Friday in DC: Kevin Warsh, Prediction Markets, & OpenAI’s IPO 5/22/26

Summary

Squawk Pod Episode Summary

Episode: Friday in DC: Kevin Warsh, Prediction Markets, & OpenAI’s IPO
Date: May 22, 2026
Hosts: Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, Andrew Ross Sorkin
Notable Guests: Rep. James Comer, Rep. Katherine Clark

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Episode Overview

This episode of Squawk Pod dives deep into political and financial hot topics, all unfolding in Washington, D.C. Highlights include President Trump’s delayed executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) due to concerns about hindering innovation, Congressional concerns and investigations into prediction markets, OpenAI’s anticipated IPO, and interviews with Representatives James Comer and Katherine Clark as they discuss regulation, ethics, and strategies for their respective parties approaching the midterms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. AI Governance and President Trump’s Postponed Executive Order

Main Points:

• President Trump postponed signing an executive order on AI regulation, citing fears about impeding U.S. innovation and maintaining a lead over China.
• The order was intended to pre-evaluate AI models for security, resembling a “regulatory FDA for AI.”
• Debate centered on how to balance innovation with the need for regulation, state versus federal authority, and optics involving high-profile industry leaders.

Notable Quotes:

• “There really wasn't an FDA for AI?” — Andrew Ross Sorkin [00:20]
• “Is it just the wild, wild west and it could come back to haunt us? I think it’s going to be tough.” — Joe Kernan [00:24, 02:34]
• “Once you let the genie out of the bottle, you can't put it back in.” — Becky Quick [05:04]

Timestamps:

• AI order discussion: [00:10]–[05:40]

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2. Congressional Gridlock & Legislative Jockeying

Main Points:

• House Republicans canceled a vote on the Iran war resolution due to absences; pressures in both chambers signal internal GOP divisions.
• Senate Republicans also halted an immigration enforcement funding package amid intraparty disputes.
• Discussion about the tension between party strategies and procedural hurdles as deadlines approach.

Notable Moments:

• “McConnell was not happy… Susan Collins was not satisfied…” — Becky Quick [07:16]
• “If she had voted last night, she would have been one of her 10,000 straight votes. I don’t think anyone’s ever done that before.” — Joe Kernan [07:21]

Timestamps:

• Legislative stalemates: [05:26]–[07:38]

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3. OpenAI’s Potential IPO and Timing

Main Points:

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly spoke of going public but emphasized waiting until the company was ‘ready.’
• There’s competition with Anthropic over who will list first. Comparisons are drawn to SpaceX’s recent, private-to-public listing process.
• Discussion speculates on the motives for IPO timing—whether driven by legal victories, banker influence, or competitive positioning.

Notable Quotes:

• “Altman noted even if the company files for public offering, it may actually hold off on the listing and said the company wouldn’t go public until it was ready.” — Andrew Ross Sorkin [07:38]
• “I trust the bankers.” — Becky Quick [09:21]

Timestamps:

• OpenAI IPO: [07:38]–[10:02]

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4. Prediction Markets Probe—Interview with Rep. James Comer

Main Points:

• Rep. Comer announced an investigation into insider trading and ethics lapses on prediction platforms like Calshi and Polymarket.
• He cited a recent case involving Venezuelan officials profiting off insider information and outlined the difficulties in crafting airtight regulations.
• The conversation extended to regulatory challenges shared by prediction markets, AI, and cryptocurrency, and the importance of defining clear boundaries for lawmakers and government employees.

Notable Quotes:

• “There’s a concern now that members of Congress, members of the president’s administration, any type of government employee could use basic insider knowledge and make huge profits on anything government related.” — Rep. James Comer [10:16]
• “It’s the Wild West. There are no rules.” — Rep. James Comer [11:28]
• “It wouldn’t be too much to ask to say members of Congress can’t participate in the predictions market nor can government employees or people in the president’s administration.” — Rep. James Comer [12:19]

Timestamps:

• Introduction and context: [10:04]–[10:40]
• Interview segment: [10:53]–[15:22]

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5. Government “Slush Funds” and Guardrails

Main Points:

• Hosts and Comer examine controversial compensation funds for individuals investigated or prosecuted by the government, scrutinizing potential for abuse.
• Concerns are raised about political cycles weaponizing such mechanisms, echoing historic and current partisan abuses.
• Rep. Comer acknowledges the need for transparency, unbiased guardrails, and bipartisan acceptance to prevent politicization.

Notable Quotes:

• “Anytime you set up something, there are always unintended consequences. That’s a big word in this town, unintended consequences.” — Rep. James Comer [19:45]
• “You hear both sides say, ‘wait till we get back in power’... so you hear it from both.” — Joe Kernan [19:31]

Timestamps:

• Fund/guardrail discussion: [15:22]–[19:45]

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6. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark on the Road to the Midterms

Main Points:

• Rep. Clark outlines the Democratic strategy: focus on cost-of-living concerns (groceries, housing, health care), affordable access to government, and anti-corruption.
• She responds candidly to poll numbers showing low favorability for both parties and addresses whether Democrats will shift further left.
• Clark discusses immigration, confirming the need for secure borders but defending efforts to focus on working people’s needs.
• The potential impact of foreign wars (specifically Iran) on inflation and household budgets surfaces as a top concern.

Notable Quotes:

• “We have always been a party where we know that our majority is built by aligning ourselves with the working people.” — Rep. Katherine Clark [21:44, 25:43]
• “The fastest thing we can do to lower costs for Americans right now is end this war and get to a resolution of it. Open the Strait of Hormuz and bring those gas prices down.” — Rep. Katherine Clark [28:16]
• “We have to see this from the American families perspective.” — Rep. Katherine Clark [30:36]
• “These are the issues that are out there. The American people are really in a bind and they are looking for help from government. What they’re seeing from the Republican Party is, you know, a let them eat cake attitude.” — Rep. Katherine Clark [31:43]

Timestamps:

• Democratic midterms strategy: [21:34]–[32:21]

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Memorable Moments

• Joe Kernan and Becky Quick’s playful analogies: “Is that what you’re going to go with? Genie out of the bottle?” / “This is toothpaste. Out of the tube.” [05:04–05:22]
• Discussion on political “slush funds,” both critique and defense, underlining the risk of bipartisan abuse. [15:22–19:45]
• Andrew Ross Sorkin’s query into the long-term credibility of government compensation funds if/when the balance of power shifts. [17:52]

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Useful Timestamps by Topic

• AI Executive Order & Regulation: [00:10]–[05:40]
• Congressional Stalemates: [05:26]–[07:38]
• OpenAI IPO Discussion: [07:38]–[10:02]
• Rep. James Comer on Prediction Markets: [10:53]–[15:22]
• “Slush Fund” Ethics Debate: [15:22]–[19:45]
• Rep. Katherine Clark on Democratic Strategy: [21:34]–[32:21]

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Tone and Style

The episode features CNBC’s trademark blend of sharp financial insight, humor, and political candor. Hosts frequently banter, challenge one another, and press guests for specifics, lending a dynamic, fast-paced, and at times irreverent tone to serious policy issues.

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This summary should provide a comprehensive and engaging guide to all the substantive content of this Squawk Pod episode, offering context, highlights, and quotes for listeners and non-listeners alike.

Transcript

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Bring in show music, please.

[Cameron Costa]

This is Squawk Pod. I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa. And on today's episode, we are heading to Washington, D.C. where President Trump has postponed his executive order on AI the reason he doesn't want to block innovation.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

There really wasn't an FDA for AI?

[Becky Quick]

No.

[Joe Kernan]

Is it just the wild, wild west and it could come back to haunt us? I think it's going to be tough.

[Cameron Costa]

Then a lawmaker putting prediction markets in the hot seat. Kentucky Republican Representative James Comer's plan for polymarket and for Kelshi.

[Representative James Comer]

There's overwhelming agreement in Congress that there needs to be regulatory framework. There's just not agreement on.

[Cameron Costa]

And Democratic Whip Representative Catherine Clark how her side of the aisle is prepping for the midterms.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

The fastest thing we can do to lower class for Americans right now is end this war.

[Cameron Costa]

It is Friday, May 22. And squawk pod begins right now.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Stand Becky by in 3, 2, 1.

[Becky Quick]

Good morning and welcome to Squawk Box right here on cnbc. I'm Becky Quick along with Joe Kernan. We are in Washington, D.C. this morning. Andrew Ross Sorkin is back at headquarters at the NASDAQ markets site in Times Square. We are in our nation's capital where later today at the White House, President Trump will swear in Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. Andrew?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thanks, Becky. Meantime, President Trump saying he postponed a signing ceremony for his much anticipated executive order on artificial intelligence because he didn't like certain aspects of it. The event was scheduled for yesterday afternoon, but the president telling reporters the US Is ahead of China and the rest of the world on AI but he didn't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead. He said he was concerned the executive order, quote, could have been a blocker. Reports say the order could have empowered the US and government to pre evaluate AI models to identify security vulnerabilities. And Joe and Becky, we've been talking about just the debate and battle even inside the AI industry over what those kind of regulations could look like, what David Sacks was looking for, what some others were looking for, what people in the industry were looking for. There was also apparently just an optics issue. I don't know if you had heard about getting all of those executives there for the actual signing ceremony itself and all of the photog sprays that go on.

[Joe Kernan]

It's a prelude, don't you think, to if we're going to err on something, I think we're going to err on not being maybe as careful as some people would like to maintain. And I'm not saying I disagree with that because I. I think we do want to stay in the lead. And we, you know, take social media, take any technology, that biotechnology, we kind of plunge headlong into it because of competitive concerns. We got to try and stay ahead. And especially with this race with China, do you see any guardrails? And is it just the wild, wild west and it could come back to haunt us? I think it's going to be tough. And this is just.

[Becky Quick]

I think there are a lot of questions swirling about that, especially because there are states that have already moved to put some restrictions on some of these things, specifically New York and California, and any legislation that comes through or any executive order would potentially preempt those states rights to do those things.

[Joe Kernan]

Well, what do you think, Andrew? No holds. But I'm. I'm kind of with no holds, bar.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I wasn't against the idea of having some kind of. I mean, my understanding of the executive order was that it really wasn't an FDA for AI it really was much more of a situation where you were going to effectively, the next. The next Mythos, the next frontier model, was going to go and be put in. In front of a group of people who were going to be, frankly, a combination I understood, of both political leaders, but also potentially even technology leaders, people, industry people, to try to evaluate them before they went out into the wild, if you will. That unto itself didn't strike me as, you know, you know, holding up the train necessarily.

[Becky Quick]

No, it's what Mythos is already doing,

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

and that's what Mythos is already doing, almost on a voluntary basis, if you will. So I. That's why I was not. I don't know how struck I was by it. I was struck by the way, two days ago, people didn't pick up on it. But there was one line in what Jeff Bezos was talking about where he said, you know, we can continue to lead in this space, you know, assuming that there's not this regulatory issue he actually talked about regulation for. It was just like, for a tiny second and. But nobody focused on it, so.

[Joe Kernan]

So.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

But it's an issue. It's a real issue.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah. Well, I think we know where business leaders stand. And I'm just. I'm just wondering whether, you know, does it mean something that we're not prepared for happens because of a lack of. Of guardrail?

[Becky Quick]

That's certainly the fear. But.

[Joe Kernan]

And.

[Becky Quick]

And once you let the genie out of the bottle, you can't put it back in. We're going to be speaking.

[Joe Kernan]

Is that what you're going to go with?

[Representative Katherine Clark]

No, I'm.

[Joe Kernan]

We're going to be speaking toothpaste. Out of the two you did genie on up. The genie does go back in the bottle, though. Oh, you just have to say the Right, right.

[Becky Quick]

Well, it does only if you have a will force them in.

[Joe Kernan]

Never uncover.

[Becky Quick]

Okay, fine. This is toothpaste. Out of the two

[Joe Kernan]

House Republican leaders, though this is pretty interesting. Abruptly canceled a vote on the Iran war because too many GOP members were absent. Democrats have been forcing repeated votes on resolutions to halt US Military action against Iran. Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, said the vote was pulled because too many of the party's lawmakers weren't present. So it's expected to be rescheduled after the week long Memorial Day break. And then this was something to behold yesterday.

[Becky Quick]

It was, it was surprising. The Senate Republicans canceling plans to begin voting this week on a budget reconciliation package that would fund immigration enforcement operations through 2029. GOP senators have been sparring internally over the Trump administration's $1.8 billion anti weapon Republican leaders sent members home early for the week long recess because if the Senate doesn't vote on it, it was not going to make its way here. They're out again until the beginning of June, June 1st. And that is the deadline that the president had set for wanting to have that bill signed and ready to go.

[Joe Kernan]

And we're deep in the weeds on parliamentarian issues with whether to be part of the reciprocation.

[Becky Quick]

There's some fighting internally with the Republicans. They cannot agree on a lot of these things and that's why you had them walk out.

[Joe Kernan]

You've seen there'. Animus. Maybe we can't read everything into the body language of Majority Leader Th, but the Cornyn issue, I'm not sure Massie was quite to the same extent. But the president has flexed his muscles in terms of these campaigned against. He certainly has. Republicans until us was already there. Cassidy all of a sudden is, you know, voting the opposite way, which is probably not surprising.

[Becky Quick]

McConnell was not happy with what he heard about this. Susan Collins was not satisfied when she

[Joe Kernan]

out Senator Collins if, if she had voted last night, she would would have been one of her 10,000 straight votes. I don't think anyone's ever done that before. Now it's going to have to wait. But the Journal had a piece on it yesterday. No one's 10,000 straight straight straight votes. Amazing.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly spoke to employees on Wednesday about the timing of a potential IPO report of the information, saying that Altman noted even if the company files for public offering, it may actually hold off on the listing and said the company wouldn't go public until it was ready. And earlier reports said that OpenAI was preparing to file its prospectus with security regulators in the coming weeks with an eye on a listing as soon as September. The information reporting that Altman has privately said he wants to go public before Anthropic. Of course, you can file a public listing privately with the government, so you know what they talk about, even in the context of SpaceX, which we'll talk about in a moment, filed effectively a private listing with, and then, quote, unquote, flipped the listing and made it public just this week. So that's what may very well happen, Becky.

[Becky Quick]

But did you think that was something because the lawsuit went their way, that they just want to kind of get it out there and move forward at that point? I wondered if that was the equivalent of kind of putting your, your pawn out a little bit to signal what was coming and maybe just kind of push ahead when you just had that legal victory.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Oh, I don't know. I thought that would happen, to be honest. If you was. There was all the reporting around the SpaceX IPO and in particular, who. No, no. And who the bankers were and the whole sort of army around that. And I think in the context of that, it then got reported, meaning I think that some of the early reports were coming from bankers.

[Becky Quick]

Okay.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I think it's the same team, to be honest with you, who's going to be doing that, which, by the way, makes for some interesting bedfellows, if you think about it. But, but nonetheless, I think the reporting came out that there was an IPO in the offering.

[Becky Quick]

Yeah, yeah. And not Altman saying, hey, I don't like the attention they're getting. I want to make sure we get some, too. But maybe the bankers, that's I trust.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

I don't even know if it was the bankers trying to get the attention so much as, you know, in the context of reporting, sometimes you're on the telephone with somebody. I was not the person who broke this story. I don't, I don't recall who did. The point is, sometimes you're on the phone, you're learning stuff about one thing, and you say, hey, anything else going on? And somebody, you know, they never want to say, no, nothing else is going on. So someone might have said, yeah, by the way, when this is over. You know we're working on the OpenAI offering.

[Becky Quick]

That's how these things on that Andrew

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

kind of I, that's my guess.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

Keys will be next.

[Cameron Costa]

Coming up on Squawk Pod, Kentucky Representative James Comer is launching a probe into insider trading on prediction markets like Calshi and Polymarket. He joins us right after this break.

[Representative James Comer]

There's a concern now that members of Congress, members of the president's administration, any type of government employee could use basic insider knowledge and make huge profits on anything government related.

[Cameron Costa]

Welcome back to Squawk Pod with Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin.

[Joe Kernan]

Our next guest is launching an investigation into insider trading on prediction market platforms. Join us now. Congressman James Comer, chairman of the Oversight and Committee Reform Committee to the sea.

[Representative James Comer]

Thanks for having me.

[Joe Kernan]

We were talking about AI earlier and you know the president, let's go, you know, full bore or at least we seem to have already done that with, with the prediction markets and we have talked about it's it if there was literally a wild west scenario at this point, I don't know what's legal. I don't know what you're allowed to do. I don't know what you're allowed to, to wager on at this point. The, the horse is out of the or the toothpaste is out of the tube.

[Becky Quick]

Horses out of the tube.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah. The, the eggs have been scrambled. What, what are you looking into and how much egregious stuff are you finding?

[Representative James Comer]

You're exactly right, Joe. It's the Wild West. There are no rules. You and I may think we know what's ethical and what's not, but there's no written law against it. This is so new and this has never been a problem until a few months ago. It really amplified when you had the situation in Venezuela and now we know there was an inside high level military person that made a significant bet, made a $400,000 profit when the raid happened in Venezuela. So there's a concern now that members of Congress, members of the president's administration, any type of government employee could use basic insider knowledge and make huge profits on, on anything government related. So we want to not only launch investigations to see how, how widespread this has been thus far, but also to prove a case that we've got to pass some type of legislation. And I think it wouldn't be too much to ask to say members of Congress can't participate in the predictions market nor can government employees or people in the president's administration.

[Joe Kernan]

It's got to go Further than that, though, Probably. Probably, doesn't it? Who's in charge? I know.

[Representative James Comer]

And. And, you know, so I can't do it. But you're my golf buddy, and I say, okay, Joe, hey, listen, I. I think that somebody in the Epstein investigation is going to get indicted tomorrow.

[Joe Kernan]

Yeah.

[Representative James Comer]

I would have inside information on something like that if I told you, you know, if the language isn't written correctly, then. Then I didn't break any law. You made a bunch of money, and you can take me out to eat or buy something for my business. I mean, there's so many loopholes. As you know, there are always unintended consequences when you pass legislation. So anytime you set up a regulatory framework, it's very difficult. Just like with cryptocurrency, Members of Congress all agree that we need to have regulations on cryptocurrency. There's just not an agreement on how to do that. Same with AI.

[Becky Quick]

Same with AI we were talking about earlier this morning.

[Representative James Comer]

So you've got cryptocurrency, AI and the prediction market, all relatively new things where there's overwhelming agreement in Congress that there needs to be regulatory framework, there's just not agreement on how that.

[Joe Kernan]

So as is prediction markets. How much of it will be able to survive this scrutiny, let's say two years from now? What does it look like? Who's in charge? Who's regulating? Who's. Where's the oversight?

[Representative James Comer]

Yeah. Is that sec? I think it's going to be harder to regulate, to get agreement, to regulate the predictions market, because just like with crypto and AI, everyone agrees something needs to be done. I think where we can have agreement is we can ban members of Congress and ban government employees from participating in it. And. And it's probably going to have to go further. You're going to have to have tight language where you can't even consult or give tips or anything like that.

[Becky Quick]

It's the same language that exists for this sec. When it comes to publicly traded security, if you are someone who has inside information, you are bound to not trade that.

[Representative James Comer]

Exactly.

[Becky Quick]

Or give it to anyone else. Eventually benefit.

[Representative James Comer]

Yes, 100%. 100%.

[Joe Kernan]

We were joking earlier. I got the jacket on, but I'm still jacketless in my mind. And when you sat down, I said, just because it's called a slush fund doesn't mean that there aren't people entitled to lawfare retribution. And you said I should run for current. I mean, I can see the rationale, given the President's experience over the last decade or whatever, it is I can see ire. I can see you know being furious about things and but will the rest of. Of the Senate and the House join in? Where does that. So how do you.

[Representative James Comer]

That's a very controversial subject as you can imagine. I have been a big critic of government weaponization. There are on both many people on

[Joe Kernan]

the previous stuff that they did to Trump or on what he's doing.

[Representative James Comer]

I think you go back president several administrations now Trump was special because he was weaponized. I mean the, the, the, the lawfare from the different levels of court, all the frivolous lawsuits, the, the whole Russia hoax that was a hoax. I mean there was never any. Today there's no evidence that there was any type of Russia.

[Joe Kernan]

There were five other situations and he won all seven sinks or swing states.

[Representative James Comer]

Everything, you know the, the tax evade, you know, the, the things they tried to convict him on was a joke. It was a joke. So I think that there is a need for it. What the President needs to do to be able to get this through is to explain it and have a plan. This is who's going to determine who gets compensated. Because you're exactly right. There have been a lot of people that have lost everything they had in legal fees trying to defend themselves against an overzealous bureaucrat.

[Becky Quick]

But it can't look like a slush fund that is handed out as political favors.

[Representative James Comer]

Yeah, well, yeah. And it got branded early slush fund and that, that hurt.

[Joe Kernan]

And you're going to immediately take the other side will take it to the most extreme point and that's J6 this was this that that did beat up or harmed or tried to harm Capitol Police should they be and I mentioned to you even the FBI informants that may have been involved beating up some.

[Becky Quick]

But how did you feel about, how did you feel about President Biden pardoning himself and his family members?

[Representative James Comer]

Oh, I was pretty vocal on that. I was not good it looks like because he said he wasn't going to do it.

[Becky Quick]

Right. But it looks like it's self dealing on both sides. 100%.

[Representative James Comer]

Yeah. There's problems in both parties. There's problems with you know, every administration. We do have what I consider a deep state with bureaucrats that abuse their power. They hide in the shadows, they're unelected. Many people don't know who they are and they've inflicted huge financial damage on a lot of people. Their enemies, the people that they don't agree with and they needs to be something. Hopefully the President can hit the reset on this and explain the guard rails. That's what we want. We want guard rails because we don't want to read about.

[Joe Kernan]

I know my friend Andrew, you got an audit question. Andrew, you go, you're going there, right?

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Well, we could talk about audits. I was just going to, on this particular topic, my question to the chairman is sort of longer term, how concerned are you if, if this fund exists that we will politicize this even more meaning, you know, to the extent the Democrats come into power in the future, at some point, whether they go after all these other things, create their own funds in the future similar to this, to give out money to people that, I mean, that's the longer you talk about the sort of credibility long term of Washington and how politicized these things can be. You know, there's, there's a whole view right now, for example, that the administration for political purposes has gone after media companies, for example, should they in the future be able to get some form of compensation back from, you know, the next president's fund if it's a Democrat? And I think that's the sort of longer, bigger piece of this, this is

[Joe Kernan]

our money that you're, and there was already one in the Obama administration for Native Americans and for Ling and everything else.

[Representative James Comer]

There are, there are several funds in the, in the government now to pay for, as you said, agriculture things, civil rights, things like that. So the unfortunate thing about this, it wasn't rolled out very well and no one understood in the media and the liberals were quickly, were quick to label it a slush fund. And that sounds really bad. So I think if the president comes out and says these are the guardrails, this is how it's going to be done. But you're exactly right, your concern is well founded. It could very easily be abused. And most government programs eventually fall to

[Joe Kernan]

some kind of bizarre because you hear both sides say wait till we get back in power, like the things that the Democrats are complaining about and then they'll turn around and go on CNN and say just wait until we're going to go after anyone who supported Trump you're going to answer for. So you hear it from both.

[Representative James Comer]

That's right. It's a problem. Anytime you set up something, there are always unintended consequences. That's a big word in this town, unintended consequences.

[Becky Quick]

Chairman, Very quickly, Quinnipiac recently put out a poll that showed voters are not really fond of the Democrats at this point. I think their approval ratings are 20%. That's near all time lows.

[Joe Kernan]

And then it's like, but they like

[Becky Quick]

the Republicans less because the 50% of them said they would like to see the Democrats running Congress, 38% said Republicans. What do you do about that?

[Representative James Comer]

Well, I think we've got to continue to highlight what our policies are, what we're trying to do. We're trying to get the backs of the taxpayers. We're trying to reduce wasteful spending. We're trying to eliminate fraud. I think the Democrats want to spend more money and, and have a bigger welfare state and tax, tax, you know, kind of what you're going to see in New York City and some of these other cities with these far left wing liberals that are getting elected. The, the Democrat Party's being hijacked by the, the socialist crowd. And I think if, if the voters realize that and understand what, what the future is going to look like with a, with a Democrat led Congress versus Republican led Congress, I think they'll vote Republican.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Now.

[Representative James Comer]

The, the American people are frustrated obviously with inflation, with oil prices and, and things like that. But at the, at the end of the day, I think the president's focused and Republicans are focused on trying to make sure that we can do everything we can in this building to try to get prices down and hopefully oil prices will be down by November.

[Joe Kernan]

All right, Cameron, James Comer, thank you. And the CBC has reached out to Kalshee and polymarket for comment on this probe. And we'll bring you any response and a note that CNBC and cowshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.

[Cameron Costa]

Next up on Squawk pod, Democratic Whip Representative Catherine Clark of Massachusetts. She's getting into the key issues for her party heading into the midterms.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

We have always been a party where we know that our majority is built by aligning ourselves with the working people.

[Cameron Costa]

We'll be right back. Welcome back to SQUAWK pod.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

You're watching Squawk Box right here on cnbc. I'm Andrew Ross Sorkin right here in Times Square. Joe Kernan and Becky quick in Washington, D.C. this morning. A huge lineup of guests.

[Becky Quick]

Joining us right now with more on the Democratic agenda heading into the midterms is minority Whip Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Massachusetts. And Representative, thank you for being with us this morning.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

Yeah, it's great to have you here.

[Becky Quick]

It's good to be in your town. Let's talk a little bit about what your plans are as we head into the midterms. We just looked at the Quinnipiac polls and it showed that Democrats are not well loved by voters at this point, I think 20% approval ratings. However, they did say they'd rather have Democrats in charge of Congress than Republicans. So you have that going for you at this point. But what do you do at this point? How do you try and reach out to voters?

[Representative Katherine Clark]

You know, we stay with the plan and the strategy that we've had. We looked at the 24 elections and we saw that when we talked about defending democracy, people felt like we were talking past them. And so we have learned that lesson, and we are laser focused on making sure that we are talking to people about what concerns them and finding solutions. And that's cost of living. That is in every poll. That is in every conversation I have throughout my district in Massachusetts. And as I travel the country, it is about groceries, housing, electric bills, and it's health care. People want to be able to have health care they can afford and where and when they need it. And that shouldn't just be some sort of luxury item. That should be a basic, fundamental right in this country. And then we talk about government that works for you, and that's anti corruption, and that's making sure that taxpayers can access federal government and services in a way that cuts through some of the red tape and the long waits on calls. And so that is our focus and message to the American people.

[Joe Kernan]

Think of the autopsy yesterday about what went wrong in 2024. It seemed. It was glaringly. There were just certain things I thought that were missing about, I don't know, concerns about former President Biden's age at the. None of that made its way in there. It seemed really. If you really want to look at what went wrong, it seems like you'd have to really be. Democrats would have to be honest about what. What happened to lose all seven swing states in, in the popular vote and, and the midterms are front and center. But you, you know, you're gonna have to run someone for president in 2028. And is it going to be AOC? Is there a world where that's a possibility?

[Representative Katherine Clark]

Listen, we've got a lot of good potential nominees.

[Joe Kernan]

You'd be okay with her as the nominee. I know you're from Massachusetts. She might be too conservative.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

What we did in the House and the DNC autopsy I think should have come out when it was first written. But what we did in the House is look back on where we. Where we went wrong. Why didn't we win the majority? And it's back to what I was saying. The American people are waving their hands. They're just not making it 60% of households are just unable to afford the basics for their family.

[Joe Kernan]

That was coming off four years of Biden at 23% price increases. I mean it wasn't.

[Becky Quick]

There is a bit of an identity crisis with the party right now. Are you going to be a centrist party or are you going to be a far left party? What do you think the answer is?

[Representative Katherine Clark]

We have always been a where we know that our majority is built by aligning ourselves with working people and that is a core value of Democrats. Do we have trust? We have to rebuild with the American people 100%. But how we do it is showing up for them. And it's why you're seeing our numbers jump in the generic Dem Republican because you can't have what we saw on display here this week where we have a Republican Party president who are proposing a billion dollars for a ballroom, a $2 billion slush fund for the President and $75 billion to further fund ICE that does not need more funding and not a dime for the American people.

[Joe Kernan]

Open borders for four years didn't help working Americans at all when illegal immigrants were taking, you know, jobs. And there were a lot of things that happened over the four years that that working Americans felt totally neglected and those wages fell, real wages fell over a four year period.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

So for working, let's take immigration as an example because we do need secure borders. President Biden got there but it was very, very late.

[Joe Kernan]

When did he.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

Oh definitely in the end of his administration. He got there but it was late. So let's. We fundamentally agree we need 20 million borders. But what we are seeing and this is an impact I'm see businesses in my district that when the president came in and said he would deport the worst of the worst and what he's really done has come in and just inflicted mass terror on law abiding immigrant families. We're seeing that. I'm having restaurants in my district, a bakery owner in Framingham, Massachusetts that has had a bakery for 20 years. He is saying this is worse than the pandemic for him in terms of finding labor. In terms of finding labor. And also the tariffs have increased prices on his inputs that he's at a place he can't pass that out.

[Becky Quick]

How do you get at the affordability issue though when what's the biggest issues that are hitting most Americans right now are higher gas prices and then higher interest rates. And that's an issue that it probably means that you'll have to have less government spending if you want rates to come down on interest rates, which affects your mortgage, which affects your car payment, which affects your credit card payment.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

The fastest thing we can do to lower class for Americans right now is end this war and get to a resolution of it. Open the Strait of Hormuz and bring those gas prices down. But you know, I talked to a mom in Phoenix, Arizona a few weeks ago. She makes $100,000 a year. She said that should be enough. But when her husband lost the job, between her childcare payment, her mortgage, her student loans, her husband is now selling PLAs in order to make their bills. And we're actually seeing a lot of these plasma storefronts open up because this is how people are getting by. So we have to make sure that we are fighting for them. And when we have what happened last night where they pulled down the War Powers resolution at the last minute because they were going to lose it, because there's tremendous pressure on the Republicans who are going along with this, this war and just seeing people at home who can't afford that increase to fill up their tank, to get to work, to drive their kids to school, to do the basics. So all of this, we just have to remain laser focused on them, on the American people and what they need. And we have an administration who is not not only ignoring them, but almost showing contempt for them. Building ballrooms and arches.

[Joe Kernan]

Iran and 47 years of killing Americans and in a really a death regime, death cult regime. That's a whole other. I mean, we need another half hour to talk about how we should have handled Iran. And it is adding to the affordability. Maybe it ends soon and prices on oil have come back down. But that's a whole different discussion about, about whether that was a courageous move that the president made or whether it was, you know, another foray like Iraq or Afghanistan. But it could end, it could end very well. It could end with no nuclear weapon.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

We all, we hope, we all hope that is the end and conclusion of

[Joe Kernan]

this eventually, if there's enough pressure put on it economically. But to where the whole Middle east

[Representative Katherine Clark]

changes, we have to see this from the American families perspective.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Right?

[Joe Kernan]

As we always.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

This administration comes in, takes away trillion dollars out of health care, takes away ACA tax credits, forces up premiums, whether you get your health care from ACA or Medicaid.

[Joe Kernan]

We're going to need another half hour to debate that because we know who could have had those subsidies extended that didn't do it when they had the chance. It's not, that's not the Republicans fault.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

Well, when you come in and you cut a trillion dollars. That is 100% their fault. And that.

[Joe Kernan]

But Medicare, it's still growing. And Medicare is still growing. You're cutting. They were cutting the increase.

[Representative Katherine Clark]

But you've got to see the complete disconnect from families at home who are struggling to make it. And what they see from this Republican Party is they're not in the equation at all. You take away health care, you take away food programs, we're the wealthiest nation in the world. We should be able to feed every single kid, every single senior and veteran in this country. These are the issues that are out there. The American people are really in a bind and they are looking for help from government. What they're seeing from the Republican Party is, you know, a let them eat cake attitude.

[Becky Quick]

Representative CLARK thank you.

[Joe Kernan]

Framingham, where I used to live, where else? What are the other district?

[Representative Katherine Clark]

Oh, my district, 24 cities and towns right around Boston. So Lexington, Framingham, play golf. Wellesley. I've got Cambridge. I've got Woburn, Malden. I live in Ravine, Medford, Somerville.

[Cameron Costa]

That is Squawk Pod for today and for the week. Thank you for listening this this entire newsy week. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin every weekday morning on CNBC from 6am Eastern all the way until 9. You can always get the best parts of that TV show right into your ears here on Squawk Pod as long as you follow us wherever you're listening. Now, the best parts of that TV show include the entire Jeff Bezos interview at the Blue Origin Festival, factory floor and so much more. We'll meet you right back here on Tuesday. Have a great long weekend.

[Joe Kernan]

We are clear.

[Andrew Ross Sorkin]

Thanks, guys.