberg Politics contributors
17:21
Speaker 4: Rick Davis and Jeanie Shanzano are with us. Rick is our,
17:24
Speaker 4: of course, republican strategist partner at Stone Court Capital, who
17:28
Speaker 4: worked for many years with Lindsay Graham by way of
17:30
Speaker 4: his relationship with John McCain and the Three Amigos. Of course,
17:33
Speaker 4: Genie is our democratic analyst and democracy visiting fellow at
17:36
Speaker 4: Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center. It's great to have you
17:39
Speaker 4: both with us here. Rick, Will the president be able
17:42
Speaker 4: to get what he wants and what he needs to
17:45
Speaker 4: comport this war without Lindsay Graham as a guidepost for
17:49
Speaker 4: himself and also for lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
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Speaker 9: Yeah, Joe, there's no question Lindsey Graham was his fiercest
17:58
Speaker 9: partner when it comes to trying to prosecute a successful
18:04
Speaker 9: war against Iran. You know, he was a champion of
18:09
Speaker 9: our relationship with Israel for decades, really Israel's best friend
18:15
Speaker 9: in the United States Senate since John McCain's passing, and
18:19
Speaker 9: really the key component to making the connection between you know,
18:24
Speaker 9: what needed to get done for Israel security and burging
18:28
Speaker 9: it to the final conclusion, which is, you know, going
18:30
Speaker 9: after the Ayatolas in Iran. And so without him, not
18:37
Speaker 9: only is it going to be more difficult in the
18:39
Speaker 9: United States Senate to to speak with really one unified voice,
18:45
Speaker 9: but even in the region. I mean, Lindsay's worked with
18:47
Speaker 9: the Saudi Arabia Crown Prince, those in UAE and Cutter,
18:52
Speaker 9: I mean, he was a tireless traveler to those places
18:57
Speaker 9: to try to secure their support for this war in Iran.
19:01
Speaker 9: And without him, I suspect it'll be more difficult to
19:05
Speaker 9: keep all our allies even together. So his passing will
19:10
Speaker 9: have a real profound impact I think on this debate.
19:14
Speaker 9: Hopefully we're getting to the point where there's less debate
19:17
Speaker 9: and more sort of i'd say conclusion to this storyline.
19:21
Speaker 9: But certainly today it doesn't seem so.
19:25
Speaker 8: Well.
19:25
Speaker 2: And as you talk Rick about the late Senator John
19:27
Speaker 2: McCain as well, both of these men, of course, you
19:30
Speaker 2: worked with very closely over the course of their careers
19:33
Speaker 2: and yours. How many of their ilk are left in
19:37
Speaker 2: this Republican Party as it exists now, and in this
19:40
Speaker 2: Republican Senate in particular.
19:44
Speaker 9: Yeah, Certainly, like Eric Wasson said, there are plenty of
19:48
Speaker 9: Republican Hawks still banging around. He mentioned Tom Cotton, chairman
19:53
Speaker 9: of the current chairman of the Armed Services Committee, others
19:58
Speaker 9: who I think have shared the global vision of the
20:02
Speaker 9: United States being the greatest country for good in the world,
20:05
Speaker 9: and our importance to being engaged with our allies and
20:08
Speaker 9: opposing our enemies. But certainly, I don't think anybody really
20:14
Speaker 9: invested the kind of time it takes to build those
20:18
Speaker 9: relationships overseas in addition to articulating the need for those
20:22
Speaker 9: relationships at home, So that part is probably irreplaceable. It
20:27
Speaker 9: will be interesting to see if some of these Republican
20:30
Speaker 9: senators try to step into that role and play the
20:37
Speaker 9: relationship building card that Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Joe Lieberman
20:43
Speaker 9: others have played over the last few decades, and it
20:47
Speaker 9: certainly is important. You know, the White House State Department
20:50
Speaker 9: can't do everything, and countries look for long term support
20:55
Speaker 9: and where you get that is the United States Senate,
20:58
Speaker 9: and those senators have an important role play in doing that.
21:02
Speaker 4: Really interesting, this is of course going to kick off
21:04
Speaker 4: a process that we can discuss here, and it does
21:07
Speaker 4: appear that Lindsey Graham's sister Darlene is going to be
21:10
Speaker 4: the caretaker. We'll find out at four pm Eastern time
21:13
Speaker 4: when the Governor of South Carolina makes that announcement. But then,
21:16
Speaker 4: of course there will be an election to follow here,
21:18
Speaker 4: and this is going to be something that we're covering
21:21
Speaker 4: much like other primaries on the trail Genie. The evolution,
21:25
Speaker 4: the political evolution of Lindsey Graham is something that must
21:30
Speaker 4: be noted, remembering that he was actually running against Donald
21:33
Speaker 4: Trump ahead of the first term twenty sixteen. I'll never
21:36
Speaker 4: forget the day Donald Trump put his cell phone number,
21:38
Speaker 4: Lindsey Graham's cell phone number on TV. And of course
21:43
Speaker 4: he was not a supporter of Donald Trump. Even after
21:46
Speaker 4: he got out of the race. He then supported Jeb
21:48
Speaker 4: Bush when he got out of the race. Lindsey Graham
21:51
Speaker 4: supported Ted Cruz, but eventually came around to be one
21:54
Speaker 4: of Donald Trump's most important supporters and advisors. As I
21:58
Speaker 4: think we've established this hour, listen to the way he's
22:00
Speaker 4: spoke about the president back in twenty sixteen.
22:03
Speaker 10: The goal for the Republicans has say I'm for the
22:05
Speaker 10: working man, not just the rich man, rich woman, working woman.
22:10
Speaker 8: That's sort of the goal. That's sort of where we stuck.
22:13
Speaker 10: And I think he's instinctively owned to something trying to
22:15
Speaker 10: broaden the party's appeal to work in folks by putting
22:19
Speaker 10: on the table things that we normally say no to.
22:23
Speaker 4: It's interesting, Genie. A lot of other Republicans who might
22:26
Speaker 4: have considered themselves never Trumpers, might have had a difficulty
22:30
Speaker 4: arriving at that point. What do you make of the
22:32
Speaker 4: evolution of Lindsey Graham?
22:35
Speaker 11: Yeah, and it was quite an evolution, Joe. I mean,
22:37
Speaker 11: he was one of the chief Republicans who, when Donald
22:40
Speaker 11: Trump was impeached for twenty twenty election interference, he pushed
22:45
Speaker 11: them to acquit. He was the primarily responsible for getting
22:50
Speaker 11: Donald Trump's three Supreme Court justices onto the bench, and
22:54
Speaker 11: of course Donald Trump mentioned that on Meet the Press yesterday.
22:57
Speaker 11: His work on the Kavanaugh hearing, which was for many
23:01
Speaker 11: Democrats was the beginning and the end of Roe versus Wade,
23:04
Speaker 11: and Lindsey Graham was all over that. You know, it
23:08
Speaker 11: seems that Lindsey Graham was able to do whatever he could.
23:11
Speaker 11: Some people described him as a shape shifter in order
23:14
Speaker 11: to stay in the room with power and in order
23:20
Speaker 11: to advocate on issues that he believed in. And one
23:23
Speaker 11: of those is the quagmire in Iran that we're talking
23:26
Speaker 11: about now. I mean, Donald Trump is somebody who famously
23:31
Speaker 11: ran against this muscular foreign policy that we have now
23:36
Speaker 11: seen over the last year. And one of the chief
23:38
Speaker 11: architects of that on apparently the golf course was Lindsay Graham.
23:44
Speaker 11: And it was interesting yesterday Benjamin Netanyahoo said after Lindsey
23:48
Speaker 11: Graham passed that it was Lindsey Graham who pushed him
23:52
Speaker 11: to say you should aggressively take military action, and he said,
23:56
Speaker 11: quote BB, you have to do it. Knock out these
23:59
Speaker 11: nuclear weapons program before they knock us out. So he
24:04
Speaker 11: was in that and BB Netnyaso also mentioned how he
24:07
Speaker 11: was trying to coach him on how to deal with
24:10
Speaker 11: Donald Trump. So he was staying in the vicinity of
24:13
Speaker 11: power in friendship with Donald Trump in order to further
24:16
Speaker 11: his own names. But we also have to be realistic.
24:19
Speaker 11: These are aims that are opposed by many members of
24:22
Speaker 11: the Republican Party today and increasingly and of course the
24:25
Speaker 11: vast number of the American public who opposed the war
24:29
Speaker 11: in Iran.
24:31
Speaker 8: Well.
24:32
Speaker 2: As Genie suggests that the President and Senator Graham were
24:35
Speaker 2: frequent golf buddies, we know they spoke frequently.
24:37
Speaker 8: Rick.
24:38
Speaker 2: In fact, President Trump said shortly before Senator Graham's death
24:42
Speaker 2: they did talk on the phone. He said. They talked
24:44
Speaker 2: about a number of things, the Save America Act included,
24:48
Speaker 2: and whether it's that election legislation that's the priority of
24:51
Speaker 2: the president, the defense budget that Joe mentioned, other members
24:55
Speaker 2: that or other matters the Senate's going to have to
24:58
Speaker 2: take up, including confirmations of some key cabinet appointments like
25:01
Speaker 2: the Attorney General. Rick, how much harder is that going
25:03
Speaker 2: to be now with Graham gone? Knowing there will be
25:09
Speaker 2: a caretaker named? But you still have questions about when
25:11
Speaker 2: Senator Mitch McConnell will return too.
25:14
Speaker 9: Yeah, Look, the math has never really worked out for
25:17
Speaker 9: some of those issues you talked about. I mean, we
25:19
Speaker 9: couldn't even get a Republican majority, simple majority for the
25:24
Speaker 9: Safe Act five times when it was voted on, So
25:27
Speaker 9: anybody else would say, Okay, I don't have the votes
25:30
Speaker 9: for that, which is exactly what you know the Majority
25:33
Speaker 9: Leader Thune has told the President. But for whatever reason,
25:37
Speaker 9: President seems dug in on that. I would say the
25:41
Speaker 9: Senate malpractice not to immediately put Lindsey Graham's name on
25:45
Speaker 9: the Russia sanctions bill that has eighty five co sponsors
25:48
Speaker 9: and pass it immediately and send it to the President's desk.
25:52
Speaker 9: The reality is this is one of the last things
25:54
Speaker 9: that Lindsey Graham was working on, you know, at the
25:57
Speaker 9: NATO conference this last week, and I think it really
26:01
Speaker 9: would be a great way to start this session.
26:05
Speaker 4: Really glad we could have we could have you with us,
26:08
Speaker 4: Rick Davis and Jeanie Thank you so much for your
26:11
Speaker 4: insights our great panel. Stay with us on Balance of Power.
26:15
Speaker 4: We'll have much more coming up after this.
26:21
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast ketchus
26:24
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26:37
Speaker 2: As we mentioned earlier, this hour, Saudi media is reporting
26:40
Speaker 2: that the Saudi's were dealing with an incoming attack from
26:44
Speaker 2: the Hoothys, that we're targeting the south of Saudi Arabia
26:48
Speaker 2: in particular. And as we consider that Iranian proxy previous
26:51
Speaker 2: action that they have conducted in the Red Sea that
26:53
Speaker 2: was disruptive to commercial shipping, it all could point to
26:57
Speaker 2: not so good things. As we consider that the straight
26:59
Speaker 2: Andform moves also effectively seems to be closed off at
27:02
Speaker 2: this point, President Trump says, at least it's closed off
27:04
Speaker 2: to Iranian vessels and cargo, as the US is getting
27:07
Speaker 2: set to reinforce the blockade and charge a twenty percent
27:11
Speaker 2: reimbursement rate to all other vessels trying to get through. Essentially,
27:16
Speaker 2: Joe the President saying, it's the cost of administration, the
27:19
Speaker 2: cost of the US being the guardian.
27:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, of that guardian of the Strait is how he's
27:24
Speaker 4: terming it. Price of gas Kaylee three eighty seven. That's
27:27
Speaker 4: the national average today. If we keep seeing moves like
27:30
Speaker 4: this and crude, it's going to start leaning back to
27:32
Speaker 4: four dollars. This is really something back to our highs
27:35
Speaker 4: of the session or carving out new highs. Eighty one
27:38
Speaker 4: dollars for Brent is pretty remarkable. Here, we're looking at
27:41
Speaker 4: almost seventy seven. As you mentioned for WTI, just some
27:45
Speaker 4: of the stories that we're covering here in terms of
27:47
Speaker 4: the fallout of the President's actions in Iran. But we'll
27:51
Speaker 4: have a lot more to consider when the Speaker of
27:54
Speaker 4: the House sits down with the President in the Oval
27:57
Speaker 4: Office a little while from now. It's a busy day
27:59
Speaker 4: at the White House. Actually, we can give you a
28:02
Speaker 4: quick view if you're with us on Bloomberg TV or
28:04
Speaker 4: on YouTube, of what's happening right outside the West Wing.
28:06
Speaker 4: We're actually waiting to hear from the President himself at
28:09
Speaker 4: an indiecar event. This is a view you never see, Kaylee. Here.
28:13
Speaker 4: This is the driveway between the White House and what
28:16
Speaker 4: we used to call the old Executive Office Building. You
28:18
Speaker 4: see that portico there that'll take you right into the
28:20
Speaker 4: West Wing and they've set up a podium for the
28:23
Speaker 4: President to speak. I guess you've got the indy cars
28:25
Speaker 4: out there. We've got a big race set up for August.
28:27
Speaker 4: I was curious what it would cost with these increases
28:30
Speaker 4: in gas prices to fill up an Indy car, they
28:34
Speaker 4: don't use gas one hundred percent renewable race fuel. I
28:37
Speaker 4: never knew this Indie dot IndyCar dot com. It's e
28:40
Speaker 4: eighty five, which I guess this is going to help
28:43
Speaker 4: when they're doing laps around the capital come August. Are
28:47
Speaker 4: you going to go to that thing?
28:48
Speaker 2: The more you know, No, I don't think i'd be
28:50
Speaker 2: able to physically get here. They're going to have to
28:52
Speaker 2: close off a lot of DC.
28:53
Speaker 4: You're going to be actually on Pennsylvania Avenue with these
28:55
Speaker 4: Indy cars. Yes, I guess we'll see what the President
28:58
Speaker 4: has to say about it in a little bit here.
29:00
Speaker 4: We're actually covering a couple of other things. As soon
29:02
Speaker 4: as the President's done with that meeting, he'll sit down
29:04
Speaker 4: with Mike Johnson to talk about reopening the floor. It
29:07
Speaker 4: has been closed, essentially held hostage by a single Congresswoman,
29:11
Speaker 4: Annapoline A Luna, who's upset about the Save America Act
29:14
Speaker 4: and has really kept everything else from moving. The President
29:17
Speaker 4: needs to see an NDAA. He wants to move a
29:19
Speaker 4: supplemental budget request on Iran. He wants to get a
29:22
Speaker 4: new defense budget across the board and government spending in total,
29:26
Speaker 4: which is why some of us are asking about the
29:28
Speaker 4: prospect of another government shutdown. It's where we start our
29:32
Speaker 4: conversation with Mark Short, I'm glad to say is back
29:34
Speaker 4: with us in our studios in Washington, the chair of
29:36
Speaker 4: Advancing American Freedom, former Director of Legislative Affairs in the
29:41
Speaker 4: first Trump term, and former Chief of Staff Vice President
29:44
Speaker 4: Mike Penn s quick to see you, Mark.
29:46
Speaker 12: Thanks.
29:46
Speaker 4: I hope your summer's going well. I can't imagine what
29:48
Speaker 4: lawmakers are going through as they come back to town
29:50
Speaker 4: here knowing that they're handcuffed. How do you get the
29:54
Speaker 4: floor back open?
29:55
Speaker 12: I think that they're going to have a challenge getting
29:57
Speaker 12: the floor back up. When I think they're making the
29:59
Speaker 12: right case by going to the president. He probably has
30:01
Speaker 12: as much leverage ever Luna as anybody else. But I
30:05
Speaker 12: still think that you have such incredibly narrow margins right now,
30:09
Speaker 12: and any legislation they're passing, I think is to get
30:12
Speaker 12: more and more difficulty get closer in November because your
30:14
Speaker 12: margin the senate's pretty tight too.
30:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, sure is well, certainly so, and we'll get to
30:19
Speaker 2: that margin in the Senate in a moment.
30:20
Speaker 7: Mark.
30:20
Speaker 2: When we consider though, that the President does seem to
30:22
Speaker 2: have a fixation on the very same thing Anna Paulina
30:25
Speaker 2: Luna does, which is the Save America Act, despite repeatedly
30:29
Speaker 2: being told by leadership that the votes are not there.
30:32
Speaker 2: As it stands, he's not abandoning the effort. Is he
30:35
Speaker 2: going to be forced to at some point?
30:38
Speaker 12: Well, I think that some of us are more cynical
30:41
Speaker 12: think that the President, knowing what the prospects look like
30:45
Speaker 12: in the midterms, can say, look, I told you, guys,
30:48
Speaker 12: what happened if you didn't pass the Save Act. And
30:50
Speaker 12: so there's a little bit of, I think, setting up
30:53
Speaker 12: for what is likely to be a political down or
30:56
Speaker 12: come November for those of us who are Republicans. But
30:58
Speaker 12: I think that there's how strategy is to break the
31:01
Speaker 12: Save up Act and basically moved as part of a
31:04
Speaker 12: reconstilation three point zero and to tie funding the states
31:07
Speaker 12: to actually implement the Save Act at a state by state basis. Again,
31:12
Speaker 12: I think the prospects of a reconiscilation three point zero
31:14
Speaker 12: getting passed through both chambers at this point is pretty slim.
31:17
Speaker 4: Does it become more difficult without Lindsey Graham at the
31:20
Speaker 4: helm of the Budget Committee. He seemed to be helping
31:23
Speaker 4: to steer this at least for the Upper Chamber. We
31:26
Speaker 4: can talk about a lot of the other implications of
31:29
Speaker 4: his passing, but that seems to be an immediate one.
31:32
Speaker 12: I think that losing Lindsey Graham is a big loss
31:35
Speaker 12: for Washington for our national politics. I think he was
31:39
Speaker 12: uniquely talented in ways that he had friendships with John McCain,
31:43
Speaker 12: Joe Leerman, Donald Trump. That's a unique trifecta, and I
31:47
Speaker 12: think it shows his flexibility and his nimbleness in this town.
31:51
Speaker 12: But honestly, Joe, I don't really know at this point. Again,
31:55
Speaker 12: save Act Nowthers that would need sixty votes in the Senate.
31:58
Speaker 12: So it's not like Lindsay Dham's vote was making the difference,
32:02
Speaker 12: and his talents he was basically be an emissary between
32:04
Speaker 12: the Senate and the White House. I don't think it's
32:07
Speaker 12: having that dramatic an impact on actual legislation between now
32:10
Speaker 12: then and people forget between now election day. I think
32:13
Speaker 12: we're down to twenty one legislative days. Wow, that's it,
32:16
Speaker 12: and so there's really not a lot of time to
32:18
Speaker 12: get nbaa legislation three point zero or as you just
32:21
Speaker 12: mentioned funding for the government that's due September thirty What.
32:24
Speaker 2: About funding for the Defense Department in particular, because of
32:27
Speaker 2: course Lindsey Graham was a defense hawk. Sure he was
32:30
Speaker 2: a vocal advocate for things like a one and a
32:32
Speaker 2: half trillion dollar.
32:34
Speaker 12: He was a great advocate for the defense smart but
32:37
Speaker 12: also for Ukraine against Russian aggression and for Israel. But again,
32:41
Speaker 12: I think, as long as the war is going on,
32:43
Speaker 12: it's gonna be hard to earn Democrat votes on supplemental
32:46
Speaker 12: funding for Department Defense, and so I think that those
32:49
Speaker 12: prospects are pretty bleak as well.
32:51
Speaker 4: Well, even more extreme, I guess the analysis from our
32:54
Speaker 4: chief policy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Nathan Dean, says, from
32:57
Speaker 4: here on it's nothing but CRS. In fact, that could
33:00
Speaker 4: be the case for the next two plus years more.
33:03
Speaker 12: I think that it is likely to be CRS for
33:06
Speaker 12: quite some time. But I think even this September thirtieth
33:09
Speaker 12: could be more of a shutdown than the cr because
33:12
Speaker 12: right now where they are is in very different spots,
33:15
Speaker 12: and I don't think there was a political consequence the
33:18
Speaker 12: Democrats shutting down the government last time, and as they
33:20
Speaker 12: I think for most American voters. The assumption is, look,
33:23
Speaker 12: you have the White House and House and the Senate.
33:25
Speaker 12: They don't know that sixty vote threshold in the center
33:27
Speaker 12: and whatnot. So they're going to blame one party if
33:29
Speaker 12: you're shutdown and say your party's in control. And I
33:32
Speaker 12: think there's a democratic viewpoint that says we're not at
33:34
Speaker 12: loss here if there's a shutdown comes September thirty.
33:38
Speaker 2: So that just reinforces the midterm momentum being not on
33:43
Speaker 2: the side of the Republicans in your mind.
33:45
Speaker 12: Essentially, I think that the challenge for Republicans is always
33:49
Speaker 12: going to be a difficult cycle. When your party is
33:51
Speaker 12: in power in the White House, it's even more difficult
33:53
Speaker 12: if your parties controled the White House, House, and the Senate.
33:55
Speaker 12: Americans want divided government. It's what they prefer, and so
33:58
Speaker 12: it doesn't mean it's impossible. It just means that the
34:01
Speaker 12: hurdle is really high. I think you add to that
34:04
Speaker 12: the presence trade agenda and the fact that we've not
34:08
Speaker 12: basically really lowered prices significantly. I mean, we talked about
34:11
Speaker 12: inflation going down from nine percent to four percent. Yeah,
34:14
Speaker 12: the rate of increase is less, but prices aren't less
34:16
Speaker 12: it's still a four percent inflation rate, and I think
34:19
Speaker 12: for a lot of farmers in America, they're feeling that
34:21
Speaker 12: they're feeling the higher fertilizer prices and they don't have
34:24
Speaker 12: markets to export too, because in retaliation to the presence
34:27
Speaker 12: war on trade, other countries have close those markets. And
34:29
Speaker 12: so I think there's a lot of consternation in the
34:32
Speaker 12: heartland of America about the current trade policy. And that
34:35
Speaker 12: has been a reliably read Republican part of the country,
34:38
Speaker 12: and I think that you could see losses there that
34:40
Speaker 12: Republents have not seen in many years.
34:42
Speaker 4: At something now that we're back to what appears to
34:46
Speaker 4: be a shooting war with Iran, not that it ever
34:48
Speaker 4: really stopped, but after third night of pounding attacks that
34:51
Speaker 4: we saw last evening from the United States, the conversation
34:54
Speaker 4: about war powers is going to come back around. Does
34:57
Speaker 4: that gain work traction the further we get into primary season,
35:02
Speaker 4: with lawmakers starting to feel a level of.
35:06
Speaker 12: Gains more traction on the campaign trail, it probably gains
35:09
Speaker 12: a bigger campaign issue. I don't think it's I still
35:11
Speaker 12: don't think there's a jeopardy of them getting the necessary
35:13
Speaker 12: votes in both chambers to get that, and I still
35:17
Speaker 12: think it has not been challenged at the Supreme Court.
35:19
Speaker 12: It's whether or not this is really what our founders designed,
35:21
Speaker 12: was for the legislative branch to have that authority.
35:25
Speaker 2: Well, when we consider though, the prospect of the war continuing,
35:29
Speaker 2: the President to this point, or at least until recently,
35:33
Speaker 2: expressed very little appetite for a an outright resumption in hostilities,
35:37
Speaker 2: and then at the NATO summit he suggests there's no
35:39
Speaker 2: point in negotiating with the Russians. He declared the MoU dead.
35:42
Speaker 2: He effectively said the ceasefires over, and today he says
35:45
Speaker 2: we're reinforcing the blockade. It feels like this is only
35:48
Speaker 2: going one direction, and it's not the direction of resolution.
35:51
Speaker 2: Mark or You'll correct me if I'm wrong.
35:53
Speaker 12: No, I don't think you're wrong. I think that the
35:55
Speaker 12: JD Vance Wing certainly wanted to try to strike some
35:58
Speaker 12: sort of appeasement toward Iran, but it doesn't appear that's
36:02
Speaker 12: had any progress. And I think for a lot of
36:03
Speaker 12: people are look and say, for forty seven years or
36:05
Speaker 12: Ran has continued to break deals, and so why are
36:07
Speaker 12: you surprised? But there's also an enormous amount of mixed
36:10
Speaker 12: messaging that's come from the White House throughout this conflagration.
36:13
Speaker 12: And you know, it was only not just a couple
36:15
Speaker 12: weeks ago the President said it's a great deal and
36:16
Speaker 12: we're going to get it done. But he actually even said,
36:19
Speaker 12: you know, he was allowing them the ability to repurchase
36:22
Speaker 12: weapons to defend themselves, you know, and so and so
36:24
Speaker 12: there's been Yeah, there's been.
36:25
Speaker 2: A lot of holistic missiles were problems.
36:28
Speaker 12: Goodness, there's been a lot of different messaging that's come
36:30
Speaker 12: out from what the White House position is on the
36:33
Speaker 12: MU much less than the larger wars. But I think
36:36
Speaker 12: you're right. I think that as day as I Ran
36:38
Speaker 12: has continued to poke the bear, the President's probably gotten
36:40
Speaker 12: at this point pretty tired of it.
36:42
Speaker 4: I love your Fox, your thoughts. Mark short on South
36:45
Speaker 4: Carolina and what comes next. We've had a number of
36:48
Speaker 4: names on a pretty short list at this point. Lieutenant
36:52
Speaker 4: Governor Pamela Evet seems to be at the top of it.
36:55
Speaker 4: Not as a caretaker. That appears to be something that
36:58
Speaker 4: will be reserved for Lindsay Graham's sister Darlene. But Nancy
37:02
Speaker 4: Mace on Twitter with the Godfather tweet, they keep pulling
37:06
Speaker 4: me back in Ralph Norman, both fresh off primary runs
37:11
Speaker 4: and losses. Will this be a familiar name or maybe
37:14
Speaker 4: one of these three?
37:16
Speaker 12: I mean, neither of them made the runoff, so it's
37:19
Speaker 12: hard for me to see that that changes that much
37:21
Speaker 12: in the last couple of months. I think the President
37:23
Speaker 12: is going to continue to be invested in what happens
37:25
Speaker 12: in South Carolina. And I think it's pretty well known
37:27
Speaker 12: his opposition to both of those two. One for supporting
37:30
Speaker 12: Nikki Aily, one because it's just because who Nancy. Yeah,
37:34
Speaker 12: it's a lot well said, and so I don't see
37:37
Speaker 12: that the President is going to get behind either one
37:39
Speaker 12: of them. So I think that it's probably going to
37:41
Speaker 12: be a different candidate.
37:43
Speaker 2: Well, and we'll see what kind of candidate does come
37:46
Speaker 2: forward and how much they reflect the kind of hawkish
37:48
Speaker 2: nature of Lindsey Graham, as we've already discussed. I just
37:51
Speaker 2: wonder with his exit with Mitch McConnell, who of course
37:54
Speaker 2: says that he is going to be returning to the Senate,
37:57
Speaker 2: although it's not clear when his hospitalization. Well, and they
38:01
Speaker 2: represent a kind of wing of the Republican Party that
38:04
Speaker 2: Jade Vance you just mentioned, for example, does not represent it.
38:07
Speaker 2: I wonder with their departures, if you see the party
38:12
Speaker 2: is going to be shifting much more in the direction
38:15
Speaker 2: of the isolationist wing rather than the kind of interventionist talk.
38:19
Speaker 12: I think it's a great question, Kayley, and I think
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Speaker 12: it's something that is yet to be seen. I think
38:24
Speaker 12: there's no doubt that the isolation's wing has been a
38:27
Speaker 12: sendent in the Republican Party, and as you say, the
38:30
Speaker 12: more hawkish wing losing both McConnell and Lindsey Graham will
38:33
Speaker 12: have significant losses there. As far as what the national
38:37
Speaker 12: debate is as far as Lindsay's success or may not
38:40
Speaker 12: be as articulated as Lindsay, but certainly with all the
38:42
Speaker 12: military presence that South Carolina has, you would imagine that
38:45
Speaker 12: successor will form or less.
38:46
Speaker 4: Support the same viewpoint.
38:47
Speaker 12: But as far as the rhetorical debate about where the
38:49
Speaker 12: party goes, I think it's pretty much up for grabs.
38:53
Speaker 4: We've only got a minute left even less than that.
38:55
Speaker 4: Can you imagine an IndyCar race downtown Washington, DC. Guys,
39:00
Speaker 4: the drivers are about to get out there with the president.
39:02
Speaker 4: You go into this look.
39:04
Speaker 12: I think it's pretty fun, But at the same time,
39:06
Speaker 12: you guys know what August weather is in DC, right,
39:08
Speaker 12: and how hot.
39:09
Speaker 4: And muggy that's going to be. After we saw fourth
39:12
Speaker 4: of July.
39:12
Speaker 12: After fourth of July, I was pretty hot and muggy
39:14
Speaker 12: on them all too.
39:15
Speaker 2: And the UFC fight also hot.
39:18
Speaker 4: Ururing this thing they're going to be on Pennsylvania Avenue.
39:20
Speaker 4: I don't get it.
39:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, we might just have to be calling in from home,
39:23
Speaker 2: not here in our air conditioned studio where we've been
39:26
Speaker 2: joined today by Mark Short, of course, the former director
39:28
Speaker 2: of legislati Affairs in the first Trump White House, former
39:30
Speaker 2: chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, now Chair
39:33
Speaker 2: of Advancing American Freedom.
39:34
Speaker 8: Mark.
39:34
Speaker 4: Thank you, thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast.
39:43
Speaker 4: Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already, at Apple, Spotify,
39:46
Speaker 4: or wherever you get your podcasts, and you can find
39:48
Speaker 4: us live every weekday from Washington, d C. At noontime
39:51
Speaker 4: Eastern at Bloomberg dot com