Partial Shutdown Spurs House Scramble

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Balance of Power – "Partial Shutdown Spurs House Scramble"

Host: Joe Mathieu (Bloomberg)
Date: February 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Balance of Power" dives into the political tension gripping Capitol Hill during the partial U.S. government shutdown that began at 12:01am on Saturday. The episode explores the last-minute Senate deal—a two-week continuing resolution that funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) separately—and the fierce House battle over passing such a resolution amid divisions in both parties. The show features live reporting from Congress, a first national interview with incoming House Democrat Christian Menifee of Texas, and analytical commentary from political strategists. Other headlines, including the contentious release of the Epstein files by the DOJ, are also covered with a direct interview with Rep. Suhas Subramaniam.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Senate’s Last-Minute Deal & House Challenges

[00:54-05:59]

• A partial government shutdown begins as Congress fails to pass all funding bills.
• Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Trump struck a late deal for a two-week continuing resolution for DHS, separating it from other funding bills to negotiate contentious restrictions.
• Some, like Senator John Thune, doubt two weeks is enough:

  "We need more than two weeks because of the Senate procedures." – Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), paraphrased [01:24]

• Democrats demand reforms: body cameras for ICE agents, more training, and limits on the use of masks by ICE patrols.
• The House faces hurdles: Speaker Mike Johnson's slim one-vote majority after the seating of Democrat Christian Menifee, and opposition from both the Freedom Caucus and progressive Democrats.

  “The Freedom Caucus doesn’t like the idea of what’s happening...a lot of Democrats don’t want to be caught voting yes for DHS funding at all.” – Joe Mathieu [02:41]

2. The House Rules Committee Stalemate

[03:46-06:27]

• Reporter Eric Watson describes the high stakes and delicate negotiations as the Rules Committee prepares to meet.
• The Freedom Caucus pushes to tie controversial policies, like the SAVE Act (voter ID measures), to the funding package—a nonstarter for Democrats.
• The thin majority means a handful of defections could doom the rule; moderate Democrats like Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn urge support for the bill due to embedded Democratic priorities.

  “You know, Democrats say this [SAVE Act] would create a Jim Crow-like ID verification system that suppresses voter turnout.” – Eric Watson [03:57]

• The House may see some moderate Democrats cross the aisle, but if most of the Freedom Caucus defect, Johnson likely won't have the numbers.

3. Christian Menifee, Newest House Democrat, on ICE & DHS Funding

[07:25-13:47]

• Christian Menifee, just arrived from Texas after winning a special election, gives his first national interview.
• He is adamant about not supporting additional DHS funding given current ICE practices:

  “We should not allow ICE to do what it's been doing...I look forward to one of my early votes being to do everything I can to block additional funding to DHS.” – Christian Menifee [08:42]

• Openly supports abolishing ICE:

  “I want to abolish it...when it comes back, it shouldn't be ICE anymore...” – Christian Menifee [10:30]

• On leadership, he calls for firing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and supports impeachment proceedings:

  “I think she has failed miserably and she needs to be out…I fully support…doing whatever we can to get her out of office.” – Christian Menifee [12:33]

• His primary policy focus beyond DHS will be healthcare, advocating for universal coverage based on family experience with military-provided care:

  “I'm focused on making sure that health care is right and that no person out there has to choose between putting food on the table and getting life-saving treatment.” [13:49]

• On political trends, Menifee argues recent Democratic wins in Texas reflect dissatisfaction with the Trump administration:

  “I think what you're seeing is people recognize the incompetency that's coming out of this presidential administration. So I look forward to this 2026 statewide campaigns…” [16:07]

4. Panel Analysis: Party Schisms & Messaging

[18:20-25:56]

• Hosts and analysts discuss how both parties are internally split on the DHS funding and ICE reforms.
• Democrats face electoral risks attacking DHS funding (“defund ICE” echoes “defund the police”), potentially turning into attack ads:

  “The idea of dropping a bomb that says 'defund ICE', I mean, I guarantee even Ocasio-Cortez is going to grab him and say ‘hey, we're not saying that stuff anymore.’” – Rick Davis [22:56]

• GOP leadership unwilling to consider Democrat demands like eliminating masks for ICE agents and requiring judicial warrants.
• Consensus that the House may pass another short-term funding resolution, but no one expects a permanent deal soon.

5. The Epstein Files: DOJ Redactions & Congressional Pressure

[31:10-40:18]

• Transitioning to DOJ release of Epstein files, host Joe Mathieu interviews Rep. Suhas Subramaniam (D-VA).
• Subramaniam criticizes the DOJ's slow and incomplete release of files and its failure to protect victims’ privacy:

  "This was over 40 days late and they are withholding another two and a half million files, at least by their own admission...it seems like what they're doing best is protecting some of the president's friends or some of the perpetrators..." – Suhas Subramaniam [34:00]

• Affirms commitment to subpoena power and cross-party cooperation for accountability.
• The main Congressional goal: identify all participants in Epstein’s crimes and scrutinize the “cover-up,” regardless of party affiliation.
• On the shutdown, Subramaniam joins other progressives in refusing to support DHS funding unless there is “real change,” namely impeachment or resignation of Secretary Noem due to ICE’s overreach.

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Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• 01:24 Ted Budd on Senate process: “It’s going to take more than two weeks.”
• 03:57 Eric Watson on the SAVE Act: “Democrats say this would create a Jim Crow like ID verification system that suppresses voter turnout.”
• 08:42 Christian Menifee (on DHS funding): “We should not allow ICE to do what it's been doing...block additional funding.”
• 10:30 Menifee (on ICE): “I want to abolish it...when it comes back, it shouldn't be ICE anymore.”
• 12:33 Menifee (on Kristi Noem): “She has failed miserably and she needs to be out.”
• 22:56 Rick Davis (on defund ICE rhetoric): “...even Ocasio-Cortez is going to grab him and say ‘hey, we're not saying that stuff anymore.’”
• 24:12 Jeannie Shan Zaino (on future CRs): “...we buy two weeks and we will be right back here.”
• 34:00 Suhas Subramaniam (on DOJ and Epstein files): “It seems like what they're doing best is protecting some of the president's friends or some of the perpetrators rather than bringing the transparency and accountability that the American people want.”

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Timeline/Timestamps of Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------| | 00:54 | Shutdown background, continuing resolution deal | | 02:26 | Senate/House barriers, two-week CR controversy | | 03:46 | Eric Watson on Rules Committee and House politics | | 07:25 | Christian Menifee’s first national interview | | 13:47 | Menifee on agenda outside DHS (healthcare) | | 18:20 | Political panel: Democratic/GOP divisions | | 31:10 | Epstein files: DOJ release, Congressional probe | | 34:00 | Rep. Subramaniam on files, shutdown, DHS funding |

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Takeaways

• No quick end in sight: The House is in gridlock over DHS funding. Even with a temporary Senate deal, deep intra- and inter-party divisions threaten further shutdowns or repeated short-term resolutions.
• DHS/ICE reforms are flashpoints: Democrats demand accountability for ICE, with some, like Christian Menifee, advocating outright abolition. The GOP and DHS leadership remain staunchly opposed to Democrat demands on body cameras, mask bans, and judicial warrants.
• Leadership headaches: Speaker Mike Johnson’s margin for error is razor thin after Menifee’s arrival, leaving little room for negotiation missteps.
• New Members, New Voices: Christian Menifee enters Congress as a vocal progressive, unafraid to take bold policy stances.
• Broader government trust issues: The delayed and incomplete release of the Epstein files, and bungled redactions, add fuel to transparency concerns, with a bipartisan desire for investigations and accountability.

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For listeners:
This episode is a candid, inside-the-room look at the chaos and calculation driving Washington’s response to the shutdown and the evolving debates over immigration enforcement, party dynamics, and government transparency. The raw tone of many guests and panelists adds urgency, while the political maneuvering evident throughout underscores the complexity of even “routine” funding battles in a polarized Congress.

Transcript

[Jeannie Shan Zaino]

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[Joe Matthew]

We keep our eyes on Capitol Hill. This is at a very moment when it comes to potentially ending a government shutdown that began at 12:01am on Saturday. We were live in the U.S. senate on the late edition of Balance of Power on Friday when it became clear that a funding mechanism was in fact coming together. They had the votes to put this together. It was a sort of late deal that emerged between Chuck Schumer and President Trump. A two week continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security stripped from the other bills in the funding mechanism so some new restrictions could be worked out in that period of time while the CR runs. John Thune seems to think that's not enough time and he told reporters that there could be a need for another and another other cr, knowing there was argument about how much time would be needed to put in legislative form some of the demands that Democrats have made, like body cameras, like more training, like restricting the use of masks when ICE patrols enforce the law. We talked to a Democrat and a Republican about that timeline, Ted Budd, the Republican from North Carolina, and Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois. Listen well, my understanding is that we need more than two weeks because of the Senate procedures. I wish you could, you know, come from a business background, you just get it done. But there's procedures to be done here in the Senate. It's a very interesting body politic. So it's going to take more than two weeks. But hurry with whatever time they get us.

[Rick Davis]

Two weeks are enough and only for negotiations, serious negotiations. I've been around Washington for a few years and I can tell you if.

[Joe Matthew]

You want to get the job done.

[Rick Davis]

Two weeks is more than enough time. I'm making no promise beyond that two week period.

[Joe Matthew]

Two weeks is enough, says Dick Durbin. Republicans say not so much. John Thune sounding a lot more like Ted Budd because not everybody's on the same page here when it comes to these restrictions. And it turns out not everybody's on the same page even codifying what the Senate did on Friday in the House to try to get these agencies back open because the changes that were made, it's got to go back to the House. Mike Johnson has a restive conference on his hands. As we always hear. The Freedom Caucus doesn't like the idea of what's happening stripping out dhs, adding restrictions. A lot of Democrats don't want to be caught voting yes for DHS funding at all. By the way, we're going to talk in just a moment with the newest member of the Democratic caucus in the House. I don't think he's even been sworn in yet. He's coming straight from the airport for what will be his his first national interview after winning a special election. Christian Menifee is about to be knee deep in this whole thing. We're going to talk to him first after we check in with Eric Watson, Bloomberg Congress reporter live on Capitol Hill right now. Eric, we've got our eyes on a Rules Committee meeting that starts at 4pm Will that give us a sense of how hard this is going to be?

[Eric Watson]

You know, the Rules Committee can gavel in and sometimes not finish for hours and maybe to the wee hours of the night. We really have to see what kind of side deals potentially the speaker of the House will cut with the House Freedom Caucus and other members. We have Anna Luna, one of the Freedom Caucus members, really demanding that a voter ID controversial voter ID bill called the SAVE act be attached to this funding package. You know, Democrats say this would create a Jim Crow like ID verification system that suppresses voter turnout. And Chuck Schumer felt compelled just to issue a statement saying there's no way this is going anywhere. So their imagination is going on. The issue for Johnson needs to pass a rule and traditionally no Democrats cross the aisle to help pass a rule. He's only got a one vote majority. So it takes one, you know, extra person, two people to really bring it down. So we're going to see what kind of imagination he's going for among the Democrats. They're divided progressives, as you said, do not want to vote for this, even two weeks of ICE funding. But you know, we confirmed that Steny Hoyer, you know, a longtime moderate in the House and Jim Clyburn were urging on a call yesterday that you should support this package. There's a lot of wins for Democrats in the underlying bill. So we see a split vote if it comes to a final vote. But the first hurdle is that rule and passing that probably sometime Tuesday.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, the speaker was talking a pretty confident game on Sunday morning television. Right. He says will be a vote Tuesday. He says he has the votes. Is that bluster? Perhaps a little bit of bluster.

[Eric Watson]

I mean, he wouldn't want to show weakness or fear because that would open up the demands. The bazaar would be open, as we say. He also made some interesting comments about an eventual and eventual, you know, ICE compromise. You know, he said that some things are amenable to them like body cameras, like ending roving patrols, but they have real issues with taking those masks off. There's a sense that, you know, members of ICE are being docs, their family threatened and this can be a real sticking point and make it very hard to get a deal in two weeks.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, it's not getting any easier here because there's a gentleman from Texas who's going to be sworn in today, Eric. We're going to be talking with him in just a moment when Christian Menifee is sworn in. This cuts Mike Johnson's margin of error to a single vote. The options are looking pretty thin here, aren't they?

[Eric Watson]

Well, one thing we could see is some moderate Democrats could cross the aisle. I talked to Henry Cuellar. He wouldn't tell me he's a moderate from Texas, Democrat. He, you know, he actually helped write the DHS full year bill. You know, could some of these people bail out Johnson? I think if there's one or two members like Luna really bringing it down, you could see that. But let's say the whole Freedom Caucus are 26 or 30. You probably don't have enough Henry Cuellars to help out. So you might not even do that. We'll have to see how this vote plays out.

[Rick Davis]

Right.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, we'll have a lot to check in on later today. Eric. Thank you. He lives on Capitol Hill and great to have reporting from Eric Watson at a time like this. Again, rules meets at 4. We'll be back on the late edition at 5pm Eastern to tell you where they are. They're probably still going to be knocking their heads together and those rules committee sessions can get pretty chippy. I've mentioned his name a few times. Get used to it. Christian Menifee just got to the nation's capital from Texas. Democrat won the special election on Saturday to fill a long vacant seat. Vacant for 332 days. That's how long ago, Sylvester Turner died. So when Mr. Menefee goes to Capitol Hill and he's sworn in by Mike Johnson again brings the margin to one now in his first national interview since winning that election. Christian Menefee with us now live on Bloomberg TV and radio. It's great to meet you. Thanks for coming in.

[Christian Menifee]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Joe Matthew]

Welcome to Washington. Yeah, just came straight from the airport.

[Christian Menifee]

Straight from the airport. And I never worked in D.C. politics or anything like that, so I really am a Houston guy out here right now.

[Joe Matthew]

Right. It's not always this cold. We don't always have this much ice, although you've got it in Texas as well, so you can understand. Are you going to be sworn in after this? What's the plan for today?

[Christian Menifee]

It's my hope. I haven't heard from the speaker's office, but all the conversations I've had with other folks have been positive. I think that Speaker Johnson may have even said publicly that he's dealing with a one vote margin, which would be an indication that he's. That he's gonna swear me in. I'm just excited to be here and to get to work. You know, we have a district that has been without representation for just under a year. Frankly, we should have had somebody in Congress a very long time ago. I'm glad that we're at this point and I'm excited to get to work.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, so what's this debate gonna be like surrounding the Department of Homeland Security? This is the first major debate in Washington, a national debate that you're jumping into. And Texas is no stranger to this debate. You're obviously a border state. You're one that's seen National Guard troops. You're one that is used actually seeing ICE enforcement, but seeing it in the middle of the country and seeing roving bands of ICE agents who are masked has had a very different look for a lot of Americans. Do you support the restrictions that Democrats are calling for to be put in place?

[Christian Menifee]

I would not be voting for funding for DHS in Houston. We are a community of immigrants, of folks from so many countries who have come, who participate in our economy, who run small businesses, who hire folks, who do fantastic work. And we believe in recognizing their dignity and their humanity. But instead, what we've seen is the president and Noem radicalize an agency so much so that they're terrorizing communities and executing people on the street. I believe very deeply that we should not allow ICE to do what it's been doing. And I look forward to one of my early Votes being to do everything I can to block additional funding to dhc.

[Joe Matthew]

So you're a no on this continuing resolution. What do you think about the bill that's being crafted to bring some new restrictions? We're hearing about no masks, body cameras, additional training. Is there more that you want to see?

[Christian Menifee]

Absolutely. I am supportive fully of ensuring that ICE is held accountable and that when they're out in our communities, they're conducting themselves in a way that is representative of the federal government. These folks should not be out there like thugs. They shouldn't be harassing and terrorizing people. And if they are going to be in the streets doing any type of law enforcement work, they shouldn't have masks on their face. They should be have recorded fully every single time they're doing something and not be in a situation where they're able to commit what we all know are crimes and protected by the President when they're doing so well.

[Joe Matthew]

Let's get real about what should happen. You said at your victory party that it's time to tear ICE up from the roots. Is that abolishing the agency or reforming it?

[Christian Menifee]

I support fully abolishing the agency.

[Joe Matthew]

Abolishing it.

[Christian Menifee]

I think you have to rip it down to the studs. Look, I believe that when you rip.

[Joe Matthew]

Something down to the studs, though, that usually means you're going to rebuild it. That's not so much abolished, that's replace.

[Christian Menifee]

No, no, I want to abolish it. I think you rip it down to the studs and when it comes back, it shouldn't be ICE anymore. It should be a different type of law enforcement agency that is built in a way that ensures that communities are going to be protected. You can't take something that was created and has been radicalized to this level, that has harmed so many people and try to have minor reforms on it in a way that you think is going to protect people. I think that they are far past the line. And after folks are executed in the street, it's time to tear it down.

[Joe Matthew]

I hear the principle that you're standing on. I've heard also a lot of Democrats say that this rings. It has the same ring as defund the police, which is something that a lot of progressives are still answering for because they felt like it was misunderstood. Do you feel like this could be misunderstood? No.

[Christian Menifee]

I think people in this country are smart enough to understand that when you have an agency that has gone this far, when people are being executed in the street, when they're conducting law enforcement operations with masks on because they don't want to be seen when they're doing wrong. When I go throughout my communities, people who are black, white, brown, from every single community, they want this to stop as soon as possible. And I think the president has shown that he's not someone that you can negotiate with and trust to act in good faith. So I don't think we're going to be misunderstood, and I think the voters will be with us.

[Joe Matthew]

There is a demand that many Democrats have as well that that new rules of the road are not enough. You're clearly one of them. But they also say you need a new head of the agency, the Department of Homeland Security, that a new cabinet official needs to be there. Kristi Noem must go. Whether that ends up being one of the demands on the table, I don't know. But we talked to Senator Elizabeth Warren about this late Friday. Here's what she said. I've been calling for Kristi Noem to be pushed out of jail. Is that part of a deal? I would love to see that as.

[Jeannie Shan Zaino]

Part of a deal. But the core of what we're asking for here, it shouldn't take us two hours to write this and put it together. It's abide by the same sets of.

[Joe Matthew]

Restrictions that every other public safety officer abides by. Do Democrats need to dig in on replacing Kristi Ngu?

[Christian Menifee]

Absolutely. I think she has shown that she is unable to lead this agency in a way that respects the dignity and the humanity of folks in this country. I think she has failed miserably and she needs to be out. And I fully support, and I've said this on the campaign trail, doing whatever we can to get her out of office.

[Joe Matthew]

There are articles of impeachment. We talked to the author, Representative Robin Kelly, who's got a number of signatures. I think she was beyond 170 last time we looked. Would you sign on to those?

[Christian Menifee]

Yes. Look, I fully support investigating every single thing she's done and proceeding with impeachment based on what the investigation reveals. But what we've seen so far is very clear evidence that she is unfit for the job and that we need to move on.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, Representative Elect, this is not the only issue that brings you to Washington. And I don't want to pigeonhole us to this single issue because you're about to begin a career as a representative in the United States Congress once this government reopens, assuming that it does at some point in the near term. What's important to you this year? There's a. There's a crypto Market structure bill that we've talked about a lot, but a pretty light agenda. And the, the conventional wisdom is you get into the midterm campaign cycle and the store closes.

[Christian Menifee]

Yeah.

[Joe Matthew]

What can this Congress get done this year?

[Christian Menifee]

What I'm going to be focused on out the gate is constituent services because my community has been without that in a real robust way for almost a year. But as far as national policy goes, I'm passionate about healthcare. You know, I grew up with a brother who suffered from childhood cancer. And the only reason we were able to afford his chemotherapy, his radiation, and ultimately the bone marrow transplant that saved his life was because my parents were service persons and they had military insurance. So I'm focused on making sure that health care is right and that no person out there has to choose between putting food on the table and getting life saving treatment that a family member needs.

[Joe Matthew]

You know, we ended last year thinking that there might be a deal on ACA subsidies which forced the last shutdown. There was a bill that many Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for a couple of weeks back. Nobody's even talking about that right now. What are you hearing from party leaders as you arrive in Washington?

[Christian Menifee]

Well, I haven't had many conversations yet. I just got off the, off the airplane. But look, I believe very deeply that we need to restore the subsidies. I'm talking to so many people in my communities who are seeing their premiums jump substantially and they're terrified because these are folks who have relied on having a low deductible for such a long time. And now they know that they're going to be in a position to where maybe they're not going to afford the health care that they need. So I look forward to that conversation coming back up. But I fully support universal health care in this country because I just believe that health care is the right and no person should have to choose between those two things.

[Joe Matthew]

So what are you in for? You need an office, you need furniture, you need a staff. Does all that happen now?

[Christian Menifee]

A map? The whole nine? You know, I didn't work in D.C. politics at all, so this is all new to me. But in my entire career, I've been placed in new situations and I've been able to work it out. I took over an office called the Harris County Attorney's office. Third largest county in the country, 300 person office. I ran the whole office. I had people working there who had been practicing law longer than I had been alive. I was able to figure that out. I think I'll be able to figure out the halls of Congress as well.

[Joe Matthew]

I'm sure that's right. You know, just in our remaining moment, there was another race that a lot of people are talking about from last week, and it managed to flip a Senate seat to the Democratic Party in Texas that a lot of people didn't see coming. It wasn't on a lot of radars. Will we make a mistake if we turn this into a bellwether, a trend story, or is this about that district?

[Christian Menifee]

It's incredibly important. What happened out in Tarrant County? Look, this is a county that historically is Republican. The margins are pretty slim. But this Senate district was overwhelmingly won by President Trump the last time he ran. I think what you're saying is people recognize the incompetency that's coming out of this presidential administration. So I look forward to this 20, 26 statewide campaigns, we're saying. And I'll be doing every single thing I can to make sure that more districts flip the way that that one did.

[Joe Matthew]

Good luck getting settled. I hope we can catch up once you get in office and a staff and everything else to get the ball rolling. And we'll let you know when this man gets sworn in. The newest member of Congress, Christian Menefee, the Democrat from Texas with us live on Bloomberg. Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much more coming up after this.

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[Joe Matthew]

We talk politics here in Washington. With a partial government shutdown now on day three, and it's pretty unclear how long this is going to last. It could end tomorrow. Mike Johnson says he does have the votes and plans to bring these spending bills and continuing resolution for Homeland Security to the floor. But it just might not be as easy as that. When you hear from the rank and file inside the Republican conference, there's a lot of consternation about what might be going on here. The Freedom Caucus is not a fan, by the way. Democrats in the House are not a fan. Even as some members of leadership say they will vote for this. Others will not be caught dead voting for even a two week extension of Department of Homeland Security funding. It's all about optics. That funding came from the big beautiful bill. This is about making commercials in campaign season and it cuts both ways, which is where we start with our political panel. Bloomberg Politics contributors Rick Davis and Jeannie Shannon Zaino are back with us. Rick is our Republican strategist and a partner at Stone Court Capital. Jeannie, our Democratic analyst and democracy visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center. Jeannie, what do you make of Democrats in the House who even with the COVID from leadership, say they will not be caught voting for DHS funding? Is it as simple as what I just said? You end up in a 30 second ad voting for this, knowing that all the money came from the big beautiful bill, or is it more nuanced than that?

[Jeannie Shan Zaino]

I think it's partly that, but I think more importantly, you just, in your really wonderful interview with the new new new to be in Congress, representative from Texas, he made it very clear what is going on on the ground. That is what all the polls are showing. That is what special election results are showing. That people on the ground, particularly independents and moderates, are looking at what is going on in Minneapolis and elsewhere with ICE and immigration and they are saying, oh no, this is not the America. I know this even if I voted for Donald Trump, this is not what I voted for. So I think Democrats in Congress and likely some Republicans are reacting to that. And you know, I can't help but wonder, did the White House and did, quite frankly, the Democrats in the Senate make a mistake by not bringing Hakeem Jeffries into the negotiations that were had last week? Because had they brought him in, potentially they could have made a deal that would have at least allowed some Democrats to come over. I don't understand the logic of keeping him out of that little, that little group and the agreement because they knew darn well they had to go to the House immediately. So, so that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But here we are and he's got some many members who feel exactly like the new representative from Texas.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, I want to hear from Rick on this because Ro Khanna helps to exemplify the split between the Senate and the House on this. In fact, he just posted on X. Rick, another reason I will be voting no on the Senate amended appropriations bill which includes more security assistance to Israel than ever before. He's retweeting a video of Chuck Schumer who's talking about the aid that Israel needs and how he will continue to fight for it. Ro Khanna says no House Democrat should vote yes on a bill that leaves in place triple ICE funding and massive aid to Israel. Was this a huge failure in leadership to not bring everyone to the table?

[Rick Davis]

Well, usually the Senate's used to jam in the House. And I suspect that that's exactly the methodology that they were usually not a good voice of reason between the two chambers. And, and for certainly quite some time, we've seen very little coordination, even amongst Republican leadership, nevertheless, across the aisle. And so, yeah, no, this is, this is a factor. But look, I mean, it only matters when the counting is done, right? And is Ro Khanna going to vote against a Democratic caucus that's going to say, hey, you know, we want all the changes that we got on health care in this, you know, appropriations bill, it's the Homeland Security bill we got to worry about. And let's just isolate that. I would say the one thing not to miss is sure they're not going to have much of an impact on the budget of the ICE or Homeland Security group. But at the end of the day, they're doing this to get leverage on reforms and that they can get done in this cycle. And so what you see, I think with Democrats, sure, there's some electioneering going on. They're making some good video. But what they also want is a new deal on requirements that ICE and border security folks and others who are doing the things in these communities that Congressman Manafee was talking about, they want reforms there. And so but I would say just on that interview with Congressman Manafee, I mean, he's the newest member of Congress. He's got a lot to learn. I'm sure he'll Be fantastic. But the idea of dropping a bomb that says defund ice, I mean I guarantee even Ocasio Cortez is going to grab him and say hey, we're not saying that stuff anymore. So we'll see the education of Representative Manafee.

[Joe Matthew]

That's really interesting, Rick, which is why I wanted to ask him about that. Jeannie, do you agree Democrats need to be careful with the idea of abolish ice? It sounds like defund the police and we know how well that resonated. And are these negotiations going to be as fruitful as Democrats hope for? GOP leaders were very clear yesterday that the two, well, two of the biggest demands Democrats have no masks on agents faces and obtain judicial warrants ahead of operations are non starters. So are we going to be sitting here two months from now talking about it?

[Jeannie Shan Zaino]

Absolutely, Joe. I was just thinking the same thing. I mean we're talking, you know, best case scenario this gets through today or tomorrow. As the speaker said, if that happens, we buy two weeks and we will be right back here. Because it's hard to imagine a universe where in 11 days they agree to things that over the weekend the speaker of the House said are nonstarters. Like you mentioned, the mass masks, the IDs and then of course the judicial warrants. So that is going to be huge stumbling blocks. I'm not sure how they get there given where they're starting, but certainly not in 11 days. And so I'm hard pressed to imagine that we don't see another continuing resolution on the 13th and buy more time so they can try to sort this out. You know, on the defund ICE issue, I think what, what the representative was saying is something we've heard a lot of. He said defund ICE and replace it with a security force that meets what people in the United States expect. And I think that's a very different message. And so yes, there's some consternation on the left about using that phraseology. The reality is we do need border security, we need immigration security. We need that certainly, but we cannot have it in the form it is practiced. Now when you've got a five year old with a bunny hat on being sent to detention in Texas and being told by ICE agents to go to the door and try to get his mother out of the House, this is what people are sitting home watching. It is unacceptable. And that is why people are pushing back in the huge numbers that they've been pushing back even in really red districts like we saw over the weekend in Texas.

[Joe Matthew]

President calls that story fake news because apparently the man's father or the boy's father took office and the man left him there. If John Thune's math is right or his gut check on the math is right and Jeannie's right here, Rick, that puts us. You've got three two week CR is we're in the middle of March now. Is that what people should brace for?

[Rick Davis]

They might. This is a pretty incendiary issue. Now that it's getting isolated, you can have a legitimate debate about what you're willing to compromise around. There are Republicans, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis who are willing to discuss some of the reform measures, you know, like warrants for, for immigration enforcement officers, you know, stopping ICE patrols wandering the streets. They're all for rolling up the bad guys. And that was what Donald Trump campaigned for. And he's got full support from the Republican caucus in the Senate and House for that. But when you have ICE patrols, just one around the streets and pulling people over, it's well beyond stop and frisk. Right? It's stop and arrest.

[Joe Matthew]

Yeah.

[Rick Davis]

And, and I think that's what Republicans are willing to take a look at. So, yeah, there's room to get a deal here. Just depends upon how much political, I would say, sandpaper gets in the way of, of rubbing this thing to the point where it'll actually work.

[Joe Matthew]

Really interesting. I should note Hakeem Jeffries has called a news conference for 4pm Eastern time, couple hours from now that would coincide with the start of that Rules Committee hearing. So maybe he'll have some, some new direction for the rank and file on this. You've both mentioned Christian Menifee, the representative elect from Texas. I'm getting a lot of Twitter traffic on this. Boy, people are listening and watching today. That was not the only race. In fact, some would suggest, and think many would, that the other race in Texas is the one that we should be talking about. Taylor Reman. We mentioned this briefly with the representative elect. This is a state Senate seat not coming to Washington. What a runoff for this district that is conservative, that Donald Trump won by a lot. Here's a sense of what he had to say after in terms of treating this as a bellwether. Listen, I can't speak to that. All I can speak to is the hard work that my campaign, the community here put into this. And we're looking forward to doing this some more and really just, you know, having fun doing.

[Eric Watson]

I'm honored to be able to do it.

[Joe Matthew]

This is, you know, I serve my country.

[Eric Watson]

I serve in my workers union and.

[Joe Matthew]

I cannot wait to serve in Senator for Senate District 9, Tarrant County, Rick Davis, Donald Trump carried the district by 17 percentage points in 2024. Should Republicans worry about a story like this? Sure.

[Rick Davis]

I mean, there's always a precautionary note right when Trump at Those margins, over 400,000 people voted in that election, less than 100,000 voted in this one. So comparing turnout in a presidential year to a special election is always difficult. You know, just as many Democrats didn't turn out as Republicans, it's just in a smaller cohort. And we've talked about this before, Democrats have a higher turnout.

[Joe Matthew]

Rick Davis and Jeannie Shan Zaino, our great panel will be back with us on the late edition of Balance of Power. Thanks to you both. Let you get back to breaking up ICE here in the meantime, and we'll keep our eyes on what's happening on Capitol Hill. As we mentioned, that Rules Committee meeting will be underway in a couple of hours and give us a good sense of where we're headed. I'm Joe Matthew in Washington. This is Bloomberg. Stay with us on Balance of Power. We'll have much more more coming up after this.

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[Joe Matthew]

Thanks for being with us on the Monday edition of Balance of Power, Bloomberg TV and Radio. I'm Joe Matthew. It's the Monday edition and this is going to be an important day when we look back at what takes place on Capitol Hill. We're going to speak in a moment with Congressman Subramaniam about this. A government shutdown, Well, a partial shutdown. You know how this goes. We're all getting to be experts on this. After setting records last year, this time's a little different. We've got a series of agencies, six of them, that are shuttered now until the House follows the Senate on what it passed Friday, including a two week continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security. That's the sticky part there because getting this done in the House might be more complex. The speaker would like to see a vote tomorrow and there are certain factions of both Republican and Democratic rank and file that do not want to vote. Yes. We could find ourselves in a series once again of continuing resolutions, at least on that one agency. We'll see how this goes. A Rules Committee meeting is set, a hearing for a couple of hours from now to get the ball rolling, at least on the procedural side of all of this. This follows the Friday release of millions of records from the Epstein files. The Justice Department out with a massive tranche that dropped Friday. And we're told this is going to be it, even though there are millions of files that were not and apparently will not be released by the doj, despite the law that the president signed mandating all of their release, the complete and total release of redacted files. And that's where this story gets to be a little more complicated. We're looking at 2,000 videos, thousands of more photos, of course, so many documents that are in some cases redacted, but also not. Todd Blanche was not pleased with some of the questioning on Sunday morning because there have been rooms full apparently of lawyers at the DOJ combing through documents, but apparently not enough. A review here finds that 43 of 47 victims, full names were left unredacted in the files, including many who were minors when they were abused. The disclosures are raising a lot of questions here about not only compliance with the law, the Epstein Files Transparency act, but also the way the DOJ is pursuing this. Now. Of course, it wasn't just this law that was born out of a discharge petition. The House Oversight Committee spent much time reviewing and releasing tens of thousands of Epstein files, of course, a Republican led committee. But Congressman Suhas Subramanian, the Democrat from Virginia's 10th district serves on oversight and is with us right now, as a matter of fact, live from Capitol Hill on what is day three of our partial shutdown. Congressman, it's good to see you. I'd like to start with the way in which these files are being released. Will oversight follow up on these redactions or lack thereof?

[Suhas Subramaniam]

Well, I certainly plan to, and I know many of the Democrats on the committee will as well. The reality is this was over 40 days late and they are withholding another two and a half million files, at least by their own admission. And they're saying the reason they withheld those files is to protect the victims. Yet even what they released did not protect the victim. So it seems like what they're doing best is protecting some of the president's friends or some of the perpetrators rather than bringing the transparency and accountability that the American people want. So we're certainly going to continue. There's other avenues where we're going to try to get documents and records and evidence. But certainly this is not over.

[Joe Matthew]

Interesting. I know this is, as I mentioned, it's we've got a Republican majority. Is this something that might have to wait for when Democrats are in charge?

[Suhas Subramaniam]

I hope not. There have been Republicans who are cooperative with us, who have voted with us on some of these subpoenas. You know, we've had to drag some of the majority through this, but they have followed at times because we know that this is a bipartisan issue. Even many Republicans feel like there needs to be accountability and transparency when it comes to this. So we hope it doesn't have to wait that long, but it's been a long time. We put out a subpoena in August of last year. They said last March that they had the files ready to release and all redacted. And so I'm not quite sure why they're a day late and a dollar short when it comes to this release.

[Joe Matthew]

What about the files that have not been released? DOJ still has several million according to to reports. Will they ever see the light of day?

[Suhas Subramaniam]

They will see the light of day. It's just about when I will say that there are a lot of things we've been looking for, like some of the victims statements to law enforcement, a lot of the draft indictments that were going to be filed against Jeffrey Epstein that were dropped when he got the sweetheart deal. There's several things that are missing right now that we were looking for for and the reality is I think there's a reason they're they're withholding them, it's pretty clear that they're trying to protect some people. And this entire case is not just about the crimes that were committed by Epstein and Maxwell and others. It's also about the COVID up and why, when people were able to cover up these crimes and who covered up these crimes and how we prevent that in the future.

[Joe Matthew]

You just start wondering if we're going to be talking about this for the rest of our lives. Congressman, you mentioned the COVID up and an attempt to hide, I think, the President's friends. You suggested. Rephrase that. If I'm not doing a good job. What makes you think that that's the case when we've seen a number of Democrats like Bill Clinton in these files as well?

[Suhas Subramaniam]

Yeah, you know, I've said from the very beginning it doesn't matter if they're a Democrat or a Republican, everyone should face consequences even if they can't in the court of law because of, you know, statutes of limitation, you know, at least in the court of public opinion. And we've seen, you know, members of the monarchy lose their titles. We've seen people lose their board seats. That's the kind of reckoning that should happen to anyone who was involved or engaged in some of these crimes. I think the reality is, though, the President himself, according to Marjorie Taylor Greene and others, has said that, you know, releasing all the files will hurt a lot of his friends. Right. And so I'm just using the President's words. And the reality is, you know, if he wanted to be completely transparent about this, he would have released the files last year because he campaigned on this. There's no reason not to unless you're trying to hide something. But any case, we will find the information. We're also subpoenaing the banks and financial institutions as well. We have, you know, testimony coming up from multiple witnesses. You're close with Epstein, so we're going to continue our investigation regardless of what the administration does.

[Joe Matthew]

Well, you get points for consistency when it comes to Bill Clinton. You did vote to hold Bill Clinton in civil contempt after being subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee. You said your goal is to hear from the Clintons or anyone else who might have information about Jeffrey Epstein. Congressman, what's this going to lead to?

[Suhas Subramaniam]

You know, the Clintons are an interesting case because I don't think they have a lot of information. I think a big reason why they've been targeted is because they're a political enemy of the President. You know, I supported civil contempt just to put pressure on them to Come to the table and work with us. But the majority here, probably by Trump's direction, is going after criminal contempt so they can put the Clintons in jail, even though the Clintons have offered to come in and testify for four hours. The one thing, the sticking point, it seems, is the Clintons don't want it to be a marathon deposition about everything, and not just Epstein, about everything that they've ever done in their careers. Right. That's what Republicans want to do, is drag them through that. And I think that's understandable because this subpoena is specifically about their involvement with Epstein, which is what I want to hear as well. So I don't support criminal contempt, which is going to be voted on by the entire House this week, but I do support at least putting pressure on them to come forward.

[Joe Matthew]

That's an important distinction. Congressman, we're on day three of a partial government shutdown. That takes on a whole different look in the state of Virginia, where we have so many federal employees, defense contractors, members of the military. I'll remind everybody that partial means right now, Treasury, Defense, Health, labor. And the sticking point, Homeland Security. Go unfunded for now. I know Rules is going to be meeting in about two hours. Is this bill, as you understand it, going to go to the floor tomorrow? Would you vote? Yes.

[Suhas Subramaniam]

Well, it's important to see what Rules does, because the two sticking points for me are the Department of Defense and DHS and Homeland Security. The reason is because of the way those secretaries in charge of those, those agencies have operated. You know, Secretary Noemi called for her resignation. I've called for impeachment, because the reality is she's not running that, that agency in the way it's supposed to. And they, they're basically a paramilitary right now. It is. They are going far beyond their mandate. And so to continue to fund them is outrageous. There's no reason to do that unless we see some real changes. And I'm, I'm tired of promises. So the reality is I've been given assurances over and over again and have people go back on those assurances. And so this is our time to put pressure. You know, we're in the minority. We don't have the votes normally, but in this case, I think we need to make a point. And, you know, hopefully they will come to the table and we will get through this, because I don't want to shut down either. We have a lot of federal workers and contractors, and I want to make sure that they're protected as well.

[Joe Matthew]

Congressman, it's Good to have you back. I wonder how many continuing resolutions we need on Homeland Security, but we'll find out together. Congressman Suha Subramaniam, Democrat from Virginia. Thank you for the insights. Thanks for listening to the Balance of Power podcast. Make sure to subscribe if you haven't already at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can find us live every weekday from Washington, D.C. at Noontime [e-mail] Janice Torres here and I'm Austin Hankwitz. We host the podcast Mind the Business.

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