Congressman Robert Garcia (3:31)

I think you're absolutely correct. I mean, let's be crystal clear about this moment. What we essentially have is the Department of Justice threatening members of Congress to essentially be prosecuted for being opposition to what the administration is trying to do. And what I think is really important is we know that right now Elon Musk is working to dismantle what we know as the social safety net, Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education that provides so much support for families climate policies. And at this moment, Democrats need to be in this fight for democracy. We actually need to be aggressive in the way we take on this dismantling of, of our federal institutions. And what now what Donald Trump and Elon Musk are saying is actually Democrats, you shouldn't say anything and in fact you should police your language. And in fact you can't even use figures of speech to actually say things like we should be fighting with everything that we've got. And so I think that this is all incredibly concerning. But I wanna also be clear, we're not going to stand down. We've gotta continue to push back and to move forward. And I think that it's really, I think what you said is really quite shameful that this person who has defended January Sixers, he has defended the insurrection, is now targeting members of Congress.

Listener/Caller (5:00)

What my biggest concern is right now, I mean there are Several, I mean, J.D. vance spouting Putin talking points on the world stage, that's a big one. But here at home, I am so concerned that Elon Musk is single handedly just demolishing agencies, cutting waste, which is really not waste, with zero transparency. The numbers he has given us that he's cut all of this money have been immediately found to be fabricated. There's zero transparency. There seems to be no accountability. Where do we move from here on getting transparency from this person that is just dismantling the U.S. government?

Congressman Robert Garcia (5:42)

I think first it's completely crazy what is happening right now. I think what's really important is Democrats in Congress. We need to match the energy that's on the ground. Right? We need to match the anger that people feel out across this country. And we are starting to see that. The protests that we're seeing, that people are out there saying, hell, no. The actions that are being taken place in front of our federal agencies trying to stop folks from coming in and disrupt and stop our programs, these are actually having an impact. The court cases, we're now winning more cases in court in stopping some of these federal funding freezes. All of this matters. What also matters is that members of Congress speak out forcefully in committees, on the floor, in hearings, at rallies. And the efforts that are happening right now is essentially trying to silence that. And so we've got to double down on being tough, on being aggressive, and on matching the energy on the ground. Remember, Republicans, traditionally, especially in the Trump era, they fight with everything that they've got. They're aggressive and they're tough. We've got to match that toughness to ensure that we don't destroy what we love so much about this country.

Host/Interviewer (7:00)

And I think you're hitting on something that is. There's a void right now. And in our message boards, in our comments section and on social media, people want to know that the Democrats give a damn that they see what we're seeing, that they see J.D. vance with a full eyeliner on the stage of Munich, basically giving a pro Putin speech. And our allies are now meeting behind our back, and who can blame them? And they are saying, why are Americans not in the streets? So I want to ask you, what can we do? Because there are millions of Americans watching this. And after Trump won the first time, we all put on our pink hats and marched, and he didn't know what the hell he was doing. And he still had some, you know, government there that kept it going. And we were able to have some guardrails. Well, he learned. And then he surrounded himself with far more dangerous people. And the people that he surrounds himself with are on the record saying they want to dismantle democracy. They are not fans of democracy. Donald Trump, I think he just wants to play golf and. And avoid prison. But I feel like we need this very direct instruction from you guys how to best support you. Like, do you think it's a good idea for you guys to even consider funding any of the budget that they want to, or should it just be across the board? No, we're not given an inch. You guys are handing the country over to Putin.

Congressman Robert Garcia (8:28)

Yeah. I mean, look, I think Project 2025 is here, right? Everything they said that they wanted to do that project 2025 so they wanted to do. We thought it was so extreme and so craz. They are doing it. They are implementing that handbook to essentially turn us away from being an actual democracy. Now, look, there's going to be a lot of debate about the right approach. I'll tell you what I think is the right approach. I think there's a growing consensus that this is the way to move forward. I think one is we cannot assume or expect this to be an era of bipartisanship. We're going to hold hands with Republicans and work to make the country better. That is not going to work. That they will steamroll over us every single chance they can. What we have to do in every single opportunity and moment that we have is to fight like hell and push back on these terrible policies. We've gotta call it out in Congress, we've call out in the media, we've gotta be in all sorts of different online spaces and let folks know that what they're trying to do is going to harm their families. It's going to redistribute working class middle class wealth back to the richest people in this country, billionaires and large corporations. Then we've got to, besides just being opposing the bills that are in Congress, we also have to take action. I'll give you one example. When the federal funding freeze proposal came in to basically fund grants across the country, what happened? People rose up. There were millions of people in this country that flooded the congressional airwaves, that went on media programs that talked about the impacts of those nonprofits. And what happens, the Trump administration then has to essentially they revoke their decision. And they said, okay, fine, we're not gonna do this at this moment because they heard actual public pressure. And that public pressure came also to Republican senators and Republican members of Congress. And so the public has actually stopped some really horrific things from happening. But they've gotta be vocal out there and engage with members of Congress and representatives. And I also think that peaceful demonstrations, protests when people are out there, marches, that actually does make an impact. The actual demonstrations, the actions that have taken place in Washington D.C. in front of federal agencies, have literally stopped meetings of the Doge Committee that were going to happen inside some of these federal agencies. And so those things matter and they're going to continue to grow. And I'll say right now our biggest tool is also through the courts. What's happening in the courts and what Democratic attorney generals are doing is making a huge impact. We're winning more cases right now than we're actually losing. And so that is actually stopping some of the chaos that is happening. And finally, I'll say this. The single most important thing that we, as a collective country, that we need to do is to fight fire with fire. And that Republicans are gonna try everything they can, as aggressively as they can, to ramrod and basically destroy your institutions. Members of Congress, governors, the public, grassroots organizers, folks in the media. We also have to mask that energy and be aggressive. We can't just sit back and allow them to roll over us. And so all of that is going to matter in the weeks ahead. And I think every week that goes by, the American public gets more upset, as they should. And we should continue to communicate that to members of Congress.

Listener/Caller (11:56)

Angie, one question that I have. Do you envision a situation where I know that you have asked for Elon Musk to come before the Oversight Committee and immediately the Republicans had a meltdown because they don't want transparency or accountability. What is your level of confidence that you can get Elon Musk and or some of his Doge associates, AKA Big Balls, in to discuss what they are doing to our institutions?

Congressman Robert Garcia (12:27)

I mean, unfortunately, I don't have a high level of confidence. We Democrats voted unanimously to bring Elon Musk in front of our Oversight Committee. The Republicans voted unanimously to oppose it. They have the majority. And so Elon Musk has. He has no desire to come and answer questions. He has no desire to actually be accountable for what he's doing. We have the richest man on the planet who is only getting richer by the day, who's only gotten more wealthy since Donald Trump got elected, essentially serving as co president alongside Donald Trump. And I agree that he is creating and trying to reform and change our government in his image, the way he wants it to be, so that he can continue to get big tax cuts and tax breaks and win more contracts for himself and for his companies. And so Elon Musk and his Doge team are not accountable to the public because the House majority has no interest in actually taking him on or taking on Donald Trump. And so that's why we've gotta continue to be loud and do what we can. We have a reality we face. We don't have the White House, we don't control the Senate, we don't control the House of Representatives. That's just the facts. But we do have his governorships, we have courageous members of Congress, and we have organizing on the ground that's happening to try to take some of these issues on. We've got to continue to be loud.

Host/Interviewer (13:48)

Okay, one final question. How wild is it that growing up our whole lives, Republicans were like, we're all about national security. We are so, you know, rah, rah, sis, boomba, national security. To see them be so weak to a very weakly positioned Vladimir Putin and to see how compromised they are or what shape shifters they are and how terrifying it is. And I just have this feeling, I have really bad feeling that it came out during the Biden administration that Elon Musk was having private conversations with Vladimir Putin. J.D. vance is BFFs with Peter Thiel. All of these people are on the permanent record saying they want to dismantle democracy. The person who benefits from that most is Vladimir Putin. And do you remember the stage five, I mean, stage five, hysterical meltdown that they had when Kamala Harris did an interview with Tim Walls? Oh, she has to have a babysitter. Yak, yak, blah, blah. I think that Elon Musk is Donald Trump's full time nanny. He is a full time babysitter. That Oval Office thing where he brought his kid in, could you imagine if a woman brought her kid into an office, the meltdown that Fox News would have? I feel like we're all sitting here watching this and we can talk about these little things that are going on and these little breakings that are happening in our institutions, but I really am terrified of this larger thing and why these Republicans, these national security Republicans and dipshits like this Edward R. Martin that wrote you this letter, trying to scare you, why are they also compromised of Vladimir Putin?

Congressman Robert Garcia (15:31)

I mean, I wish, I, I wish we knew. And I think we all have our suspicions. But look, Putin is a dictator. He has caused enormous, enormous harm, as you all know, to his own country, to his own people. He has and should be taken incredibly seriously as a national threat to the United States. And the fact that Donald Trump is cozying up to him and the fact that he's turned language support against Ukraine, calling essentially Ukraine somehow, saying that they started, they started when they were actually attacked by Putin. This conflict is crazy. And yet no national security Republicans are actually standing up and pushing back on Elon Musk and Donald Trump. So it's very concerning to be very concerned about what J.D. vance is doing. And we have to stand up for Ukraine and Europe understands this. And I hope that the American public and all the folks that are watching and listening to this understand that our reputation around the world is diminishing every single day. We are a laughingstock. People are concerned. They're viewing us saying what happened to the United States of America where they can't even stand by an ally stand against Putin. It is insanity and we've got to continue to call it out.

Host/Interviewer (16:53)

Congressman, I am glad to hear that you're not backing down. I'm glad that here to hear that you are not going to be intimidated by this clearly corrupt doj. What's so sad about it is I want to shout out all of the hardworking US Attorneys that have worked very hard for the Department of Justice for all of these years to see these morally compromised people like this Edward R. Martin, Jr. Come in and just fawn over Trump, January 6, Cop beaters and Elon Musk. It is so sad. But we're so happy, Congressman, that you're standing up to him and all of our listeners support you and you're welcome to come on here anytime. And we have, we cannot pre surrender. We have to exercise our free speech every single day. I that I believe with everything in me.

Congressman Robert Garcia (17:47)

That's right. Thank you so much. I agree 100%.

Host/Interviewer (17:49)

Thank you.

Listener/Caller (17:50)

Thank you for being here.