← The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Lawrence: Elon Musk suffered a humiliating demotion by Donald Trump
00:42:01
Tonight on The Last Word: Donald Trump picks a Fox host to serve as defense secretary. Also, Trump allies push for Rick Scott as the Senate GOP leader. Plus, Senate Democrats race to confirm judges before the next Trump administration. And a former NASA official flips a GOP House seat in California. E.J. Dionne, Stuart Stevens, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Rep.-elect George Whitesides join Lawrence O’Donnell.
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- [00:01]
Lawrence O'Donnell
The kind of burgers you get today tells you a lot about yourself. You're either someone who settles for sad same old same old burgers or you're Edit Carl's Jr obsessed with a tangy OG Western bacon cheeseburger demanding a house made guacamole, loaded guac bacon fired up for the insanely hot El Diablo or craving a classic Charbold Famous Star. Give in to your flavored cravings. Do your mouth to Carl's Jr Big.
- [00:28]
Alex Wagner
Burger good Burger hey Fidelity, what's it cost to invest with the Fidelity app?
- [00:36]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Start with as little as $1 with no account fees or trade commissions on U.S. stocks and ETFs.
- [00:43]
E.J. Dionne
Hmm.
- [00:44]
Alex Wagner
That's music to my ears.
- [00:45]
Lawrence O'Donnell
I can only talk Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Zero Account fees apply to retail brokerage accounts only sell order assessment fee not included. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a transaction based service fee of $100. See full list of Fidelity.com commissions Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC now.
- [01:04]
Alex Wagner
It is time for the Last word with Lawrence O'Donnell.
- [01:06]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Good evening, Lawrence Good evening, Alex. Amy Klobuchar is going to join us. She helped confirm another Biden judge today, and this is after Donald Trump ordered Republicans in the Senate to make sure no Biden judges confirmed after the election. They're on their track now to confirm maybe about 20 more what Trump asks for and what actually happens sometimes. Exactly. And Alex, you've hit on the theme of the next hour of television right here, exactly that point. I'm very eager to hear what other.
- [01:39]
Alex Wagner
Examples you come up with.
- [01:40]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Lawrence thanks, Alex.
- [01:42]
Alex Wagner
Have a great show.
- [01:42]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Thank you. Well, Elon Musk suffered a humiliating demotion tonight by Donald Trump. The theory that Elon Musk might become in effect a co president or the real president while Donald Trump in effect retires to a life of golfing, suffered a significant setback tonight when Donald Trump announced that he would give Elon Musk a job that does not exist and will last at most 18 months. And worst of all, Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, was assigned a working partner who, like Musk, has also never worked in government before. Vivek Ramaswamy, who's not even a billionaire, Elon Musk didn't even get his own press release from Donald Trump. He had to share it with Vivek Ramaswamy. Elon Musk got the first shared press release of any of Donald Trump's appointment announcements. Even the Fox host, who isn't even the richest person at Fox got his own press release from Donald Trump when Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. That's right, a Fox Weekend morning host for Secretary of Defense. Today was the silliest day yet in the Trump personnel announcements. We will get to more of them in a moment. But first, votes are still being counted in America tonight. The Pennsylvania Senate race remains too close to call. When that election is decided, the Republicans will have 53 senators if the Republicans win in Pennsylvania, to the Democrats 47. If Democrat Bob Casey wins in Pennsylvania, the Republicans will have 52 senators to the Democrats 48. Late last night, Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego defeated Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake. It now seems the Republicans are likely to control the House of Representatives. As of this hour, Republicans have 216 seats in the House and Democrats have 207 seats in the House. According to NBC News. With 12 seats remaining to be decided in the presidential election, the final national polls indicating that the race was a tie within a three point margin of error are proving correct. Donald Trump currently has a 2% lead over Kamala Harris at 52:48. Anyone who understands what polling data actually means knows that that result in the election is within the three point margin of error of all of the credible national polls in the final days of the campaign. This afternoon, Vice President Harris returned to the White House for the first time since the election. Before her scheduled lunch with President Biden, Vice President Harris was greeted by White House staff.
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Alex Wagner
So thank you all very much.
- [05:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We do the best work anybody can do to dedicate ourselves to, to the people, to public service, to lifting folks up. And you all are a part of doing that work every single day. And I am so grateful to you.
- [05:52]
Alex Wagner
So let's get back to work because.
- [05:53]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We still have work to get done.
- [05:55]
Stuart Stevens
I'm sending you all my love and thanks.
- [05:58]
Alex Wagner
Thank you everyone.
- [06:05]
Lawrence O'Donnell
If all goes well for the personnel in the Trump administration, unlike the last Trump administration, if all goes well, Elon Musk will be the first one kicked out because Donald Trump already kicked him out. In the press release announcing his appointment to do a non existent job, Donald Trump announced, quote, Elon Musk, working in conjunction with Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency. If you lead a department in the American government, you are a cabinet secretary. The Department of Defense is led by the Secretary of Defense. The Department of the treasury is led by the Secretary of the treasury and so on. There is no such thing as the Department of Government Efficiency. Creating such a thing would require an act of Congress and a budget for such a department. The press release reveals that the Department of Government Efficiency, which does not have an office or a desk or an office chair anywhere in the government, will probably be housed in the Executive Office Building beside the White House because the Trump press release says that the Department of Government Efficiency, quote, will partner with the White House and Office of Management and Budget to drive large scale structural reform. So that sounds like Elon Musk will be allowed to send his budget ideas to the yet unnamed director of the Office of Management and Budget, which actually is a real job in the White House. Maybe Elon Musk. Musk will get an office at omb, or maybe he'll want one of those very big offices that are available in the Executive Office Building beside the White House. He could get one of those, but it seems very unlikely. He will get an office in the West Wing of the White House where the action really is and be able to just walk down the hall to see the President whenever he wants to. The big offices in the West Wing of the White House go to the White House Chief of Staff and the Vice president. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will no doubt use much of her bureaucratic infighting skill to keep Elon Musk as far away from real power as possible. If Elon Musk were actually going to be the head of a department, a cabinet secretary, he would have to go through confirmation hearings, which would be a televised festival of conflict of interest for a major defense contractor. Elon Musk taking a position inside the government that would allow him to push for more money for his government contracts and prevent anyone from ever examining any waste that might exist in Elon Musk's more than $15 billion in government contracting? The funniest part of the Trump press release announcing Elon Musk's appointment to a position that does not exist, in which he is being forced by Donald Trump to. To work with someone else who knows nothing about. The subject that he's been assigned, Vivek Ramaswamy, is that they are both going to be the first people kicked out of the Trump government. The Trump press release says their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026. Every Republican president has campaigned on the promise that they will eliminate waste and fraud in government, including Donald Trump. How could there be any waste in government after Donald Trump's four years in the presidency, which we're supposed to eliminate waste? How could there be any waste in government after Republican hero Ronald Reagan was supposed to spend eight years getting rid of all the waste. I'm talking about reducing waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in government. Yeah, he talked about it. Ronald Reagan had eight years to get rid of the waste in government. The budget of the United States went up every single year of the Reagan presidency. The budget of the United States of America has gone up every year of every Republican presidency since Ronald Reagan. The budget of the United States went up dramatically every year of the Trump presidency. Every year.
- [10:52]
Stuart Stevens
Waste, fraud and abuse all over the place. Waste, fraud and abuse.
- [10:59]
Lawrence O'Donnell
So Donald Trump failed to get rid of the waste in four years as president with all that power, and now Donald Trump is going to give Elon Musk 18 months to just recommend how to get rid of all the waste in government, something Donald Trump discovered he could not do in four years. Donald Trump now just might know enough about government to know how humiliating this is going to be for Elon Musk. Elon Musk is going to fail miserably at the homework assignment Donald Trump has given him. An assignment that Donald Trump doesn't believe Elon Musk can do without the help of Vivek Ramaswamy. Why did Donald Trump insult Elon Musk by assigning him a helper, something Donald Trump hasn't done for anyone else. He has announced for positions in the Trump administration. I said if everything goes well in the Trump administration, Elon Musk and his assigned sidekick will be the first ones out the door. But we have every right to expect that it is impossible, at a personnel level, at least in the Trump administration, for everything to go well. Donald Trump's first White House chief of staff was fired after six months. Donald Trump then went through three more of them. Donald Trump fired his first Secretary of State after a year that Secretary of State had called Donald Trump an effing moron. So the chances of egomaniac elon Musk surviving 18 months in any kind of fake working relationship with egomaniac Donald Trump are not good. Vivek Ramaswamy will no doubt be hoping for Elon Musk to quit so that he can move up to the top job in the department that does not exist. The rest of Donald Trump's announced appointments to his administration range from okay to not as bad as it could be to terrible and silly. The possibilities for White House counsel included a buffoon who has been a permanent fixture in Donald Trump's post presidential entourage, Boris Epstein, who is technically a lawyer but does not practice law and is currently under indictment in Arizona for crimes he is accused of committing and trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Boris Epstein didn't make the cut for White House counsel, nor did this guy.
- [13:48]
Stuart Stevens
Let me just say this to Big.
- [13:50]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Tish James, the New York Attorney General. I dare you, I dare you to try to continue your law fare against President Trump. We will put your in prison for conspiracy against rights and I promise you that that guy Mike Davis, was at the top of many speculative lists about who would be the Trump White House Counsel. And instead, Donald Trump announced today that the White House counsel, a position that does not have to be confirmed by the Senate, will be William McGinley, who has been a partner in serious Washington law firms and has the standard Republican establishment resume that could have landed him a job in a Bush White House Counsel's office. On the less serious side of the appointment scale comes Mike Huckabee, who will be submitted for Senate confirmation to serve as Ambassador to Israel. That is the kind of appointment that could offend many people in Israel who have come to expect that the American Ambassador will be a Jewish American with long held interest in Israel. Mike Huckabee's fundamentalist Christian interest in Israel, like other Christian fundamentalist Republicans, is based on their belief that the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur in Israel at what will be the end of the world as we know it, sparked by a war in Israel that will ultimately lead to the death of all Jewish Israelis or their conversion to Christianity. That is not a view of Israel's role in the world that anyone in Israel has ever accepted or believed. South Dakota's Governor Christy Noem will be nominated and no doubt confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Homeland Security. The CIA director will be John Ratcliffe, who served as Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence. The intelligence community survived John Ratcliffe's first tour of duty. This time around, John Radcliffe and others with some experience in government might find themselves spending a lot of time trying to figure out Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth Tonight is the first time I have said that person's name out loud. But at least I had a vague image of him in my mind when I heard his name today, which is more than you can say for the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over everything the Secretary of Defense does. I confess, I did not know who Pete Hicks was until about 20 minutes ago. He does not seem to have much of a detailed background in DoD policy. To the extent he's worked on any of that stuff. It has been on veterans policy, not on, you know, DoD issues. So it's the lack of experience is concerning. Now I have not heard what his plans are, so we will see what his plans are. But it was surprising and it is concerning. Just given that lack of experience. You know, the Pentagon, biggest bureaucracy in the world, it's a hard thing to run. So I think it's going to be a challenge. In the pre Trump world, it would be impossible for a Pete Hegseth to get through the Senate confirmation process for any job in government. But the 52 or 53 Republican senators who will show up for work next year have shown that they will have no problem voting for any ridiculous, incompetent Trump appointee. Here is a sample of what to expect in Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing. Republicans for decades, for years have sat in the kill zone and said, just kind of like us, we're okay, we're not that bad, we're okay. We're nice behind our podiums, dressed up like this, hey everybody, we're going to cut taxes just a little bit more. It doesn't work. Donald Trump said it's time to throw the grenades and charge at the enemy. Leading off our discussion tonight is E.J. dionne, an opinion columnist for the Washington Post, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He's also a professor of government at Georgetown University. And E.J. dionne, you are one of the people we can turn to who has actually heard every single modern Republican presidential promise to cut the waste, fraud and abuse from government. And yet it remains as the unfinished business. What are Elon Musk's chances of in his role as someone who is only allowed to recommend to the president or to the budget director or recommend to the House committees with jurisdiction and Senate committees with jurisdiction over these things, how much they should spend for what? What are the chances of Elon Musk changing the nature of government this way?
- [19:03]
Stuart Stevens
When I heard this announcement earlier today with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, I said, gee, it' totally unfair to Trump that he has no respect for expertise. These two guys really understand government all the way down. I think that there is one alarming potential here. Elon Musk said that to do what needs to be due to get government to be efficient will cause a lot of pain to people. But then things will be okay. So watch out for your Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and a whole lot of other essentials, because if they want to cut the $2 trillion or $3 trillion that they are talking about, they're going to have to go not only to the bone but through the bone of government. And you're playing back the greatest hits of waste, fraud and abuse was very instructive because it never works. And it's only if you want to cut government, you're going to have to, seriously, you're going to have to cut stuff that Donald Trump said he wouldn't cut. So good luck to the two of them.
- [20:15]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Yeah. And people like Elon Musk are going to be shocked to discover if he even gets this far, that the administrative costs, for example, in Medicare are much, much lower than the administrative costs in private health insurance.
- [20:33]
Stuart Stevens
And that's even, that's even truer of Social Security, which has one of the most efficient, lowest overheads of any program in the country. And yes, and Medicare is exceptionally efficient compared to other health care programs. So that this assumption that all of government operates on waste, that people aren't doing anything in government, is just a complete misunderstanding. And that's why whenever people make these big promises to cut government, they end up creating enormous outcry for what they do to national parks that people like or the NIH where people do great research in healthcare. I mean, the good thing about these efforts is when people try to do them, they remind people of all the things they actually like about government.
- [21:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
You know, EJ in this announcement that Trump made, I am suspecting that Trump himself knows it's impossible. And giving them an end date of you have 18 months to do this and neither one of you, neither Elon or Vivek, even has a vote on the House Appropriations Committee about how much money to spend on these things. Or in the Senate Appropriations Committee where the actual decisions get made on the recommendations that Elon Musk will eventually make.
- [22:05]
Stuart Stevens
Really struck by that 18 month deadline, because that moves them just into the period of Congress where Congress stops doing very much of anything, because that will put this very, very close to the midterm elections. And Congress does not like to do a lot of controversial things before midterm elections, which if the past is any guide to where we'll be. And if some of what Trump wants to do, whether these enormous tariffs or even part of an outrageous effort to do mass deportations, the Republicans will already be very unpopular when the time comes for that Congress to go up for reelection.
- [22:54]
Lawrence O'Donnell
EJ One thing I'm struck with in these announcements is Donald Trump is doing them in the laziest possible way, just throwing out a press release. Previous presidents elect would do them carefully. They'd assemble sometimes a half a dozen or more of them. They would announce them all at once, in person, on camera, you might hear a few words from the incoming Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State or Secretary of Treasury, and they'd make a real event out of it. One of the things I think I'm seeing in this with Donald Trump is he doesn't want any competition for the camera, he doesn't want any competition for the limelight. And he wants to make it very clear he's the one who's really in charge. That's why he picks a guy from a Fox morning show as Secretary of Defense, because he doesn't really want him to be a secretary of defense. He's going to be the one in charge. He's going to be the one dealing with Bibi Netanyahu. He doesn't care about Mike Huckabee having this job as ambassador to Israel. And so there's a down playing as much as possible of every one of these announcements.
- [23:59]
Stuart Stevens
I think when you look at a lot of the names on this list so far, you understand why Trump is asking the Senate to roll over and say, we'll let you make a whole bunch of recess appointments, because he doesn't want these people not only not to be subject to a vote in the Senate, he does not want a lot of these folks to be at a hearing where they have to make a case for themselves and where they will face, as that Adam Smith clip showed, some really tough questions. And a lot of these people do not seem to be prepared for that kind of scrutiny. And so he's going to ask Senate Republicans to go entirely against norms and constitutional practice and just wave them through. And looking at the list, I guess I can't blame them for. For trying.
- [24:52]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We're going to ask Senator Amy Klobuchar how that's going to work for him. E.J. dion, thank you very much for starting off our discussion tonight.
- [25:00]
Stuart Stevens
Great to be with you, Lawrence.
- [25:01]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Thank you. Coming up tomorrow afternoon, Republican senators will cast their ballots for the next majority Leader of the Senate. They will do that in a room where the door is closed, no staff allowed. It is high drama. Stuart Stevens will join us next. Hey, Fidelity, can I get a second opinion on stocks in the Fidelity app? With Fidelity, it's easy to get an outside opinion from independent experts in a single score. And then when you're ready, trade US stocks and ETFs with no commissions. That's right. I am always right. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss, sell order, assessment fee not included. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a transaction based service fee of $100. See full list@fidelity.com Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC hey friends, Ted Danson here and I want to let you know about my new podcast. It's called Where Everybody Knows yous Name with me, Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes doing this podcast is a chance for me and my good bud Woody to reconnect after Cheers wrap 30 years ago. Plus, we're introducing each other to the friends we've met since like Jane Fonda, Conan O'Brien, Eric Andre, Mary Steenbergen, my wife, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And trust me, it's always a great hang when Woody's there, so why wait? Listen to where everybody knows your name wherever you get your podcasts.
- [26:36]
Ted Danson
Did you know adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't? From swimming lessons to piano classes. As parents we invest in so many things to enrich our kids lives, but how much are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight, you can teach your kids essential skills like earning, saving and investing, giving them the tools for financial confidence. This investment costs less than an after school treat at Starbucks. Start prioritizing their financial education today with Greenlight. Invest in their future@greenlight.com podcast.
- [27:10]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Tomorrow. Republican Senators will gather in a room in the Capitol behind a closed door. They will not be allowed to bring any staff with them and they will vote for the next Majority Leader of the Senate to replace Mitch McConnell, who will remain a senator from Kentucky. The three candidates for Republican leader are McConnell's longtime right hand Senator John Thune of South Dakota, Texas seniors Senator John Cornyn is also a candidate and Florida's Junior Senator Rick Scott, who just won reelection to the Senate and who is the least popular candidate among Republican senators. But he might be Donald Trump's favorite because only Rick Scott promised to abandon the confirmation process in the Senate and allow Donald Trump to appoint Cabinet members without going through the confirmation process. The only way Rick Scott could do that would be by completely shutting down the Senate and go on a recess on Inauguration Day for a couple of weeks at least, so that Donald Trump could use the rarely used recess appointment authority of the president to put people in Senate confirmable jobs during a Senate recess without going through the confirmation process. John Thune and John Cornyn both said they would work to speed Trump confirmations and would consider using recess appointments if necessary. But they did not unequivocally pledge publicly to Donald Trump like Rick Scott did to abandon the Senate confirmation process. The New York Times reports, quote, some of President elect Donald J. Trump's closest allies are privately counseling him to try to block a one time Republican nemesis, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, from becoming the Senate Majority Leader. They include former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Mr. Trump's former chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, and the right wing influencer Charlie Kirk. Laura Loomer, a far right activist and conspiracy theorist who traveled with Mr. Trump on his private plane during the campaign, has publicly threatened on social media to release negative information about Mr. Thune. Welcome to government where the choices are never easy. You have three Republican candidates for leader of the Senate. Each one of them disgraced themselves when they voted to acquit Donald Trump twice in Senate impeachment trials. But one of them is clearly the worst of the three, and maybe one of the other two would be, by some slim identifiable margin, the best choice. I'm sure tonight that Chuck Schumer has a preference about which one of these senators he might be able to work with. It might ultimately make absolutely no difference at all which one of them becomes the Republican Majority Leader of the Senate. But for a consideration of what might be at stake in that election, tomorrow we turn to our next guest, Stuart Stevens, a veteran of five Republican presidential campaigns. He's a senior advisor at the Lincoln Project and the author of the Conspiracy to End Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy. Stuart, what do you see that's at stake in this choice for the Majority leader of the Senate? And I don't mean at stake for Republicans, I mean at stake for us. Is it possible that one of these is better than the other?
- [30:25]
George Whitesides
Well, yes, I think that's definitely possible. Rick Scott is a guy who, when he was in charge of the Republican senatorial committee in 2022, put out first what was called a 12 point plan, then it was revised to 11 point plan for sort of inexplicable reasons. And in it he called for the sunsetting of every government program every five years. In other words, every five years will vote on Social Security, Medicare, everything. And Mitch McConnell put out a statement that basically said he'd never heard of this guy and completely disavowed himself in an effort to try to save other senators on the ballot. This is really a Trump versus McConnell fight. And in that fight, I would bet.
- [31:12]
Lawrence O'Donnell
On Mitch McConnell as we go forward. We'll know soon enough. But, you know, Scott does have real opposition. There's one senator, unnamed, being quoted saying, I would never vote for him for this Republican senator. Never vote for him for any. They think he did a bad job in that role. You were just talking about where he put Social Security on the table. And that's the kind of thing that a majority leader, if you misspeak like that, you're in a position to do that every day as majority leader, that microphone's in front of you every single day.
- [31:50]
George Whitesides
Yeah, I mean, this was more than misspeaking. He put out like the senatorial committee put out hundreds of thousands of copies of this plan. And it was all just very sort of silly stuff of no substance. Look, I've known John Doon. I don't know him well, but I first met him when he was executive director of the Republican Party in South Dakota, and I was working for the governor of South Dakota. I worked in John Cornyn's race for attorney general and when he ran for the Senate, particularly Cornyn, who I think was a serious person. He was someone who had a very good reputation as a Supreme Court justice in Texas. It's just really been painful to watch him try to accommodate Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. These are two people I don't think John Corner and his heart of hearts would have anything to do with. And the same with John Dune. He put out a statement after the Access Hollywood put out a tweet saying that Trump should step down and Mike Pence should become the nominee. And that's really much more who these people are. And now they're contorting themselves to be in the Trump Party. And it's sad. It's not good for the country. But of those, I think Thune and Cornyn, probably Thune is the best, would be much better than Rick Scott.
- [33:12]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Stuart Stevens, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
- [33:15]
George Whitesides
Thank you.
- [33:16]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Coming up today, the Senate defied Donald Trump. The Democrats in the Senate did. Once again, they did something today that Donald Trump, after the election, said they absolutely should not do. Senator Amy Klobuchar was part of it. Senator Amy Klobuchar joins us next. Building a portfolio with Fidelity Basket Portfolios is kind of like making a sandwich. It's as simple as picking your stocks and ETFs, sort of like your meats and other topics and managing it as one big juicy investment. Mmm. Now that's pretty good. Learn more@fidelity.com baskets Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC hey, I'm journalist Sam Sanders. I'm Poet Syed Jones.
- [34:14]
Alex Wagner
And I'm producer Zack Stafford.
- [34:15]
Ted Danson
And we are the hosts of a.
- [34:17]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Podcast called Vibe Check. On Vibe Check, we talk about everything news, culture and entertainment and how it all feels.
- [34:24]
Alex Wagner
That's right, we talk about any and everything on our show, from real life issues like grief to music and movie critiques.
- [34:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
And that barely scratches the surface. Yes indeed, and it doesn't stop there. We have got a lot to say, so join our group, chat, come to life, follow and listen to Vibe Check wherever you get your podcast.
- [34:48]
Ted Danson
Did you know adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't? From swimming lessons to piano classes. As parents we invest in so many things to enrich our kids lives. But how much are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight, you can teach your kids essential skills like earning, saving and investing, giving them the tools for financial confidence. This investment costs less than an after school treat at Starbucks. Start prioritizing their financial education today with Greenlight. Invest in their future@greenlight.com podcast.
- [35:21]
Lawrence O'Donnell
52 days. That's how much time Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, seen here with all of the new incoming Democratic senators slated to be sworn in, has to confirm as many federal judges as possible before he loses control of the Senate confirmation process. And Chuck Schumer didn't waste any time. This evening, Schumer's Senate majority confirmed a new federal judge, April Perry, a former prosecutor who will now have a lifetime appointment in the Northern District of Illinois, on his social media platform. On Sunday, Donald Trump gave Republican senators their marching orders. No judges should be approved during this period of time because the Democrats are looking to ram through their judges as the Republicans fight over leadership. This is not acceptable. Thank you. Exclamation point. Majority Leader Schumer vowed to act aggressively. She said, we are going to get as many done as we can. During the twilight of his first presidency, Donald Trump got 18 judges confirmed in this very period when he says it shouldn't happen. This is after he lost reelection. One of those confirmed was Donald Trump's favorite judge ever, a lean Mercedes Cannon, who later helped Donald Trump avoid legal accountability and his violation of the Espionage act that he was prosecuted for storing classified documents and national defense information inside his Florida home. President Biden is now 20 judges short of tying Donald Trump's total of 234 as of last week, according to the office of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. Rhav island, who's on the Judiciary Committee, President Biden had 28 nominees pending in the Senate. Joining us now is Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. She just won her reelection campaign for a fourth term in the Senate. She's chair of the Senate Rules Committee, and she's a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
- [37:29]
Alex Wagner
Thank you, Lawrence. And thank you for that very accurate description of what went on and what has gone on in past presidencies. This isn't about ramming through judges. It's actually about doing our work and getting it done. We have 24 pending nominations, 16 of them already on the floor. And as you pointed out, we got one done today with bipartisan support and one tomorrow. I expect one tomorrow. Jonathan Hawley, no relation to Josh Hawley, but Jonathan Hawley, who is another judge from Illinois who I believe enjoys bipartisan support, had it in the committee. So there are senators that know that their job is to look at the qualifications of these judges and make decisions, because whether you, whoever has been president, you have seen judges that stand up for the rule of law and what they think is right. Obviously, we have concerns on the Supreme Court level right now with some of those justices. But even during the Trump administration, there were a number of judges appointed by both presidents of both parties who followed the law, and that's why this is such an important part of our job.
- [38:41]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Senator, I wanted to ask you the question of the night, and this is kind of a quiz that's being put to senators by reporters wherever they can. Do you know who Pete Hegseth is?
- [38:54]
Alex Wagner
I do. He's actually from my state.
- [38:57]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Okay.
- [38:57]
Alex Wagner
I don't know if you knew that part of his resume. And so I don't know him well at all. I've seen him on tv, met him once or twice. But I think that is an example, as you look at the president's threat to have these recess appointments, which, of course, the Supreme Court in 2014 on a 90 vote, 90 vote, in an opinion written by Justice Breyer, said the Senate has its right to make its own times and recesses. And when it's in now, that doesn't mean there couldn't be games played, but that is a fact. And the thought that we wouldn't have a hearing on a defense secretary is absolutely absurd when you look at past history, recent past history, when it comes to both Democratic and Republican presidents. So hearings is where you get this information out about a nominee that maybe people don't know and have concerns about. And that's why you have votes, and that's why you have hearings. Because in the end, the Republicans are going to have to decide with some of these nominees. Is this who they want, heading up agencies. Me, I voted for some of the nominees from the past for Republican presidents, and I voted against some. I look at each of them on an individual basis. That's what we're supposed to do.
- [40:15]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Your Republican colleague from Louisiana, Senator Bill Cassidy, was asked tonight, the question was Pete Hegseth was just nominated to be secretary of Defense. His answer was, who? He had no idea who that person is. And yes, that's a classic and example of why you would want to skip the confirmation process.
- [40:36]
Alex Wagner
We need a thorough confirmation process. That has been the hallmark of nominees in the past. And sometimes when that starts up, a nominee may withdraw. You don't hear about them again. Sometimes a person from their own party will voice concerns, sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, or sometimes you'll have a hearing and things come out that just happens. And sometimes you think it's fair, sometimes it's not. But the process is what has always distinguished the checks and balances of our government. We do not live in a government of a tyrant or a king. We live in a democracy of checks and balances. One of those things we started talking out about, that's judges. You have judges to make sure that people are following the law and to look at the actions of other branches of government and decide if they're legal. And then you have the Senate, which is very clearly spelled out in the Constitution, has that right to confirm nominees and the check and balance. And again, on a nine zero, Supreme Court decision, they made it very clear that is our right.
- [41:47]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
- [41:50]
Alex Wagner
It was great to be on. Lawrence, thank you.
- [41:53]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Coming up, meet the newest member of the House Democrats team whose victory was just called last night. During this very hour, George Whitesides defeated a Republican congressman and flipped a seat for the Democrats in California. Congressman elect George Whitesides will join us next. Earlier this evening right here on MSNBC with Ari Melber, the Democratic leader in the House said this. We'll find bipartisan common ground on any.
- [42:30]
Alex Wagner
Issue in order to make life better.
- [42:33]
Lawrence O'Donnell
For the American people and deliver real results whenever and wherever possible.
- [42:39]
Alex Wagner
But we are not going to bow.
- [42:42]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Down to the extremism, and we'll push back against it whenever necessary. Look at the numbers in the House and the Senate and explain to me.
- [42:51]
Alex Wagner
How that meets the definition of a big mandate.
- [42:56]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Hakeem Jeffries added one more Democrat to his team at this very hour last night when the Democrats won a Republican House seat in California. Democratic candidate George Whitesides defeated incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Garcia in a Suburban district in northern Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles Times reports Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff and a first time candidate, will represent the northern Los Angeles county in Congress next year after defeating Republican Representative Mike Garcia in one of the nation's most fiercely contested House races in the final days of the campaign. George Whitesides released this ad as his closing argument to voters. George, we know George. We know George.
- [43:40]
Alex Wagner
He seems cool.
- [43:41]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We've known George Whitesides for years. George created 700 in the AV for people like me. George helped lead NASA. That's so cool. And the lies they're telling about George are disgusting. Mike Garcia's just trying to scare you.
- [43:55]
George Whitesides
I trust George to keep my family safe.
- [43:57]
Lawrence O'Donnell
George will protect my freedom and my daughter's. He'll fight in Congress for his family and mine.
- [44:02]
E.J. Dionne
I'm George Whitesides and I absolutely approve this message.
- [44:05]
Lawrence O'Donnell
I guess I'd vote for you, dad. Joining us now is Congressman elect George Whitesides. He will represent California's 27th congressional district in the new Congress. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. People out there are wondering, how did you do it? A difficult year for Democrats running for the House.
- [44:25]
E.J. Dionne
Well, thanks for having me on, Lawrence. And you know, I think we should be really excited about this particular seat. It's a seat that Democrats have been trying to win for a few cycles now, three cycles to be specific. And you know, we just stayed focused on our core message, right, of creating more local jobs, protecting Social Security, protecting reproductive freedom. And we had tremendous people power. We had hundreds and hundreds of people come out really excited to flip what was one of the most important red to blue races this year.
- [44:52]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Is the district changing as film production has increased in Santa Clarita in that area. And I'm just wondering if that has brought a new, possibly new voting demographic into the area.
- [45:05]
E.J. Dionne
Yeah, you're exactly right. I mean, this is a district that is becoming bluer and bluer over time as honestly people move out to our district because, you know, maybe it's a bit too expensive in sort of central Los Angeles. So we're seeing that shift. And right now we have actually more registered Democrats in the district than Republicans. And I think, you know, our moderate messages of local job creation and economic development, local housing creation, these are things that, you know, resonated with voters.
- [45:34]
Lawrence O'Donnell
What was, was there a single issue in the end in your campaign?
- [45:39]
E.J. Dionne
Well, I'm somebody who has created over 700 local jobs. I ran an aerospace company that created all those jobs in our district. I think that was a big thing. We have a hugely commuter driven district. We have about 100,000 people who drive down into Los Angeles every week. They're spending three, four, five hours a day on the roads. And so everybody is eager to reduce their commute, find local employment, find good jobs that allow them to, you know, spend more time with your family.
- [46:06]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Some of us have also had the experience of commuting into your district to work in some of the studios there, as I used to do many years ago. Congressman elect George Whitesides, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
- [46:19]
E.J. Dionne
Thank you.
- [46:21]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We'll be right back. Democratic Congressman elect George Whitesides gets tonight's last word.
- [46:30]
Alex Wagner
Hey, Fidelity, what's it cost to invest with the Fidelity app?
- [46:34]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Start with as little as $1 with no account fees or trade commissions on US stocks and ETFs.
- [46:42]
Alex Wagner
That's music to my ears.
- [46:44]
Ted Danson
I can only talk.
- [46:47]
Lawrence O'Donnell
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