Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on ABC This Week to combat the narrative engineering of DNC transcriptionist George Stephanopoulos.
Sometimes it’s worth watching Stephanopoulos, Bill Clinton’s former Chief of Staff, because he frames the political position, current and future, for the Democrat party. Video and Transcript Below:
[Transcript] STEPHANOPOULOS: And we’re joined now by the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent.
Mr. Bessent, thank you for joining us this morning.
We’ve just heard about all these impacts from the shutdown — government shutdown right now. Are we starting to see — see a permanent impact on the economy?
TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Sure, George.
And good to be with you.
And we’ve seen an impact on the economy from day one, but it’s getting worse and worse. We had a fantastic economy under President Trump the past two quarters. And now there are estimates that the economy, economic growth for this quarter, could be cut by as much as half if the shutdown continues.
White House Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, is a straight shooter; he calls things as they are, not as many would pretend them to be.
On the issue of court orders demanding various cabinet secretaries spend money to fund the government, Director Hassett correctly reframes the issue around the law of federal spending that says money not appropriated for that expenditure cannot be spent. The Supreme Court will strike down, as they already have, any order not grounded in the law around government spending.
Hassett correctly warns that any cabinet agency who attempts to comply with a district or circuit court order, is running the risk of having a lawsuit filed against them for spending non-appropriated funds. This could be part of the reason why Democrats are purposefully not reopening government, to force the Trump administration into a catch-22 legally where they are going to violate the law either way.
Margaret Brennan stands jaw agape at the Machiavellian approach that Director Hassett outlines, “surely they would never do that” she proclaims. In response Hassett reminds Brennan that such Lawfare strategies are indeed part of the larger stop Trump movement. Video and Transcript Below.
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with the Director of the White House National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett. This is now the longest shutdown in American history. The treasury secretary told us two weeks ago November 15 was the hard stop for any paychecks going to US troops. Does that remain the point of exhaustion?
KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Right, I think that- that’s about the right number. And the problem is that under the law, we’re not allowed to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated. And there is a law, the Antideficiency Act, that says that if a government official spends money that isn’t appropriated by Congress, which will only happen if the Democrats vote to open up the government, then you could even have criminal penalties. And so people are very carefully studying the law and trying to get as much money out the door as is legal. And we’re very glad that we found a way to get a lot of the SNAP money out, but it’s really pushing the boundaries of the law, which is why the Supreme Court had to take that ruling from Rhode Island and put it on hold.
President Trump made an announcement today in the oval office highlighting two Rx companies, Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk, to dramatically reduce the prices Americans pay for some of the world’s most popular drugs. [Fact Sheet Here]
Following the drug company announcement President Trump took questions from the media. The press Q&A is below and the full video including the announcement is below the fold. WATCH:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears on NewsMax to discuss his perspective on the Supreme Court oral arguments surrounding the legal challenges to President Trump’s tariff authority.
Secretary Lutnick attended the court arguments today and is very optimistic about the outcome of the arguments. WATCH:
Earlier today, President Donald Trump delivered a speech at the America Business Forum in Miami, Florida. On the anniversary of President Trump’s historic 2024 election day win, President Trump celebrated with the assembled audience and business leaders. WATCH:
Today, the Dept of Justice Solicitor General Dean John Sauer provided oral arguments to the Supreme Court in support of President Donald Trump’s tariff authority. The issue at the heart of the matter is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which grants the president the power to levy tariffs.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, leaned heavily on the argument that tariffs are taxes against the American people, and all taxes must come from Congress. The ‘tariffs are taxes’ argument seems to be the linchpin for the leftists on the court and the Gorsuch ‘conservatives’.
Solicitor Sauer countered the IEEPA tariffs are “regulations” against foreign imported goods. “The power to impose tariffs is a core application of the power to regulate foreign commerce, which is what the phrase ‘regular importation of commerce’ in IEEPA naturally evokes,” Sauer said.
The full audio of the arguments is provided below. (I’m working on the transcript). WATCH (prompted):
No amount of judicial activism can get blood from a stone. After the Rhode Island judge demanded the USDA pay food stamp benefits from an emergency/disaster fund, Deputy Under Secretary of the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS) at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Patrick Penn, files a court response saying all funds distributed.
Approximately 50% of the normal distribution for 42 million recipients has been transmitted.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he informed President Trump, “The votes aren’t there” to kill the filibuster. Ergo, the govt shutdown will continue.
The issue is somewhat frustrating for those who have followed DC events closely. The Democrats hated the Big Beautiful Bill budget and spending legislation, so the Republicans had to suspend the filibuster to pass it. However, the Democrats are blocking the BBB budget and spending legislation by shutting down government, and the Republicans will not suspend the filibuster to open it.
WASHINGTON DC – Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday there’s not enough support among Republican senators to eliminate the filibuster as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure to change the chamber’s rules to allow the simple-majority passage of legislation. “The votes aren’t there,” Thune told reporters.
Thune said he had spoken to Trump about the issue — he didn’t specify when — and questioned whether his campaign against the filibuster should come as a surprise. (more)
The Moonbat leftists are not the biggest problem; they never have been. They are ideologues, mostly. Insufferable, stupid, violent at times, but easy to spot. Remember, Democrats quest for power; Republicans quest for money. Always underline this, because it’s really important.
President Trump posted the importance of the Supreme Court case to support presidential authority on Tariffs.
The heart of the argument really is the “trillions at stake” aspect we have discussed on these pages for the past ten years. If the institutions of our government factually want to dispatch President Trump and diminish the American middle-class, the Supreme Court will support the multinational corporations and Wall Street in decision to remove presidential tariff authority.
[Via Truth Social] – “Next week’s Case on Tariffs is one of the most important in the History of the Country. If a President is not allowed to use Tariffs, we will be at a major disadvantage against all other Countries throughout the World, especially the “Majors.” In a true sense, we would be defenseless! Tariffs have brought us Great Wealth and National Security in the nine months that I have had the Honor to serve as President. The Stock Market has hit All Time Highs many times during my short time in Office, with virtually No Inflation, and National Security that is second to none.
Our recent successful negotiation with China, and many others, put us in a strong position only because we had Tariffs with which to negotiate fair and sustainable Deals. If a President was not able to quickly and nimbly use the power of Tariffs, we would be defenseless, leading perhaps even to the ruination of our Nation. The only people fighting us are Foreign Countries who for years have taken advantage of us, those who hate our Country and, the Democrats, because our numbers are insurmountably good.
I will not be going to the Court on Wednesday in that I do not want to distract from the importance of this Decision. It will be, in my opinion, one of the most important and consequential Decisions ever made by the United States Supreme Court. If we win, we will be the Richest, Most Secure Country anywhere in the World, BY FAR. If we lose, our Country could be reduced to almost Third World status — Pray to God that that doesn’t happen!”
With increased holiday travel season soon to take place, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discusses some of the issues to federal transportation, specifically air travel, with CBS Margaret Brennan. Transcript and Video below:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who joins us this morning from Far Hills, New Jersey. Welcome to Face The Nation.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY SEAN DUFFY: Hey, thanks, Margaret, good to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So our CBS polling shows that there is real concern among Americans regarding the effect of the shutdown on all transportation. Should Americans also have safety concerns at this point?
SEC. DUFFY: I think that’s a great question. We work overtime to make sure the system is safe. And we will slow traffic down, you’ll see delays, we’ll have flights canceled to make sure the system is safe. But we have to be honest, when we have controllers, where we have shortages and towers and TRACONs doing two jobs, does it add more risk into the system? Sure, it does. But again, we’re always managing that. Again, we don’t- we don’t want crashes, we want people to go safely, and so we will slow and stop traffic if we don’t think we can manage it in a way that keeps people safe as they go from point A to point B.
