← Real America’s Voice
Real America’s Voice
Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, Decemeber 9th, 2025
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Ken Paxton
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Host/Interviewer
Does.
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John Solomon
Good evening, America, Happy Tuesday and welcome to a special edition of Just the News. No noise. I'm your host John Solomon reporting to you as always from the nation's capital. And I say special because in a few minutes we're going to turn to President Trump's speech in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, where he's beginning the first of a several event affordability tour, talking about the economy and all the things he's done to bring down inflation and make gas, eggs, prescription drugs and many other things are affordable for the American people. We're going to get to that in a few minutes when the President speaks, we'll return to it. Before that, we might try to squeeze in an interview we did earlier today with the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who is on that big fraud case in Minnesota. But before we do, Amanda President on Affordability Tour I think as early as next week we could see an Oval Office speech from him talking to the American public, but he's intent on making sure people know how cheap, how much cheaper things are right now.
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Host/Interviewer
His presidency depends on it because if Republicans lose the House majority, then that's pretty much effectively the end. But before we get to the rest of the show tonight, we want to remind you that tonight's coverage of President Trump's speech at Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania is brought to you by Trump Can Set trump trump knife set.com if you're looking for the ultimate Christmas gift this season, this is it. And you won't find this deal anywhere else this holiday season. The exclusive Trump knife set from Trump knifeset.com comes in a high quality wooden display case with built in LED lighting that light that lights up your collection like a showcase. Now, these knives are beautifully detailed, they are heavy duty and they are built to last. This is a premium collection for true Trump supporters. The holiday deal is on and quantities are limited. So head to Trump knifeset.com before they are gone. So Merry Christmas and Happy holidays from TrumpKnifeSet.com team. Sounds like it makes a good a good gift for somebody.
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John Solomon
I would say the perfect Christmas gift. And I'm going to be looking at that tonight.
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Host/Interviewer
Absolutely.
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John Solomon
Family members and loved ones I have. All right, as we mentioned, Congress is getting into the significant fraud that's been covered in the Somali immigration immigrant community in Minnesota. It happened on Governor Tom Waltz, Tim Waltz's watch. And earlier today we talked to the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer. He's got some whistleblowers in Minnesota state government who've turned against their governor. Take a watch to what we talked about. All right, folks, we've got a real treat to kick off the show today. He's the man who unraveled the Biden family corruption scheme, the man who unraveled the Biden auto pen scheme. And now he's unraveling one of the largest frauds in American history that was occurring in the Minnesota Somali immigrant community under Governor Tim Waltz. Joining us, the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Chairman James Comer. Sir, good to have you on the show.
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James Comer
Thanks for having me.
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John Solomon
All right. I'm super excited that your ace team and you really do have this great team of investigators working with you are digging into this because I have a funny feeling those whistleblowers and the state agencies who were talking to us back in 24, they've got a lot more proof about just how much willful blindness was going on. What are you hearing from those whistleblowers?
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James Comer
Well, whistleblowers make my life a lot easier. Everything works easier when we lead these congressional investigations, when we have credible, honest whistleblowers. And that's what it appears we have here in Minnesota. This goes against the narrative that the Democrats have been saying for a long time. First of all that illegals aren't receiving any type of welfare benefits. Secondly, that there's no waste, fraud and abuse in their beloved social programs. I think what we're going to find in Minnesota is probably happening in many other states. Minnesota could be and hopefully is the worst offender. But there are other blue states run by blue by Democrat governors who refuse to turn over any data not only to Congress but, but, but to the cabinet secretaries like Brooke Rollins who are trying to get a handle on programs like snap. So we have these whistleblowers, we've requested documents and correspondence. We're going to conduct this investigation like we have our other high profile investigations in the past and we're going to try to figure out from first of all how much money was stolen. Secondly, who's responsible for that. Third was Governor Waltz and Attorney General Ellison. Were they warned that this was happening but yet they turned a blind eye because of political reasons? And then can we hold people accountable and can people pay for this gross abuse of American tax dollars.
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Host/Interviewer
When it comes to that accountability? Are we bumping up against any type of timeline, any type of statute timeline?
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James Comer
I don't think so. At this moment we haven't felt like that was going to be any type of problem. There's always a statute of limitations dating back to see how far back this went. But it's our understanding that we should be within the statute of limitations for the majority of the crimes that have been committed.
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John Solomon
So important. So let me ask you a little bit about. You got 77 people indicted just in the fraud scheme. Then you got the office autism scheme and some other ones you mentioned. You're looking in to see whether Waltz and Ellison and other state officials were tipped off. Do you have any early evidence suggesting they were getting warning signs and turning a blind eye?
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James Comer
Well, we've been told that they were. There have been reports that we were. And the employees have tweeted out on a government Twitter handle that they were warned numerous times, not not just one time, but numerous times that this fraud was happening. But yet they, they didn't want to do anything about it because they didn't want to offend the Somali voting bloc in Minnesota. And look, this is all about politics. The Democrats that, you know, champion many of these social programs, they don't care if there's massive amounts of waste, fraud, abuse as long as their voting base is happy. As long as they can keep their voting base dependent on the government and keep the government tax dollars flowing to their voting base, then they're okay with it. And that's the difference between most Republicans and most Democrats in Congress, is that Republicans care about our tax dollars and sincerely want to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement. Democrats don't care as long as their base is happy. As long as they can continue to take credit for all types of welfare programs, then they want to continue to do it. And I think it's important to note that we believe that this, this fraud covered many types of social programs, from housing programs to education programs to agriculture programs to the SNAP and other types of welfare assistance. I'm sure Medicaid fraud, again, remember, the Democrats said there were no illegals on Medicaid. Just stay tuned to that. But at the end of the day, hopefully we'll be able to get some answers. And next, hopefully we can get some accountability.
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Host/Interviewer
It's easier to get answers if people are here in the United States. And it sounds to me like there are a number of people within this investigation who are not Americans and not legal immigrants. Have you communicated to the federal government who these people are? Because they might have deportation orders and if they get deported, they're going to be a lot harder to nail down.
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James Comer
Not yet. We're just trying to get all the state documents, and we're going to go from there. We're going to try to follow the money like we always do. Once we get.
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I think the most important evidence at the beginning is going to be from the state employees, and then we can go from there. And the evidence that they've accumulated, obviously they have the receipts or they wouldn't have put on that government Twitter handle, in my opinion, criticizing the governor. I've never seen anything like that. And, you know, if Minnesota is like Kentucky and most other states, then most of those state employees in that particular agency are probably more left in ideological leanings. So for them to go after a sitting governor, that, that's probably more ideologically aligned with them than someone like, like myself, I think that's, that's pretty compelling evidence. But again, you know, Waltz gets due process, but the way he's handling this and the way Ellison, the attorney general, is kind of head right now makes me pretty confident that there's a massive amount of waste, fraud and abuse that's about to be detected here. And I'm going to predict that Waltz's political career is closer to an end than somewhere in the middle.
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John Solomon
Wow. That's pretty powerful. All right, let me ask you the question. Will you need subpoenas? Do you think that you'll have an uncooperative bunch and will need to compel them to produce the evidence. And do you look at other states, like neighboring Wisconsin, where Tom Tiffany can't get the SNAP benefits? Do you expand this to other blue states to see if this pattern is there?
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James Comer
I've been communicating with Brooke Rollins. I'm very close with the Department of Agriculture people. Prior to coming to Congress, I was Commissioner of Agriculture in Kentucky. So I'm have a very pretty, pretty extensive knowledge of the agriculture programs and how programs like SNAP and other food programs operate. I know that Brook Rollins has requested data from all 50 states and all the Republican governors have turned over that data. None of the Democrat governors, including my Democrat governor in Kentucky, Andy Beshear, have turned over that data. They're just criticizing Rollins for having the audacity to ask that question. That's not going to cut it. We're serious about providing oversight. We're serious about rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. So I think that.
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We'Re definitely going to expand this, especially with the SNAP programs in coordination with the U.S. department of Agriculture in other states. But in Minnesota, again.
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The Governor Waltz, he's innocent until proven guilty. We're going to give him due process. But I think that if anyone that has received correspondence from us thus far requesting information, if they don't turn over that information, then they will get a subpoena. And we're serious about this. We're not going to back down, because this just isn't about Minnesota. This just isn't about the Somali community. This is about every state and every social program because we believe that this is happening in other states. Maybe not at the same level, maybe not at the same per capita, per population, but we believe this is happening in many states. So we're excited about this investigation and hopefully we'll have more state employees step forward and do the right thing and blow the whistle. Because I hope if one thing has been learned about my time as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, we go to great lengths to protect whistleblowers. Democrats only protect whistleblowers that roll the whistle against Republicans. We protect whistleblowers regardless of party affiliation, regardless of who they're blowing the whistle on. So we welcome more people to come forward with evidence of wrongdoing and we'll do something about it.
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Host/Interviewer
Important, sir, before we let you go, you have become quite skilled at reading bank records thanks to your investigations into the Bidens. How many SARS reports did Hunter Biden rack up? I can't even keep count anymore. But you have subpoenaed records from, I believe, Deutsche bank and JP Morgan with respect to Jeffrey Epstein. Any progress on that?
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James Comer
Yeah, they're working with us. They're turning over the bank records. This is a massive amount of bank records. I think the thing that's shocked me thus far is.
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How many transactions Epstein had. I'm not saying there's anything illegal yet. I'm not prepared to say anything, but I'm curious as to how he accumulated so much wealth. His estate is worth three quarters of a billion dollars. And, you know, by all accounts, he didn't inherit anything. So I'm not real certain how he made his money. Again, I'm not saying that there was anything illegal there other than the way he treated those girls. I mean, there's no question there.
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Thousands of crimes committed by Epstein. We're curious about where his money was coming from and why. Why were certain people wiring him massive amounts of money? Were these legitimate business deals, or was something else going on there? And that, hopefully, what we'll be able to find.
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John Solomon
Are you finding cooperation with the CIA?
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James Comer
The. Well, with respect to the bank records, the private banks are working with us. And remember, there's. There's one thing I didn't know, John, until we started doing this investigation. There are a lot of class action lawsuits out there. When you're talking about an estate with nowheres, that's about. About $1 billion. There are a lot of class action lawsuits out there. And it becomes a little more difficult to get some of these bank records when there are class action lawsuits. But thus far, the banks have been cooperative.
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John Solomon
And do you think the CIA, though, has any files on. On Epstein that could be of use to you?
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James Comer
I don't know. I've talked to people in the. In the FBI, but we'll see. We're going to have. I'm going to have that conversation with Radcliffe. I have not had that conversation with Radcliffe yet at the CIA, but we will have that conversation. Look, that's one of the suspicions that a lot of people have was that the government was using Epstein island, or maybe even his properties in West Palm beach in New York City for. To gather intelligence. I don't know if that's true or not. I have no idea. But I want to know. And we're going to do everything in our ability to try to get the truth for the American people.
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John Solomon
There's no doubt your record shows you'll get it, too. Whether it's the Biden pardons, the Biden investigation, all the great other oversight work you've done on illegal immigration. You always get to the bottom of a story. Mr. Chairman, great honor to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.
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James Comer
Thank you all so much.
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John Solomon
Well, there we go, folks. What a great interview. Now you are watching in that box. President Trump has arrived in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. He'll make a short drive to Mount Pocono where he'll give that speech. Brian Glenn, our own very own Brian Glenn is with the president. You've been watching some of the footage as we were interviewing the Chairman Comer. And I think you'll see the president is pretty quickly on his way. It looks like he'll be speaking just before about 3, 6:30 is the current guidance I got on my phone. But we're not going to do a commercial break right now. I think we're going to stick around and oh, actually we will take a quick commercial. We got a little extra time. So let's have a great word from our sponsors and advertisers here. We'll come back and then we'll do a Ken Paxton interview. At least get some of that in before we turn to the president. But first, quick commercial break. We'll be right back.
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Host/Interviewer
Welcome back, everybody. If you are just now joining us, President Trump has touched down in Pennsylvania where he's going to be giving a speech on affordability and the economy. But in the meantime he was on Air Force One and of course, like usual, he stood in that doorway of the press at the back of Air Force One and he brought a gaggle together and answered a few questions. It is audio only, so just be on the lookout for that. But here it is.
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Donald Trump
They're saying what's happening here?
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Host/Interviewer
What's your reaction to Jackson Crockett jumping in primary Texas?
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Donald Trump
Well, she's a low IQ person. I can't imagine she wins. Maybe she'll get the Democrat nomination, but I think it's a gift to Republicans. She's a, a terrible representative. I watch here for the last two years. I can't even believe she's a politician actually.
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Ken Paxton
Hi, Brian.
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Karen Worsser
Will you be holding a final round.
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Host/Interviewer
Of interviews for Fed chair this week? There was a reporting you'd be meeting with Governor Fed Governor Kevin Marsh, former Fed Governor Marsh for Kevin Warsh.
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Donald Trump
We're going to be looking at a couple of different people, but I have a pretty good idea who. I want you to take it easy with that thing. You know, it's a government plan but I like to take care of it.
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Host/Interviewer
Interviews this week.
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Ken Paxton
Hello?
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Donald Trump
Somebody's in there. Come on out.
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John Solomon
Mr. President, Senators Cassidy and Crapo have introduced a bill to create health savings.
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Podcast Sponsor/Announcer
Accounts to replace Obamacare subsidies.
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John Solomon
Do you support that bill?
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Donald Trump
I like the concept. I don't want to give the insurance companies any money. They've been ripping off the public for years. Obamacare is a scam to make the insurance company rich companies rich and they have made, I mean you look 14 to 1700 dollars increase, 100% increase over the last number of years. There's really few things that have gone up like insurance companies. They're getting numbers and money like nobody's ever seen before. Billions and billions of dollars is paid directly to insurance companies. We're not going to do that anymore. I believe Obamacare was set up to take care of insurance companies, not to take care of the American public.
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John Solomon
Republicans to vote for that bill tomorrow or this week.
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Donald Trump
I love the idea of money going directly to the people, not to the insurance companies, going directly to the people. It could be in the health savings account. It could be a number of different ways and the people go out and buy their own insurance. We which can be really much better. Health insurance, healthcare. Mr. President, I was with you in.
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John Solomon
Vegas when you had no tax on.
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Donald Trump
Tips helped the hospitality industry.
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John Solomon
Would you ever consider no tax on gambling winnings, considering that might be another.
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James Comer
Stage to save American tax?
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Donald Trump
I haven't been asked that question in a long time. No tax on gambling winnings? I don't know. We have no tax on tips. We have no tax tax on Social Security. We have no tax on overtime. No tax on gambling winnings. I don't know about that. I'm going to have to think about that. I think it's better to go up and maybe take our seats. It's a pretty rough flight. Bye, everybody.
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I hope to see you again. I better get out of here.
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Host/Interviewer
All right, everybody. So we are obviously going to dip into President Trump once he starts making that speech. But in the meantime, we had a chance to catch up with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier today discussing some important issues in that state and at the federal level. Check it out. At the forefront of this fight, Attorney General for Texas and Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Sir, thanks so much for being with us.
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Ken Paxton
Great to be here in person, live and in person.
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Host/Interviewer
It's great. All right, so talk to us about the dynamics in Texas. A big, big win at the Supreme Court. And so now decks are getting shuffled. You've got people who are moving over to Senate races, people who are switching congressional districts. But for you, you're sailing.
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Ken Paxton
Yeah, I mean, congressional redistricting has been pretty crazy. We had to do it during our last session. Of course, you know, the Democrats took off and Beto o' Rourke was funding all of their costs. So we ended up suing his nonprofit and ultimately stopping his funding of that. As soon as that happened, the Democrats came back the next day. So it's funny how the money got cut off. All their expenses weren't being paid anymore. And they came back, we had the vote. And obviously we've been through a few lawsuits or a lawsuit to deal with this. And thankfully, on Friday, the Supreme Court came through and we had a 6:3 majority opinion that said we could go forward with our congressional maps and go forward with our election. Otherwise, we were in chaos. It was literally filing just ended, I think it was yesterday. And so I don't really know exactly what would have happened had we not had the US Supreme Court step in, but it would have been a mess.
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John Solomon
Yeah, it's important because I don't think a lot of people, everyone thinks, well, all of this is retaliatory when it comes to redistricting. But in Texas, it was actually court ordered. Right. The fifth Circuit had told you guys, hey, get rid of these racial districts, do it the right way. So you had the law on your side right from the beginning?
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Ken Paxton
We definitely had the law on our side. It was a legislative decision to go forward with it, which is the way it's supposed to work. The Supreme Court has said political decisions are fine, and that's exactly what our legislature did. And they have every right. As you know, there are, what, nine Democratic states, states that have no Republican representation. They've completely gerrymandered the state. It's about time. And I think that President Trump was right when he suggested that we should go forward in Republican states and start doing some of the same things. It's clearly allowed by the law, and it's really unfair for us not to do it. And that's why I'd encourage other states, as Missouri has already done, hopefully Indiana, and if there's any others to do the same thing, they should absolutely do it. Why not? If these other states, like Massachusetts have no Republican representation and states like Illinois only have three Republicans out of 17.
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Host/Interviewer
And juxtapose that with California. California is going to be defending Prop 50's passage in their state and what they want to do with their gerrymandering. If you were Attorney General of California, would you say it's defensible?
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Ken Paxton
So I don't know their state. It's all based on state law, and they had to go maneuver around their state laws. I know that the Justice Department has. Is looking at that, and I think they're involved in the case against California. So, look, I don't know how that's going to turn out, because I don't really know California state law. But it does seem like they had to maneuver around their own Constitution to get it through. So I would. My guess is that it's not constitutional under California's Constitution.
- [24:09]
John Solomon
The Louisiana case will, I think, ultimately address the issue that came all the way from the civil rights era, and that's racial gerrymandering. And it seems like the equal protection clause of the Constitution may give us a different format going forward. Your state is sort of insulated from that. But Louisiana could change the rules for some of those blue states, right?
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Ken Paxton
Yeah, that's actually correct. And we've been fortunate. We got out of some of the. We got out of the preclearance stuff that DOJ used to impose on all Southern states. It's ridiculous that we ever had to deal with the Department of Justice overseeing our state elections for independent states. We were created independently before the federal government existed. They created the Federal government. So we, the federal government, should not be overseeing our elections in Texas.
- [24:50]
Host/Interviewer
I want to switch gears to your race because you are primaring John Cornyn, someone who has been in office, as you said, since you were in college. And I'm not saying that you're definitely not old, but it's still a long time for someone to serve in office.
- [25:04]
Ken Paxton
Yeah. So he's asking for a fifth term from Texans, which no Texan has ever served five terms. Not Sam Houston, not John Tower, not lbj, not Phil Graham. And he's doing that. He's been in office since I was in college, and I'm turning 63 this month. So that tells you he's been over four decades. And the question that I ask everybody, I told you this earlier, is can you name. I've asked every group, every individual. Can you name one accomplishment, one good accomplishment, not the bad accomplishments? We have plenty of those from John Cornyn. But can you name one good accomplishment? And so far, no one's ever given me an answer to that question. Not one in 44 decades.
- [25:37]
John Solomon
That's a political problem. If you're John Cornyn, there's no doubt.
- [25:40]
Ken Paxton
Kerry constituents, which John has not. You need to go home. And it's time that we had representation more like Ted Cruz than John Cornyn.
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John Solomon
So I want to talk about some of the innovative things Texas has set, I think the standard for addressing a lot of the ills in this country. You were the first on the border. You're the first to declare Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. You went in and started looking at these nonprofits that funded the border, involved invasion, and used your regulatory capability to give them a license to do fundraising, to really start to rein in what they were doing. You've been affirmed about three or four times in the courts. Now, is this a model for other states to do the same thing?
- [26:16]
Ken Paxton
Absolutely. Look, we were suspicious of these nonprofits because we thought they were receiving large sums of federal money. And as it turns out, we believe the Biden administration was washing their money to help bring all these elections legals and pay for all their stuff through these nonprofits, because the nonprofits didn't have to report. Well, in Texas, the attorney general's office, me, the attorney general has oversight to make sure that there's not deceptive trade, deceptive practices or fraudulent practices by nonprofits. So all we did was start asking questions. And as soon as I started asking questions, they sued us. And I started getting attacked by all these Democratic politicians. I mean, I got attacked. I got attacked by The Pope as being supposedly anti Catholic. And all I did was ask some questions about how they were spending money. And they sued us. And so we've been in litigation with them and several other nonprofits about this washing of federal money and then using it potentially for illegal activities like trafficking humans from, you know, other countries you've had.
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John Solomon
If I could just follow up on that. You now are starting to see some of the records from this. What is the Democrats motive? Is it to rig apportionment?
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Ken Paxton
There's no doubt they want to, they want more illegal so they can, they can control congressional apportionment. They also eventually want them voting in their favor. And they think by giving them free stuff and taking care of them, you know, free housing, free health care, you know, cell phone money, that they're basically buying votes. And they're using trillions of dollars, billions of dollars, our money, to, to buy these votes. And that's not the way our republic's supposed to operate.
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Host/Interviewer
I want to ask you about what we have seen in Minnesota. This, what could end up being historic fraud in that state that's being uncovered. I don't think that could happen in Texas, not only because you're in office as Attorney General, but there just doesn't seem to be the political infrastructure in place in Texas for, for that type of fraud to happen on that level. Is that, is it on purpose that it's happening in blue states?
- [28:08]
Ken Paxton
Yes, absolutely. So, yes, and it could happen in Texas. We, we had laws in place that allowed me to go after, for instance, what happened to Donald Trump in 2020. It was happening in Texas. We were the target. We were a target state, just like Georgia, just like Michigan. I filed 12 lawsuits in all these liberal counties. All these liberal judges were having mail in ballots. We're going to have mail in ballots go out to everybody in violation of Texas law because we had Covid and we were losing because we're in liberal counties, all like Austin and Houston and Dallas and San Antonio, we were losing. Court of Appeals, same liberal. I had to get it to the Texas Supreme Court. And a pretty unique maneuver to avoid having a Georgia situation in Michigan. So they've tried, and they also tried to disarm me. This Court of Criminal Appeals, which is our highest court in criminals, stop me from prosecuting voter fraud. Now we're getting that back. I've got the legislature to reauthorize it. We're electing new judges. But it has been a fight to stop voter fraud even in my state. So if you don't have active sort of focus on integrity of elections, which is the most important issue nationally because we don't have safe elections, then all the other issues don't matter. We lose.
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John Solomon
The Democrats seem to be much more demoralized about their chances in Texas. If Jasmine Crockett turns out to be the best I could put up against you, they're yielding the race, aren't they?
- [29:20]
Ken Paxton
I know she and John Corner are good friends. And John Cornyn said they are dance partners. Like he said, you need, you know, people in both houses. And so she's, she's, you know, I've offered to be her dance partner. So there. And she's actually said very nice things about John Corner, saying he's the right kind of Republican for, for us in Texas. And so Jasmine and John Corner are great, but they're neither one of them going to serve as our next us.
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Host/Interviewer
Sounds like a great political.
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Ken Paxton
It's a great absolute.
- [29:44]
Host/Interviewer
I want to ask you about these audits that you are demanding from cities across Texas because we, you know, it doesn't matter if it's a red county or a blue county. We see this all over the country. Fraud existing within. Within those types of governments. What are you doing about it? And is this something that could be propagated at the federal level?
- [30:00]
Ken Paxton
Yeah. So it's a pretty reasonable requirement. It's put in place by our Texas legislature. I think is very reasonable that their books be audited and that it be fully transparent how they're spending their money. How is that a bad idea? Well, some of them haven't done it. In order to raise your taxes, you have to have your books audited. Well, several of our cities says we're not doing it. Of course, they don't want the voters to know how they're spending their money. And so we've gone after them for trying to raise their taxes without following Texas law. So if their voters know what they're spending, then they're authorized to raise taxes. A certain percentage property tax. And by the way, we have very high property taxes in Texas, which should be fixed by the legislature. And this is something we're now addressing through these types of statutes to try to prevent unnecessary spending without the voters understanding how their dollars are being spent already.
- [30:47]
John Solomon
Transparency. What a great idea.
- [30:49]
Host/Interviewer
I love it. You have done so much innovative stuff in Texas as attorney general, and it looks like your Senate race is going quite well. People recognize that in the Lone Star State.
- [30:58]
Ken Paxton
Look, Texans, they. They should get better results than they've gotten over the last, you know, 24 years with John Corn in the Senate. And I just looked at it and thought it's time for change. He's had his chance. He hasn't. He hasn't performed. And I think Texans deserve better and the nation deserves better because Texas needs to have leadership. And right now we just haven't had it.
- [31:18]
Karen Worsser
Well.
- [31:19]
Host/Interviewer
And you were talking about John Cornyn's accomplishments the last two years for us at the top of our show. And we're talking about news of the day. So often we mentioned Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton because of something you were doing in Texas. So.
- [31:32]
Ken Paxton
Well, on the other hand, the bad things, like, you know, he sided with Joe Biden with Second Amendment restrictions. He fought President Trump on the border wall and is now trying to claim it. He voted for amnesty like 15 different times. And he certainly was not a proponent of President Trump being president either in 2016 or 2024. And yet he's running as if all of that were false.
- [31:51]
Host/Interviewer
Revised history, but not with you. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, thanks so much for being with us.
- [31:56]
Ken Paxton
Great to be here.
- [31:59]
Host/Interviewer
All right, everybody. So we are still awaiting President Trump speaking from Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, but we want to thank Trump knifeset.com for bringing you our coverage. We're going to take a very quick commercial break and we'll be back on the other side.
- [32:12]
John Solomon
It.
- [32:56]
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- [34:09]
Welcome back, America. We're keeping a close eye on President Trump when he begins speaking in Mount Pocono Pennsylvania, we're going to turn to that affordability conference. But in the meantime, Congress is about to do something it hasn't done since the Nixon administration, environmental permitting reform. The man who's helping lead that charge, Congressman Mike Collins of Georgia, joined us earlier. Have a watch to what we talk about to a floor vote is joining us now, Congressman Mike Collins from the great state of Georgia, who's also running for U.S. senate. Sir, good to have you on the show.
- [34:39]
Mike Collins
Well, appreciate you having me on. Thank y'. All.
- [34:43]
John Solomon
This is, I think, one of the more transformational pieces of legislation that could get through the Congress this year. We had the big beautiful bill, but permitting reform, these regulations, these zoning, all these things, they've slowed down trillions of dollars of projects over the last few decades. How important is it? And do you think you'll get some bipartisan support?
- [35:04]
Mike Collins
Yeah, you know, John, it's a great question. And permitting is one of the biggest problems that we've had out there. Every time I talk to constituents or I talk to stakeholders, whatever the industry is permitting, permitting, permitting, and how, and how slow and how cumbersome it has gotten over the decades that we've just let the federal agencies just get out of control with their overreach. And the only thing we're doing with the Permit act is we are telling the federal government that you are going to be more efficient, more productive, and we're going to make life more affordable for the American people out there.
- [35:35]
Host/Interviewer
Congressman, I've looked into this, and over 30% of the time on construction sites, whether it's business, whether it's residential, is spent just waiting for permits to clear, waiting to get the green light from the government, whether it's state or local, to to pass through on a job. This is going to affect Democrats and Republicans. So I would like to think that this might be something that could draw somebod bipartisan support.
- [35:58]
Mike Collins
Yeah, you know, Amanda, you're exactly right. And I think we all hear it, whether you're Democrat or Republican. When I talk to folks, you talk take the road construction, for instance, you were talking about. Your, your construction companies out there are padding their bids by 30% because they know on average that that a road construction, from the time that they say they want to do the project to the time you put the first automobile on that road is 10 years and the first seven, seven and a half years are just getting permits and fighting all of these frivolous lawsuits that are going on out there. So all we're doing is speeding this thing up. And when you do that naturally it's going to make things more affordable. And that's just on road construction. You know, you could take the energy sector as well because we have so many people that these power companies want to build natural gas, electric generating facilities now. And it takes over 10 years just to get a pipeline permit to lay the natural gas pipeline. So many things are just way out of control and like I said, all we're doing is just speeding up the process. We're not doing anything other than that.
- [37:04]
John Solomon
Yeah. What a remarkable opportunity though. Something that could have been done for a long time. There is a potential huge pent up economic boom that this permitting reform, particularly when combined with things that were in the big beautiful bill, it seems like 20, 26, it may be shaping up to have a real run of economic success in America. Tell us what you think about what this and other new pieces of legislation you've passed might do for the economy in 26.
- [37:30]
Mike Collins
Yeah, no, you're exactly right. You combine this because everybody knows that you can't just put one piece of the puzzle back on the board and then just say, okay, we call it a day because there's been so much influx from so many different agencies over the years, especially due to the fact that we've only been passing these CRS and these continuous resolutions and we haven't been holding people accountable from the federal agency standpoint. And so now that we've got the big beautiful bill, we've got energy independence set up, we've got the tax structure set up.
- [37:59]
James Comer
Right.
- [37:59]
Mike Collins
We've got American people wanting to bring their jobs and bring their businesses back to the shores of this country. We've got to be able to make sure that we can permit, that we can get these jobs, these businesses up and running in short order. This is just one of the pieces of the puzzle that's going to be able to allow us to do that. And it is. I tell people every day, John, this is the most incredible time to be a member of Congress right now. Especially if you are a small business person and you want to see this country get back to producing, producing not just goods and services, but jobs for the American people.
- [38:34]
Host/Interviewer
So important, sir, I suppose everyone except for the boomer generation, the remnant of the greatest generation, everyone else is experiencing practically the housing shortage and the housing crisis when it comes to affordability. This is going to reign supreme on voters minds next year. So removing these, these roadblocks in the way that's also going to bring down the cost of housing. How much?
- [38:59]
Mike Collins
Oh yeah, sure it is. Amanda, you talk of just on the housing with the water. There's so many permits that you have to get to buy a house. And the people that are out there building subdivisions most of the time, they don't know whether they fall under federal waters, state waters or no waters. So they're just out there buying permits and passing that on to the end consumer, which is the person trying to buy that house. And these young people today, you know, the next generation coming up, one of the main reasons I came up here to D.C. was to make sure that they have the opportunities I had. This is going to help give them the opportunity to just by making these houses more affordable from a permitting standpoint. And sometimes that's 10, 15% of a house total cost just on permits.
- [39:46]
John Solomon
Sir, you have recently launched a bid for the United States Senate. You're up a good margin, more than 10 points right now. Tell us what's on Georgia voters minds heading into the midterm elections.
- [39:57]
Mike Collins
The same thing that it's always been, affordability. They want to make sure that they have the ability to, to, to afford gas, food, cl, shelter for their families and hopefully put away a little money and sock it away so that they can go on vacation. And the thing is, you know, back in the first Trump administration, the people I know that I surround myself with, they knew what it was like. They knew what it was like to win. And they have been looking forward to getting that back. And with what we set up with that big, beautiful bill of the working families tax cut plan, as we like to call it now, you're going to see more cash out there in the private sector. And that's going to keep rotating over and over and over again. That's where your economy, this economy is about to take off. And like I said, it is an exciting time to be up here. And that's what Georgia voters want. They want someone that reflects Georgia values in this U.S. senate race. And we know that we have that. I think that's why we've been number one in the polls. That's why we've been number one in raising fundraising and in grassroots supports and getting the amount of elected officials behind us in this US Senate bid.
- [41:04]
John Solomon
Yeah, a lot of momentum, no doubt.
- [41:06]
Host/Interviewer
Congressman, something else you have a lot of knowledge in. And look, 99 times out of 100, I am going to say less government is better. However, when it comes to permitting, there is one area, and I know you've got expertise in this commercial driver's licenses, where permitting should be stronger. We're seeing these catastrophes out of California. There are people who should not have CDLs who are doing dangerous things on the freeways. How do we reform that in states? Because these are guys who drive across the country. So it doesn't just affect people in California.
- [41:36]
Mike Collins
Oh, amen. Amanda, here's the thing, and this is my question. What I do not understand is the fact that you have to take three to six weeks of just classroom study right now. So if you can't speak or read English, how did you pass that? How did you pass the pre trip inspection? How did you pass the road trip with someone sitting beside you grading you if you cannot read or speak English? In other words, there's something wrong with this already and it has to do with the states that were out there issuing these license. In my opinion, that's where you need to look at the problem. My opinion those states need to be held liable for what they've done because they have put approximately over 100,000 drivers out there on the road. And a lot of these drivers are just out there getting trucks and they're running their own business and they don't know how to run a trucking company and they're running the rates in the ground, they're running our accident rates up. And the people that actually issued these license, they're the ones that we need to be looking to, to hold accountable.
- [42:37]
John Solomon
Sir, the NDAA is a major accomplishment for the House. It delivers on the Patriot raise, It delivers on the golden dome. It delivers on a long delayed counter drone technology for our troops. This seems to be pretty transformational. Talk a little bit about what the Pentagon will get out of this.
- [42:57]
Mike Collins
Yeah, no, sure John, you're exactly right on all those fronts. Our military people are going to get the pay raises they need. We're going to address the drones out there. We are going to make sure that the world knows that we are the number one superpower. We do have the best military in the world. The thing that we need to do is make sure that we take care of our military and we make sure that we give them not only just the pay that they deserve, but the equipment that they need to get the job done. And that's what this does. Yeah, it's a 3,100 page bill, but it is, it is concise and it will deliver what we need to deliver for our military out there.
- [43:32]
John Solomon
Yeah, that's a big one and one of the most interesting NDAs in all the years I've been in Washington has a lot of new big ideas in it.
- [43:38]
Host/Interviewer
Well, because now it's the Department of War.
- [43:41]
John Solomon
That's right. The Defense Department of board with pdex. How about that? Well, from leading the Senate race to enjoying Georgia's SEC championship this past weekend, Congressman Mike Collins, you're riding on a high that all of America is really glad to see. Great to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.
- [43:58]
Mike Collins
Thank you. Appreciate yalls time. And go dogs.
- [44:00]
John Solomon
Yeah, go Dogs.
- [44:03]
Mike Collins
Look at that.
- [44:06]
John Solomon
Little bit of fun at the end of that. Really great interview, but a lot of substance to it. Quick commercial break. We're keeping an eye on President Trump. As soon as he starts speaking, we'll turn there. But until then, we're going to prepare for a good interview with the folks who are laying recent veterans graves all across America for this Christmas. We'll have that next right after these messages.
- [44:37]
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- [45:52]
Host/Interviewer
Welcome back everybody to just the news. No noise. As we enter into this Christmas season, it's important to reflect on what truly matters, our faith, our family, our friends, and the spirit of generosity toward those in need. And speaking of generosity, every year Americans come together to honor our fallen patriots by placing wreaths A very simple yet profound gesture that has spurred a movement across the nation. Wreaths Across America. They express their mission like this. Remember the fallen, honor those who serve, teach the next generation the value of freedom. And Reads Across America is continuing their annual escort to Arlington tradition. It ends on Saturday, December 13, which is national Reads Across America Day. So joining us to discuss this, she is currently on the Escort to Arlington tour. She is executive director for Reads Across America, Karen Worser. Karen, thanks so much for joining us tonight. Karen, thanks so much for joining us.
- [46:46]
Karen Worsser
Oh, thanks for having me. Pleasure to be here.
- [46:49]
Host/Interviewer
Likewise. Okay, so you guys, I think, departed this past Saturday from Maine. Where are you now? And tell us how it's going.
- [46:56]
Karen Worsser
We actually left Maine on Sunday, and I am right now at the St. Anne's Club in Norwalk, Connecticut, where they've prepared an incredible meal for all these roughly 150of us on a convoy. And we just had the best pasta and proteins, and I'm having dessert when I get done here. And they just welcome the whole convoy in. The convoy has full staff, families and veterans. We have LEO officers that are leading us down the highway, and I think we have 14 truckloads of Reeves with us, but that's just a symbolic drop in the bucket. But actually, when we were leaving, about 800 other trucks left.
- [47:40]
From down in Washington County, Maine, to go to almost 5,700 locations all over the United States. So we're all traveling to get there for Saturday, for every day.
- [47:52]
John Solomon
How amazing. That's amazing what you've been doing, Karen, you and your family for so long. I like a part of this mission that goes beyond honoring the families and creating this beautiful visual for everybody you see at the cemeteries. You are using this to also inspire the next generation of children, to teach them about the cost of freedom, to give it a little bit of a civics lesson that maybe they didn't always get in school. Talk a little bit about how young people get integrated into this and the legacy they learned, particularly with us, about the sailor 250th birthday here in America.
- [48:26]
Karen Worsser
Yeah, well, it really is true. It's important to remember. It's important to honor, but the object is to teach. And. And a great man, Roger Donilon, first Medal of Honor recipient for the Vietnam War. I asked him before he died what the most important thing was that our organization could do. And without batting an eye, he said, teach our kids to love our country. And we're so fortunate to be able to do that by sharing the stories of veterans who've served. And I'll tell you, one of the most poignant things you can see is a Goldstein mom talking about a son or daughter that they buried and. But they're the most patriotic people yet. And to help kids try to understand that, that this country and what it stands for is worth fighting for and in some cases dying for. And that's been happening ever since the first Shah is wearing out during the revolution. So we have an incredible curriculum online. Readsacrossamerica.org and it's also available on teacher pay, teacher free. And we just passed a milestone that that curriculum based on the characteristics of the United States military, we have now reached over a million kids and that's being downloaded and taught in public school and at home school. So it's very much about teaching kids that freedom isn't free, but it also comes with responsibility and we need to do a better job. We teach kids a lot about their rights, but they need to know that with that comes responsibility.
- [49:54]
Host/Interviewer
Karen, there are so many wonderful organizations out there that serve our armed services community. But Raise a Across America is very unique. Tell us how and why it was founded.
- [50:05]
Karen Worsser
Well, it was actually accident. My husband, we had been in the wreath business, production business, and I met him back in the early 70s and in 1992 he had a surplus of wreath. He recalled being at Arlington national cemetery as a 12 year old boy and he wanted our children to experience that. So we called around, got permission to go to Arlington, took 5,000 wreaths. A friend had a truck and they went down, took all day with a handful of volunteers to place them. And it was impactful. They couldn't help but say the names. And the kids came home and started researching names and we see that all the time. We see now families will come into Arlington and these other cemeteries and kids will place a wreath and we encourage them, write down the name and go do a little research because we've talked a lot about it in the last couple days. These are people. These are people that had dreams and aspirations of their own, but set them aside to protect us. And many of them have died as young people. They've sacrificed life. It's not, you know, they had life before. And the ghost mothers talk about the dash. They talk about the day they were born and the day they died, but not to lose track of the DASH in the middle because that was the life that they sacrificed. So I can attest to how powerful it is because this year I have three of my grandsons with me and one is seven, the other two are 12 and 13. And they've been writing down each day what they've learned. And it's incredible.
- [51:40]
John Solomon
2005, a viral photo put this movement on steroids. Tell us just real quick about that. We got about a minute left.
- [51:48]
Karen Worsser
Yeah, it did. A photograph was taken of the reeds in the snow and it went viral. And like I said, we're now up to well over 5,600 locations and people can still participate. We're in every state. Go to RootsCrossAmerica.org, you can find a location close to you. It will tell you times and anything you need to know. We're also, we still have some meat at some of the cemeteries, so you still can donate $17. We'll place a wreath on a grave that somebody maybe couldn't afford to place one for their loved one or somebody may just have been forgotten over time. But it also supports that teach mission. So readacrossamerica.org and we just love the support to keep doing what we do.
- [52:33]
Host/Interviewer
Everybody. Absolutely. Go support them. Executive director for Reads Across America, Karen Werser. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. And Merry Christmas to you and everyone over there.
- [52:44]
All right, everybody, we've just got a few more minutes to wrap up before we head out. President Trump, well, he is now almost an hour late, but everybody's on Trump time. And he is going to be there at Mount Pocono in Pennsylvania giving a speech on the economy and affordability. And we hear from his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, that he is going to be campaigning like this was the 2024 presidential election. He is working hard to, to keep Republicans in the House because his presidency depends on it.
- [53:10]
John Solomon
Ivf, president, prescription drugs, gas. I mean, I filled up for gas at 259 the other day, a gallon. Eggs are down, beef is starting to come down. He just needs to tell the American people how much he's done and then also describe how he gets a path to the next thing. And that I think particularly involves regulatory reform for the zoning regulations that make houses more and more expensive in blue cities. I think that'll be a big part of his speech next week when he speaks from the Oval Office.
- [53:38]
Host/Interviewer
I think so, too. And, you know, these are things that affect every American. Every American has to buy groceries, obviously, unless you're a child, but every American has to buy groceries. At some point, you're going to be looking at housing prices. And even if you're not currently in the market for a house, you're still trying to look towards the future. So that you can have a piece of that American dream. So I think President Trump is absolutely right to be out there a year ahead of time getting that affordability message out there. And as we were talking about with Congress and Collins, these, these deregulation measures by Republicans, that is what could quite possibly save their majority. That and repealing or patchworking or whatever you want to call it with Obamacare. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the Senate with their.
- [54:19]
John Solomon
I wouldn't be surprised if the president for the first time opens up competition so that state insurers who can't compete state to state can now come in and create competition that could bring down the market. The health. He said it in the gaggle with Brian. The health savings accounts and giving the money to people that then decide how to do it and the return of catastrophic health insurance so that you only have to cover big events. I think that could be a bigger play for American public.
- [54:44]
Host/Interviewer
Yeah. Congressman Eric Burleson, who is in the House Oversight Committee, but he's got some great ideas when it comes to what he calls MAHA accounts. And they serve as health savings accounts and they can be filled by a person. It's tax free. It can be filled by any type of social program that you participate in. It can be filled by your employer and you put in tax free and you take out tax free free. And I think that that could benefit a lot of Americans out there. Some great ideas on the Republican side. They just have to get it across the finish line or at least get it out.
- [55:12]
John Solomon
And they have the courage, I think, to actually do it, starting with the vote in the Senate next week.
- [55:16]
Host/Interviewer
I think that's going to be really interesting to watch. All right, everybody, so keep an eye out. President Trump is there on the ground in Mount Pocono and he's going to be taking the stage soon to talk to voters. Grant Central. Well, he is going to take you straight into the next segment because we're not going to take a break. Lucky you. Have a great night. I'll see you more.
- [55:33]
Mike Collins
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [55:36]
Host/Interviewer
Guaranteed Human.