Episode 1010: Rick Scott – It's Time for the Senate to Do Its Job

Summary

---

Newt’s World, Episode 1010: Rick Scott – It’s Time for the Senate to Do Its Job

Host: Newt Gingrich | Guest: Senator Rick Scott
Date: July 15, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Newt Gingrich hosts Senator Rick Scott for an in-depth discussion on legislative gridlock in the U.S. Senate, the urgent need for election security reform via the Save America Act, and Scott’s recent “Dear Colleague” letter urging Senate Republicans to prioritize their work between now and the November midterms. The conversation balances personal recollections—particularly a tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham—with candid critiques of Senate culture and concrete proposals to restore public trust in Congress.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Remembering Senator Lindsey Graham (02:09–10:46)

• Personal Tribute:
  Gingrich opens with a heartfelt remembrance of Lindsey Graham, highlighting his resilience, generosity, and lifelong commitment to learning and reform.
• Bipartisan Humanity:
  Gingrich notes Graham’s adoption of his younger sister and the support for her Senate appointment as transcending partisanship.
  • “It’s about family and about human beings.” (Gingrich, 03:00)
• Graham’s Political Impact:
  Both Gingrich and Scott recall Graham’s energy and tenacity as a reformer on national security, support for allies, and commitment to big-picture goals.
  • “He was a force for good.” (Scott, 10:38)

2. Election Security & the Save America Act (10:46–12:26)

• Why the Act Matters:
  Scott explains the Act aims to protect the integrity of U.S. elections by requiring voter ID and ensuring only citizens can register.
  • “Our vote gets diluted when there’s fraud in the elections of this country.” (Scott, 11:08)
• Public Opinion:
  Scott points out overwhelming bipartisan voter support for stricter election rules—even as Democrats in Congress resist.
• Senate Inaction:
  Despite House passage, the bill remains stalled. Scott urges Senate leadership to “put it on the floor and debate it” as intended by Senate rules.

3. Senate Work Ethic & Gridlock (12:26–14:18)

• Work Schedule Critique:
  Scott observes that the Senate only works about 79 days a year, mostly Tuesday–Thursday.
  • “Most people work at least five days a week… We get paid $174,000 a year, plus expenses. So it’s not like we’re broke up here.” (Scott, 12:57)
• Consequences:
  This lack of commitment undermines progress on crucial legislation like the Save America Act and funding bills to prevent government shutdowns.

4. Culture of the Senate (14:18–17:09)

• Complacency & Election Cycle:
  Senators’ six-year terms create inertia and remove pressure for immediate accountability.
  • “A lot of people have said, ‘Oh, people don’t know what I’m doing back home, so it doesn’t matter.’” (Scott, 14:39)
• Contrast with Private Sector:
  Scott, drawing from his entrepreneurial background, argues that senators should treat taxpayers as their customers—delivering on campaign promises or risking electoral defeat.
  • “Every voter… is my customer. I told them what I was going to do. I’m hell-bent on doing it.” (Scott, 15:23)

5. The “Dear Colleague” Letter & Legislative Priorities (19:30–22:07)

• Organizing Senate Republicans:
  Scott runs the influential Wednesday “conservative lunch” to focus the caucus on real issues and drive results.
• Immediate Priorities:
  • 1. Pass the Save America Act.
  • 2. Prevent government shutdown (by passing funding bills or continuing prior spending levels if consensus fails).
• Broader Economic Reforms:
  Rising deficits, ballooning costs for homes and healthcare, and inflation are directly tied to government mismanagement, according to Scott.
  • “We’re running $2 trillion a year deficits right now… We’re not solving Americans’ problems.” (Scott, 20:39)

6. Need for Senate Discipline & Public Pressure (24:28–28:59)

• Organizational Challenge:
  Scott stresses that change won’t come from within the Senate, but from constituents forcing senators to act.
  • “I think the real key is what the public wants... Call every senator... and say you want the Save America Act passed.” (Scott, 26:15)
• Filibuster Clarification:
  It’s a misconception that 60 votes are required to pass a bill—60 ends debate; passage requires a simple majority.

7. Healthcare Transparency & Reform (27:33–30:32)

• Opaque Costs:
  Gingrich and Scott criticize hospital and insurance industry resistance to transparency, arguing that price secrecy and lack of market pressure drive up costs.
  • “There’s no reason that healthcare costs what it costs. The only reason is government involvement.” (Scott, 28:06)
• Hospital Accountability:
  Scott notes many hospitals are tax-exempt, refuse transparency, and block competitors via regulation.
  • “You want to be a part of the system that pays the taxes. That’s wrong… If you’re going to take federal money, you should be telling us exactly how much money you’re making.” (Scott, 29:29)

8. Rallies, Reform Tactics, and Political Courage (30:32–32:47)

• Call for Grassroots Action:
  Gingrich urges Republicans to mobilize visible, nationwide support for common-sense reforms.
  • “I would be having rallies and get the president to have rallies in every state on voter ID and voter registration and no non-Americans being allowed to vote.” (Gingrich, 31:10)
• Standing Up to Colleagues:
  Gingrich praises Scott’s willingness to challenge Senate colleagues’ complacency and press for substantial results.
  • “You’ve shown enormous courage in being willing to stand for what you believe.” (Gingrich, 32:20)
  • “That’s what we should be doing… If I’m not doing my job, you should call me.” (Scott, 32:25)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lindsey Graham:
  “He loved life, he loved his sister, he loved his country, he loved Donald Trump.” (Gingrich, 05:08)
• Senate Work Schedule:
  “We work Tuesday and Wednesday and then we go home at 1:45 on Thursday almost every week.” (Scott, 12:57)
• Legislative Mission:
  “We ought to do exactly what we told the public we were going to do.” (Scott, 32:25)
• Healthcare Transparency:
  “If you’re going to take federal money, our state money… you should have complete transparency.” (Scott, 29:39)
• Public Accountability:
  “Call every senator… say you want the Save America Act passed.” (Scott, 26:15)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Summary | |-------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:09–10:46 | Lindsey Graham tribute (personal, political, bipartisan) | | 10:46–12:26 | Save America Act explained—voter integrity, Senate stalling | | 12:26–14:18 | Critique of Senate’s lax work schedule, impact on legislation| | 14:18–17:09 | Causes of Senate inertia, private vs. public sector culture | | 19:30–22:07 | “Dear Colleague” letter—GOP caucus organization and focus | | 24:28–28:59 | The case for discipline, public pressure, filibuster reality | | 27:33–30:32 | Healthcare & hospital reform challenges | | 30:32–32:47 | Mobilizing grassroots, courage to demand Senate accountability|

---

Episode Tone & Style

The dialogue is urgent, stern, and at times frustrated—yet deeply rooted in practical, solution-oriented conservatism. Both Gingrich and Scott use accessible, plainspoken language intended for general audiences and repeatedly draw examples from business, history, and everyday life to illustrate their arguments.

---

Takeaway

Senator Rick Scott and Newt Gingrich critique the Senate’s lack of results and call for a wholesale return to work ethic, accountability, and public pressure. Election integrity and fiscal discipline must be prioritized—both through legislative action and direct engagement from American voters. The episode is a call to action for listeners who want to see Congress “do its job.”

Transcript

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

This is an I heart podcast.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Guaranteed human Amazon Pharmacy Presents Painful Thoughts

[Newt Gingrich]

it's been a long, bumpy road dealing with yet another bladder infection and driving to the pharmacy to pick up meds. I went over a pothole and a little pee came out. So now I get to stand in line with pee pee pants.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Next time, skip the pain and get fast free delivery. With Amazon Pharmacy Healthcare just got less painful.

[X Games Announcer]

The best skaters, BMX riders and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues. Until now. The X Games League Championship is live From New Orleans, July 24 through 26.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Three days of elite action sports, plus

[X Games Announcer]

performances from Metro Boomin, Jid, Subtronics and bunt watch on ABC, ESPN and ESPN 2. Stream on the ESPN app Roku Kick. Amazon and X Games YouTube. The inaugural champion gets crowned this July.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad, Lingokids, please.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

When did we become the Lingokids House?

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

This week it's Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Why Lingokids?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Because it's the best thing ever. We can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows, LingoKids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

So no dinosaurs and dinosaurs.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Lingokids everything kids love, download it for free.

[Firestone Tires Advertiser]

Real value shows up in reliability. You don't have to second guess. Like a set of Firestone All Season tires. They're designed to deliver confidence inspiring wet weather, traction and a quieter ride no matter the road, season after season. Firestone All Season tires for durability you can count on, just like people count on you. Firestone always dependable since 1900.

[Newt Gingrich]

Welcome to Newt's World podcast on the iHeart podcast network. Before we talk with my good friend Rick Scott, the former governor and current senator from Florida, I want to take just a minute to talk about Lindsey Graham. I think the more people have learned in the last few days, the more they realize what a remarkable person Lindsay was. He came out of a very poor background, worked very, very hard. His mother died of cancer and about a year and a half later his father died of a heart attack. Possibly the same genetic challenge that Lindsey faced when he flew back from Ukraine. Lindsey had a 13 year old sister and he promptly turned and said, I'm going to take care of you. You're not going to be alone. And he did. In fact, he ultimately adopted her so that she would be eligible for his military pension and his military health benefits. And they literally were together all the way up to the day he died. And it's, I think, a wonderful thing that President Trump supported having her replace him during the last part of his Senate term, and that the governor agreed to do that. And I just think it's one of those moments where, you know, you reach beyond partisanship, ideology, and it's about family and about human beings. I've known Lindsay since 1994. He was an astonishing character. He was always on. He was always positive. He always had energy. I don't care how tired he was, he had energy. We would talk sometimes on a Saturday evening. I was going to golf with Trump on Sunday, and we would plot about some project or some issue. He had this knack of just bouncing back again and again. He was very aggressive. And you can see if you go look at his first speech on the House floor, the very first day we're in session, the very first day we had a Republican majority in 40 years. And he's right there talking about being a reformer, being committed to change, and he never changed. We would talk about a lot of different issues. We were working together on Ukraine, on balancing the budget, on a whole range of issues. And what struck me, in trying to explain Lindsey, was that he was filled with love. He loved life. He loved his sister, he loved his country. He loved Donald Trump. Originally, he was one of Trump's meanest and toughest opponents. But once Trump won the nomination, Lindsey just thought, you know, he is going to be president and it would be good to be a friend. And he became a genuine friend. I would talk to him many times, either on a Saturday, just before he golfed on Sunday morning, or after he got off the course with Trump later on Sunday. And I think part of the reason they golf so often is that from Trump's perspective, Lindsey was just fun. He was a pretty good golfer, but also he was just a barrel of energy, I guess I'd say two other things about Lindsay he learned his whole life. He had no illusions. He came up to me when we had our 40th anniversary celebration of the contract. He said I was really aggressive and really tough. And when I look back, I think maybe you were right more often than I was. He was very humble about it, and he was right when he came in, he was just very hard charging. But he always learned, and he was always willing to bounce back. The other thing was, Lindsay was about big things, not little things. He was about defeating the Russians. He was about protecting America. He was about balancing the budget. This was a guy who thought as long as he was here on earth, and he was taking up time and space. He was going to use it for the best possible outcome. We're all going to miss him. He leaves a big hole and we're not going to see his like again for a long time. Coming up, Senator Rick Scott joins me to talk about the Save America act, the election security bill that's already passed the House three times and is still stuck in the Senate. And the dear Colleague letter he just sent his fellow Senate Republicans laying out his plan for the months between now and the November midterms. That's next.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts why

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

did I search the Internet for answers to my cold sore problem?

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

filled with images of alarmingly graphic source in various stages of ooze. I can clear my search history, but

[Newt Gingrich]

I can never unsee that.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast. Healthcare just got less painful.

[X Games Announcer]

The best skaters, BMX riders and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues. Until now. The X Games League Championship is live From New Orleans, July 24th through 26th.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Three days of elite action sports, plus

[X Games Announcer]

performances from Metro Boomin Jid Subtronics and bunt watch on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 stream on the ESPN app Roku Kick. Amazon and X Games YouTube. The inaugural champion gets crowned this July.

[Senator Rick Scott]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan. Required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Dad, Disney activities are on Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

What?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Moana and Elsa and Marvel's Spider Man.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

All of them on Lingokids?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Yes, dad,

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

that's pretty cool.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

I know you just lost them for the rest of the afternoon.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Worth it.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Full of fun activities inspired by Disney's Moana, Frozen Zootopia, Marvel's Spider man and more. Lingokids is where little ones discover more about favorite characters.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Lingokids Everything kids love. Download it for free.

[Newt Gingrich]

I am really pleased to welcome my guest and my very good friend Senator Rick Scott. Rick represents the state of Florida in the U.S. senate, first elected in 2018 after serving two terms as the 45th governor of Florida. And I have to say, a great deal of Florida's growth started with Rick as governor. He's a great entrepreneur in the Senate. He chairs a special committee on aging and also sits on the Armed Services Budget, Foreign Relations and Homeland Security and Government affairs committees. He's one of the loudest voices in the Senate pushing to pass the Save America act. And he's here to talk about that fight and about a dear colleague letter he just sent to Senate Republicans laying out exactly how he thinks they should spend their time between now and Election Day in November. Rick, welcome and thank you for joining me on News World New.

[Senator Rick Scott]

It's always great to be with you. Thank you for all your support and thank you for staying engaged because you're a big voice of reason and getting things done in this country.

[Newt Gingrich]

We both lost a very dear friend with Senator Lindsey Graham, who died at 71 after a very brief illness. I served with Lindsey in the House. He served right there next to him. And you know how much, how big a force he was in the Senate.

[Senator Rick Scott]

I'm back in D.C. i got back yesterday and it's a sad place. Lindsay was a wonderful person. He was a humble person. Whatever he cared about, he cared about it. He cared about this country. He knew the difference between good and evil. He supported our allies. He was probably the biggest supporter of Ukraine, probably the biggest supporter in the Senate with Israel. He knew that Putin, the Ayatollah Shi are despicable people. What a wonderful person. He also, he's one of the few people that came and campaigned for me in 18 when I ran for the Senate when no one thought I could win, and also supported me when I ran against McConnell to be the leader in 22 because I knew we had to change the Senate. So he was a force, like you said, a force for good.

[Newt Gingrich]

He'll be missed by a lot of us. And I know for the president, the loss of a very close friend and golfing companion, and I think it really saddened President Trump. Now, you've played a major role in trying to move the Save America Act. Could you walk our listeners through why is the Save America act so important?

[Senator Rick Scott]

Well, our vote gets diluted when there's fraud in the elections of this country. We just watched Spencer Pratt's race out in the LA mayor's race recently where there's all this evidence that they were paying homeless people to vote for Karen Bass is so illogical. You have to use an ID for almost everything else in life. But the Democrat senators don't want. You have to have an ID to vote. Democrats, Republicans, Independents across the country think, sure, you have to have an ID to vote. Sure you have to be an American citizen to register to vote. You ought to be able to prove that only basically now elected Democrats at the national level are against it. We've got to get this done. So what I'm hopeful is the Senate has been on recess for two weeks. Hopefully as people traveled their state like I did mine, they talked to the people in their state and they're saying get this passed. We want our elections to be secure. We don't want our votes diluted by somebody that's not an American citizen or didn't have a right to vote and all these things. And so it's so basic. So I'm hopeful that our leadership in the Senate will say we're going to take the time to get this passed. It'll take some time. It's going to take saying we're going to put it on the floor and we're going to debate it like that's what we're supposed to be doing up here, debate things. And at the end we don't have to have 60 votes to pass a bill. We have to have 60 votes to say we're done talking, we're going to vote down. That's the way the Senate was supposed to work.

[Newt Gingrich]

Knowing your background as a very successful entrepreneur and the work ethic that enables you to be successful, you just published an op ed in Fox News pointing out that the Senate has only been in session 79 days this year, about 40% of the time, usually arriving late on Monday and leaving by Thursday afternoon. How does that lack of even showing up? How does that affect bills as fundamental as the Save America Act?

[Senator Rick Scott]

Well, how do you get anything done? I mean, so most people work at least five days a week. Most business people work probably seven days a week. Because if you want a business you're on call every second, right? So what I was shocked when I came up here. I thought when I got elected in 18, I thought it'd come up Sunday night or early Monday morning and then I'd go home after work on Friday, right? No, we have a vote at 5:30 on Monday night. We work Tuesday and Wednesday and then we go home at 145 on Thursday almost every week. So how do you get stuff done? It's not like we don't get paid. We get paid. I think $174,000 a year, and we get all of our expenses paid for. So it's not like we're broke up here. Paid a lot more than average Americans paid. So I don't get it. Here's what we got to get done. We have to get the Save America act passed. So let's vote on that. Let's vote on parts of it. Let's vote on it, see what we can get done. That's Number one. Number two is Democrats want to shut down government October 1st. We cannot keep shutting down government. They've shut down government three times already. This has got to stop. We've got to fund government. If we can't agree on a spending bill, let's say we're not going to shut down government. We're just going to continue spending the way we did last year. Is it the right way to run a business? No, we can't shut down government. It makes no sense. There's other things to do. But those two things we have got to put all of our effort into. That's more important than anything else we can talk about up here.

[Newt Gingrich]

You and I have talked about this a lot because you've been consistently frustrated with the culture of the Senate. And I asked this carefully because I was the speaker of the House. I'm not a creature of the Senate. But it does seem to be people are comfortable not getting anything done. I mean, it's kind of weird.

[Senator Rick Scott]

I think one thing new, you get elected every six years. And so a lot of people, in contrast to the House, people are not up every two years. And so I think some people have said, oh, people don't know what I'm doing back home. So it doesn't matter. I've looked at it like when I ran For Governor in 2010, I had all these plans. I put them all first day in the job. I said, we are going to solve all these. My biggest one was I said, we're going to get 700,000 jobs in seven years because the state had lost 832,000 jobs. We actually got 1.7 million. And I think the same way we ought to all put out and say, what do we campaign on? Because when we go campaign, there's not a Republican that's campaigning that doesn't support the Save America Act. Right. We all do. And so we ought to say, okay, so if we're going to get that done, the only way we're going to get that done is either get rid of the filibuster or make people talk on the floor until they're tired of talking and then vote. I don't understand why there's not a more result oriented process. Because that's where I had to do in business. Customers. If I didn't do a good job, I would lose my customers. Hospital business. I took care of 150,000 patients a day. If I didn't have the best outcomes, the best patient satisfaction, the best price, guess what? There's competition. When I was in manufacturing companies, there was always competition. We should think the same way. Every voter of Florida is my customer. I told them what I was going to do. I'm hell bent on doing it. And that's what everybody should be thinking.

[Newt Gingrich]

That's what I find so frustrating and confusing, frankly, because you have the issue you care about. For example, should people be American citizens in order to vote? Overwhelming support. Should Americans show an ID in order to vote? Overwhelming support. And yet a number of the members seem completely indifferent. They don't care that that's what the voters think. How does that work?

[Senator Rick Scott]

The only way I can think is that they don't think their voters care. During recess, I was down at the Republican Party of Florida and to a person, the first thing every person saved me is when are you going to get the Save America act passed to a person? I hope we'll sit down tomorrow at lunch with all the Republican senators and my hope is when people have gone back home and they've heard what their voters are talking about, they're saying we have got to get this passed. We gotta get the past to do our job. We gotta get this pass to win elections in November. We gotta do it because it's the right thing to do for every American. And I hope the Democrats come to the same conclusion.

[Newt Gingrich]

When we come back, Senator Scott will walk us through the letter itself. The Dear Colleague memo he just sent Senate Republicans laying out exactly how he thinks they should spend every session day between now and the midterms.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Amazon Pharmacy presents painful Thoughts of course

[X Games Announcer]

I see my co worker lied at the pharmacy. Can he tell I'm picking up prescription hemorrhoid cream? I'm probably standing weird.

[Newt Gingrich]

Why is he smiling?

[X Games Announcer]

He knows he's going to call me Hemorrhoid Lloyd tomorrow.

[Newt Gingrich]

I know it.

[X Games Announcer]

I gotta quit my job.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Next time avoid awkward conversations and get fast free delivery. With Amazon Pharmacy, healthcare just got less painful.

[X Games Announcer]

The best skaters, BMX riders and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues. Until now. The X Games League championship is live From New Orleans, July 24 through 26

[Lingokids Advertiser]

three days of elite action sports.

[X Games Announcer]

Plus performances from Metro Boomin, JID Subtronics and Bunt watch on ABC, ESPN and ESPN 2. Stream on the ESPN app Roku Kick, Amazon and X Games YouTube. The inaugural champion gets crowned this July.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Dad, Disney activities are on Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

What?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Moana and Elsa and Marvel's Spider Man.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

All of them on Lingokids?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Yes, dad on Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

That's pretty cool.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

I know.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

You just lost them for the rest of the afternoon.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Worth it.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Full of fun activities inspired by Disney's Moana, Frozen Zootopia, Marvel's Spider man and more. Lingokids is where little ones discover more about favorite characters.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Everything kids love, download it for free.

[Firestone Tires Advertiser]

Your vehicle doesn't just get you from here to there. It's a bridge to the people and places that matter most. It's how you show up for your family, your community and everyone else that depends on you. That's why for 125 years, Firestone has been building tires with one thing in to deliver products that are as reliable as you are. Firestone always dependable since 1900.

[Newt Gingrich]

The Dear Colleague memo laying out how you think the Senate should spend every day between now and the election. Walk us through how that works. I think you have an every week luncheon that virtually all the senators show up on the Republican side, so you really can have a pretty straight conversation.

[Senator Rick Scott]

Yeah. So what happens is the Tuesday lunch when the Republican senators get together is run by leadership, so it's run by John Thune. And then Wednesday I run the conservative group in the Senate, so I run the lunch on Wednesday. So I bring in speakers like I brought in President Trump two weeks ago by the Ludnick is coming this week. I bring in speakers. So I'd love to have you come when you're back in the States. And I brought in Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, people like that, just to have a policy conversation. And what I try to create is let's have a conversation about where are we going and how are we going to get there is what I've tried to do. That's what I did in business. I had a management team. We sat down constantly saying, okay, so this is our goal. How do we get there? And people had different ideas. So my goal is that we're going to have real conversations this week about how we're going to spend the next few weeks. I think the next few weeks have to be spent on, number one, getting the Save America act passed, or any part of it. We can. And number two, making sure we don't shut down government. Now, there's a lot of other things we've got. Inflation's out of control because of spending. We're running. Think about how frustrated you would be when you were the speaker. We're running now $2 trillion deficits. You balanced the budget. You forced Bill Clinton to come to the table to balance the budget. We're running $2 trillion a year deficits right now. Two trillion. Think about that. The problem back when you first became speaker, the federal budget was less than 2 trillion or right around 2 trillion. So this place, we're not solving Americans problem, American's problem. They want the Save America Act. They're frustrated with the cost of living. So what are we doing on the cost of living? You know, we passed a housing bill that in my opinion, does nothing to reduce the cost of a starter home. That's the problem. Starter homes are too expensive. 242 cities in this country, starter homes are over a million bucks. The people have made money, are doing fine. Right? It's the rest of the country that's not doing fine. They can't afford a house or a car or their kids education or health care, all these things. It's government that's done all this to them. Government has made the cost of living go up. We need to deal with that if we want to say, oh, we care about the cost of living. Okay, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? Well, balance the budget is the most important thing we could do. It would drive down inflation, it would drive down interest rates. That's what we should be doing.

[Newt Gingrich]

Coming up, President Trump himself showed up to make the case to Senate Republicans in person. We'll talk about that meeting, whether the conference is actually as united as the letter needs it to be, and what all of this means heading into November.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

Amazon Health AI presents painful thoughts I.

[X Games Announcer]

I can't stop scratching my downtown. Yeah, but I'm not itching to go

[Senator Rick Scott]

downtown and tell a receptionist I'm here

[X Games Announcer]

to talk about my downtown. Some things you'd rather type than say out loud.

[Amazon Pharmacy Advertiser]

There's no question too embarrassing for Amazon Health. AI, chat your symptoms and get virtual care. 24. 7 Healthcare just got less painful.

[X Games Announcer]

The best skaters, BMX riders and moto athletes in the world don't compete in leagues. Until now. The X Games League championship is live From New Orleans, July 24 through 26.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Three days of elite action sports, plus

[X Games Announcer]

performances from Metro Boomin Jid Subtronics and bunt watch on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 stream on the ESPN app Roku Kick, Amazon and X Games. YouTube. The inaugural champion gets crowned this July.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Dad. Disney activities are on Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

What?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Moana and Elsa and Marvel's Spider Man.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

All of them on Lingokids?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Yes, dad on Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

That's pretty cool.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

I know.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

You just lost them for the rest of the afternoon.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Worth it.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

Full of fun activities inspired by Disney's Moana, Frozen Zootopia, Marvel's Spider man and more. Lingokids is where little ones discover more about favorite characters.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Everything kids love, download it for free.

[Firestone Tires Advertiser]

Real value shows up in reliability. You don't have to second guess. Like a set of Firestone all season tires. They're designed to deliver confidence, inspiring wet weather, traction and a quieter ride, no matter the road, season after season. Firestone all season tires for durability you can count on just like people count on you. Firestone always dependable since 1900.

[Newt Gingrich]

You're really asking the Senate Republicans to behave in an organized, disciplined way. Very different from the way the Senate's behaved in recent years. Do you think that there's enough frustration to be ending at people moving in that direction?

[Senator Rick Scott]

I really believe in the system that we have where voters, elections matter and voters voices ultimately are heard. It's like in business. Some business people forget who the customer is. In our case, the voter's the customer. I think over time that's going to change. And if we don't change, we're not going to get elected. We have a majority. Republicans have a majority in the House system and we have the White House. They expect us to solve these problems. Is it easy? No, it's hard. It's always hard. I mean, think about. You did it when you were the minority. You forced things. We're in the majority. And here's what people don't understand about the filibuster. It doesn't take 60 votes to pass a bill. It takes 60 votes to stop debate. It takes 50 votes plus one to pass a bill. And so let's debate. Let's do what we're supposed to do. Let's get on the floor and whatever the issue is, open it up. But a lot of times people don't want to take votes. I'll take a vote. You know, when I was Governor, I got 200 bills a year from the legislature. Most of them I liked. Some of them I didn't guess what I had to decide veto or sign it. That's what our job is. Other issues that are uncomfortable, sure but that's life. When you got elected, that's what you're supposed to do.

[Newt Gingrich]

You're willing to be disciplined and be tough, but how do you then translate that into a large enough block that the rest of the caucus has to go along with you?

[Senator Rick Scott]

I don't believe Newt, it's going to be because I talk somebody into something. I think it's going to be because the public demands it from their senators and their House members. I think the real key is what the public wants. And so like I tell people, call every senator, every Republican senator, every Democrat senator and say you want the Save America act passed. Call them all and let people know it's the most important issue in the country. Because right now I can tell you where I go that's first thing everybody brings up. Then after that they bring up the cost of living. So I think if the public demands this, it'll change. And here's the way I look at it. If we don't, then we're going to hear about in the polls in November, the House passed it. You know why? Because they're all up. They're up for election. They know that if you're a Republican, you don't support that, you're not getting elected. And I think it's going to impact some Democrats in the House to vote against it. But the House has passed it. Let's go debate. Let's go debate and show the American public where we give a damn about what they care about. And we got to get the cost of living down. The poor in this country, the middle income, home prices and car prices and insurance and groceries and education and health care, everything has gotten too expensive. And almost all of it, it's government, government rules and regulations.

[Newt Gingrich]

When you're talking about affordability. I've been a big supporter of transparency in cost and quality because I think if the patient slash customer knows what the price is, they're going to make very different choices than if it's all just a magic black box. You've lived it. The health system's gotten more bureaucratic, more red tape, more regulatory, more expensive. It's a major driver of affordability.

[Senator Rick Scott]

There's no reason that healthcare costs what it costs. The only thing, the only reason is government involvement has cost it. Think about the hospital industry. If the hospital is a nice hotel room and it provides services that if you bought those services on the outside, they would be way less expensive, those individual services. But if you don't know the price, if you don't know outcomes, if there's no difference. And by the way, if somebody else is writing the check, then nobody worries about it. And so what we've done with healthcare is for a lot of it, you know, nobody's writing the check and you can't even make a decision. Just think about airlines as an example. Everybody price shops airlines, right? We should be price shopping MRIs and hospital visits. Any if it's emergency, you got to go to the closest hospital, right? Other than that, everything should be shopped on price, on outcome, on patient satisfaction, all of it.

[Newt Gingrich]

There are bills in the House and Senate that would move us towards both insurance companies and hospitals having to tell the truth. And I am amazed at some of the reaction and the degree to which many of our biggest hospitals are desperate to not tell us what things cost.

[Senator Rick Scott]

And by the way, it's worse than that. Most of them don't pay taxes, all right? And then they have unbelievable compensation for their executives, and they won't tell you. You know, my colleagues will come to me and say, oh, boy, in my state, the hospitals are doing badly. I say, really? Give me their audited financial statements and give me the executive compensation of their top five people. How many have come back to me with it?

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

None.

[Senator Rick Scott]

I am for everybody doing well, but go compete. But don't tell me, one, you have laws that prevent somebody from building another hospital, which we do around the country. That's stupidity. Number two, you want to be a part of the system that pays the taxes. That's wrong. Every other business has to do it. Number three is if you're going to take federal money, you should be telling us exactly how much money you're making and how much money you're getting paid. You take federal and state money, right? You have complete transparency. If you're a private business, you don't have the public shareholders, you don't have to give us any information to your company. Do whatever the heck you want. Go compete like crazy. But when you're going to take federal money, our state money, and then you don't have to compete and you don't have to give us any information that's

[Newt Gingrich]

wrong, this is the sort of thing where we need really deep reform. I find it very frustrating as a Republican to not have more people side with you in the caucus and move towards really basic fundamental changes that would, I think, be very hard for the Democrats to stop. I can't quite imagine, for example, what you want to do, which I agree with 100%. I would be having rallies and get the president to have rallies in every state on voter ID and voter registration and no non Americans being allowed to vote. And you could build big rallies. And I think you would begin to jar the Democrats into deciding that they just couldn't stay where they are now because the country would be opposed to them.

[Senator Rick Scott]

That's how the Civil Rights act passed when it started. The Democrats didn't want to pass it, and they weren't even close to having even a majority. And so what they did is they started talking about it. Eventually it passed. And so that's how stuff is supposed to be done here. But the way we do it is we don't have to talk. We just say, oh, we don't want to talk, but we're not going to have a vote. That's wrong. I'll be glad to defend everything I do. I can explain all my votes. If I made a mistake, I'll say, yep, I made a mistake. I should be able to defend everything. I should be able to be on the floor saying exactly what I believe, and I should have that right to do it.

[Newt Gingrich]

I just want to say on the record, I have the greatest admiration for your courage and your commitment and your willingness to stand there and recognize that a lot of your colleagues, frankly, are shocked at the idea that you really want them to work, that you really want them to stay and do something. And I think you've shown enormous courage in being willing to stand for what you believe.

[Senator Rick Scott]

That's what we should be doing. I mean, we all bust our butt to win these races, and we ought to do exactly what we told the public we were going to do. That's what I'm planning on doing. If I'm not doing my job, you should call me.

[Newt Gingrich]

Well, I can assure you, from everything I see, you're one of the people who really is not only doing your job, but you're trying to get the system to do its job. And I just want to thank you for your public service.

[Senator Rick Scott]

We're going to get there. I'm optimistic.

[Newt Gingrich]

Thank you to my guest, Senator Rick Scott. New World is produced by Gingrich360 and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Garnzi Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. Special thanks to the team at Gingrich360. If you've been enjoying Newts World, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts and both rate us with five stars and give us a review so others can learn what it's all about. Join me on [e-mail] I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newt's world.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

For 20 years they had a friendship that was bulletproof. Literally. Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham star in Prime Video's hilarious, action packed new series Ride or Die. When Debbie is forced on the run because of her husband's corrupt dealings, only her fierce and lethal secret assassin best friend Judith can save her. What follows is a wild race across Europe packed with action, laughs and danger. Don't miss the new series Ride or Die, now streaming only on Prime Video.

[X Games Announcer]

The first ever X Games League championship is going down live and New Orleans has the call. Three days of elite action sports. A season's worth of competition coming down to one final weekend. Watch July 24th through 26th on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, or stream on the ESPN app, X Games, YouTube, Kick Roku sports channel and Amazon. The championship starts July 24th. Don't miss the moment. It becomes history.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad, Lingokids, please.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

When did we become the Lingokids house?

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

[Child (Lingokids User)]

This week it's Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Why Lingokids?

[Child (Lingokids User)]

Because it's the best thing ever. You can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes.

[Lingokids Advertiser]

With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows, LingoKids is the number one entertainment platform for young kids.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

So no dinosaurs and dinosaurs.

[Newt Gingrich]

Lingokids.

[Parent (Lingokids User)]

Everything kids love, download it for free.

[Firestone Tires Advertiser]

Real value shows up in reliability. You don't have to second guess. Like a set of Firestone All Season tires. They're designed to deliver confidence inspiring wet weather, traction and a quieter ride no matter the road. Season after season. Firestone All Season tires for durability you can count on, just like people count on you. Firestone always dependable since 1900,

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.