STEPHANIE RUHLE; MADELEINE DEAN.

Summary

---

The Stephen A. Smith Show – Episode Summary

Episode: STEPHANIE RUHLE; MADELEINE DEAN | Date: November 13, 2025

---

Overview

This episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith dives deep into the end of the historic 43-day government shutdown, exploring its roots, political maneuvering, and controversies surrounding both Democratic and Republican leadership. Stephen A. expands his usual sports-centered commentary into political analysis and frank listener calls, featuring in-depth conversations with Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Throughout the show, the conversation touches on affordability, healthcare, political infighting, and the public’s growing cynicism with government.

---

Key Topics & Highlights

1. Historic Government Shutdown: Causes and Fallout

[00:42–07:56]

• The government shutdown lasted 43 days and was the longest in U.S. history.

• Stephen A. expresses disgust at both parties for failing to reach a timely resolution.

• Discussion about Democrats crossing lines to end the shutdown, with Stephen A. noting:

  "I side with the Democrats who ultimately crossed the line and said, yo, this is killing the American citizens in our district." (04:16)

• Both parties are blamed, but more voters (especially independents) point to Republicans as responsible.

  "Among independents, 48% think Republicans in Congress are more responsible. 32% think Democrats in Congress are more responsible." (06:27)

• The shutdown's effects included:

  • Threats to SNAP for 42 million people just before Thanksgiving.
  • Air traffic disruptions from furloughs.
  • Federal workers unpaid, while Congress kept getting checks and benefits.

2. Political Calculations and Democratic Strategy

[07:59–14:34]

• Stephen A. criticizes Democrats for strategizing the shutdown as a way to paint it as a "Trump shutdown" rather than focusing on core issues pre-election:

  "Had you focused on that and the real issues [...] you’d have won the damn election." (12:27)

• Democrats’ post-election attitude described as “gaining traction,” winning some blue-state gubernatorials.

• Party infighting exemplified by AOC and Ro Khanna questioning Chuck Schumer’s leadership:

  AOC: "This problem is bigger than one person and it actually is bigger than the minority leader in the Senate." (08:38) Ro Khanna: "Senator Schumer could have blocked this if he had wanted to...one of the challenges is...it undermines the narrative that this was a Trump shutdown." (11:00)

3. Epstein Files: Political Baggage and Finger-Pointing

[14:34–21:20]

• Report that emails mention Trump knowing of Epstein’s abuses.

• Frustration aired at both parties for not opening Epstein files under Democratic leadership, now using them against Trump.

  "If it’s so important now, what were the Democrats doing at that particular moment in time?" (17:45)

• Stephen A. suggests both sides use such revelations for political leverage.

4. Madeleine Dean Interview: “The Vehicle They Sent Over is Hideous”

[22:07–45:52]

• Dean’s Frustrations With the Senate CR:

  • Senate package described as “hideous,” continuing major cuts to SNAP ($186B over 10 years) and not restoring Medicaid/Medicare funds.
  • Exposes a last-minute addition: provision for eight senators to sue for up to $500,000 each over phone records examined in Jan. 6 investigations:

    "Page 223 and beyond...a private cause of action for the eight senators...that's $500,000 per count..." (25:25–25:35)

• On Crossing Party Lines

  • Understands senators’ votes to end shutdown but wishes they had “held on”:

    "I have empathy and understanding for what they were arguing for, but I wish they had held on." (27:53)

• Response to Republican Claims:

  • Argues that maintaining ACA subsidies costs $35B/year, while Republican tax cuts for the wealthy cost $350B/year.

    "Ten times that amount was the giveaway and the blowing up of the deficit." (31:00)

• Democratic Strategy Lessons:

  • Admits overcomplicating the 2024 campaign:

    "If we had kept it simpler...keep it simple. This is about how can I afford my lifestyle...put food on the table..." (36:03)

• Schumer’s Future and Party Accountability:

  • Dean refuses to call openly for Schumer to step down but says Dems shouldn’t “waste one minute Democrats shooting at Democrats.” (32:32)

• On Fetterman:

  • Dean ran against him previously; he hasn’t returned her recent calls about the shutdown. (33:35–34:31)

• On Jan. 6 Phone Record Lawsuit Provision:

  "It's a complete illegal move...it's so corrupt, it is so hideous." (25:25–27:00)

• What’s Next for Democrats:

  • Despite setbacks, Dean is "heartened" and blames Trump's administration for SNAP drying up while highlighting her commitment to stay in the fight. (42:59–45:00)

5. Mike Johnson Interview: Speaker’s Republican Perspective

[47:49–70:26]

• Shutdown Blame Game:

  • Claims Democrats refused “the simplest possible measure” to keep government open.

    "We sent them a totally clean, nonpartisan CR. It was only 24 pages in length..." (48:51)

  • Insists issue is not health care, but "the rise of the activist, kind of socialist base" in Democratic Party.

    "Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries...are concerned they're gonna get a challenge from a Mandani disciple in their next election cycle." (50:10)

• Election and Demography:

  • Predicts Republican success due to demographic shifts.

• Border Policy/Tariffs:

  • Touts Trump administration's border crackdowns as success.
  • Asserts chaos under Biden made voters swing right.

• On Grandstanding:

  • Denies Republican grandstanding, insists GOP is being transparent.

    "Everything’s out on the table...no political strategy..." (59:05)

• On Obamacare and SNAP:

  • Obamacare branded the "Unaffordable Care Act," subsidies push up costs.
  • Claims simple Republican ideas can solve health care, Senate Democrats are the obstacle.
  • SNAP contingency fund only partially covers needs during shutdown; urges Dems to agree to GOP CR to fix.

• On Filibuster:

  "It's a very important safeguard against the worst impulses of the Democrat Party...if you take the filibuster away, that doesn't exist anymore..." (68:21–69:58)

• Epstein Files Release:

  • Dismisses stalling claims on new Arizona representative, says major Epstein files already public except for protected victim names. (67:19)

6. Stephen A. and Listener Interactions

[73:35–91:24]

• Stephen A.’s frustration with politicians as a whole:

  "They don't come together thinking about what's in our betterment. They think about what's in their betterment...they have used us as pawns." (76:24)

• Advice to young, disillusioned voter: Participate locally, prepare for frustration, focus on issues.

• Callers question Senate vs. House partisanship, Schumer’s future, the role of the Epstein files, and the broader lack of dignified political discourse.

• Stephen A. stresses the need for politicians to set a standard of civility, but says citizens have the onus to maintain it regardless of leadership quality.

  "We don't need them to do it in order for us to be intelligent and decent and civil enough to do it ourselves." (91:24)

---

Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• "Hope you stress like living hell because you deserve what you brought upon the American people. Maybe you should taste some of it yourself."
  — Stephen A. Smith (08:12)

• "The Senate is sending us back...a band aid budget, which continues the cuts to SNAP...$186 billion. That's $8 billion every single year for the next 10 years they're wiping out a SNAP intentionally."
  — Madeleine Dean (24:25)

• "They just basically gave [Trump] the middle finger, Stephen. I mean, that's what happened."
  — Speaker Mike Johnson (57:23)

• "Their claim to power is based on loyalty to this President and they like that connection. This is going to collapse in on itself."
  — Madeleine Dean (44:08)

• "Who are you to come and get even more of our additional dollars to pad your pockets, let alone at $500,000 per case, up to $500,000 per case. I mean, that's just as crooked as hell."
  — Stephen A. Smith (73:24)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening & Government Shutdown Analysis: 00:42–07:56
• Democratic Strategy, ACA, Party Infighting: 07:59–14:34
• Epstein Files, Partisan Ploys: 14:34–21:20
• Interview: Rep. Madeleine Dean: 22:07–45:52
• Interview: Speaker Mike Johnson: 47:49–70:26
• Listener Calls & Commentary: 73:35–91:24

---

Tone and Style

• Stephen A. Smith is brash, passionate, and unfiltered throughout the episode. He demands accountability and is openly critical of partisanship and self-interest from both parties.
• Madeleine Dean communicates with directness and self-awareness, while Johnson’s tone is defensive, sometimes accusatory toward Democrats but calm.
• Frequent humor, sarcasm, and pointed rhetorical questions from Stephen A.
• Many guests and callers echo exhaustion and cynicism with DC politics.

---

Final Thoughts

This marathon episode offers a caustic but insightful look at the intersection of political calculation, legislative sausage-making, and the direct consequences for ordinary Americans. Stephen A. Smith, true to his reputation, refuses to let either party off the hook, and both major guests present the best case for their sides while also revealing the many fault lines and internal fractures that defined this record-breaking government shutdown.

---

For listeners who missed the episode, this summary provides a full map of the political debates, institutional frustrations, and human consequences that played out during and after the 2025 government shutdown—complete with the unvarnished style of Stephen A. Smith and sharp commentary from both sides of the aisle.

Transcript

[Stephen A. Smith]

Suffering from aches and pains, the Tempur Pedic Adapt mattress eases your pressure points all night, every night. Now save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets and $50 off select pillow sets at Tempur pedic.com select adjustable mattress sets.

[Mike Johnson]

Only lesser savings may apply.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Straight Shooter with Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the latest edition of the Straight Shooter with yours truly, the one and only Stephen A. Smith. Coming at you right here over the.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124. You know I love coming to y'.

[Jake (Interviewer)]

All.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You know, I got a lot of.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Stuff to talk about today. It appears that we are ending the government shutdown 43 days, 43 nights. American citizens working for the feds. We're not receiving a check. 43 days. The longest government shutdown in United States history. Longest before this was 2018 into 2019 under then President Donald Trump in his first term.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Needless to say, the second, the now.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Longest shutdown was also with Donald Trump in office as the President of the United States. 45 and now 47.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We can look at it any way we want to, and we got a lot of stuff to get into. And don't you worry, I'm gonna get into these damn Epstein files in just a second. We can look at it any way we want to. We can slice it any way we want to.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

And put the number up on the screen, please, so I can see it for calling the POTUS radio right here. Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Smith.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Listen, when you look at what has.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Transpired, it's pretty damn annoying, to say the least. You just find yourself wondering what the hell is going on. I'm still disgusted because there's no excuse for this.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Now.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I don't know about anybody else, and.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Everybody'S talking about, you know what? Pick a side. Pick a side, damn. Y' all, shut the hell up.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I'll pick whatever side I want to pick.

[Stephen A. Smith]

It's not about a side in this particular instance.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

It's about government officials in the White.

[Stephen A. Smith]

House, in Congress, on the Senate, that didn't come together to get a deal done for 43 days and nights. We've had Speaker Mike Johnson on this show. We've had Representative Jim Jordan on the show.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

We've.

[Stephen A. Smith]

We've had elected officials like Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House speaker. We've had them all on this show. And everybody's got their excuses. But in the end, this government shutdown needed to come to an end, and that's why? I'm kind of surprised and I don't know why I should be, but I am that we have a situation where we've got elected officials on a Democratic side losing their damn minds, calling folks out, acting like it's a picket line that was crossed, for crying out loud. And how dare folks on the Democratic side do this. Hold down the fort, don't cave, don't do everything you can to make sure that the Republicans don't get the 60 votes necessary to push through a continual resolution. Now, the Republicans will have you say, and they'll remind you that when Biden, during his administration from 2021 to 2025, they signed a CR14 separate occasions. But the Democrats wouldn't do it during Trump's first term. They wouldn't do it now. Why? Because you're talking about the Affordable Care act subsidies that they were trying to stretch things that were put in the place because Covid came along, by the way, that had an expiration date of December 31, 2025, that they wanted to extend into perpetuity and the Republicans weren't going for that, which everybody knew because Trump has been after squashing Obamacare since 2014, two years before he became president, the first go round. So why in God's name would he do anything to push forward with Affordable Care Act ACA subsidies for another year, another three years, another five years? Why would he do that? It's one thing for them to do it during COVID it's another thing entirely for them to do it now. We knew he was going to hold down afford.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I don't blame.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Folks like Fetterman out of Pennsylvania or anybody else for that matter. From New Hampshire, from Pennsylvania, from Nevada, all the elected officials from Nevada. I don't blame them one bit. I side with the Democrats who ultimately crossed the line and said, yo, this is killing the American citizens in our district. And what the Democrats to me are not realizing is that you're essentially confessing to the fact that this was a plan all along, that you had every intention of the government being shut down, that you knew there was no way in hell that you were willing to capitulate to anything involving the CR that the GOP put forth to you from last spring when Chuck Schumer wouldn't go along with it and didn't produce a governor in shutdown to this time around, where he obviously took a different position, at least publicly, because he's afraid to lose his power in his Senate seat because he hears the footsteps of AOC Alexandria, Ocasio Cortez creeping up behind him to take over his Senate seat in 2028. We know what's going on here. We know what's going on. But in the end, to me, when you're talking about 42 million people on.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

SNAP.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That were in danger not being fed while Thanksgiving is approaching, when you see the inordinate amount of flight delays that have taken place because. Because air traffic controllers ain't at work in abundance, some being furloughed, some being let go, folks wondering about whether they will get paid retroactively, which ultimately this new CR is supposed to resolve.

[Madeline Dean]

All.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Of those concerns are legitimate, all of it. And they said, no, we can't go for that. We can't go for that. And just for the record, you see the screen right there. In regards to the shutdown, 45% of registered voters think Republicans in Congress are.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

More responsible for the government shutdown.

[Stephen A. Smith]

39% think Democrats in Congress are more responsible.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

And 11% volunteered that they think both.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Parties are equally responsible. Among independents, 48% think Republicans in Congress are more responsible. 32% think Democrats in Congress are more responsible. 14% volunteered that they think both parties are equally responsible. If you're the Democrats, that's good news, because considering how you got blown out during the 2024 election, these numbers would.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Be considered improved numbers.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Because now you're gaining traction. We saw you win the mayoral seat with a socialist in New York City. We saw you win gubernatorial seats in New Jersey with Mickey Sherrill and with Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. So if you're the Democrats and you're having those kind of wins, even though everybody and their grandmama knew those were blue states and they weren't going to lose to the GOP in those states, the bottom line is you think you're gaining traction. And because you thought you were gaining traction, you're willing to sit out even longer. What was the reason for that?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Because you want to regain power, which I'm not faulting. But when we talking about the American people suffering during the shutdown spanning 30, 40, 43 days, and we talk about people not being fed during Thanksgiving holidays, and we're talking about travel nightmares, and we're talking about people being furloughed, and we're talking about people having to work for the federal government knowing they're not receiving a check, while elected officials on.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Capitol Hill over these eight weeks were.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Receiving checks.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Still maintain their medical coverage, weren't accumulating bills that they couldn't pay.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

This is why people find themselves disgusted with Politicians.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So to listen to them and to hear them disgusted at themselves is not a bad thing. Good. Hope you stress like living hell because you deserve what you brought upon the American people. Maybe you should taste some of it yourself. So let's just go down the list. Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, AOC On Schumer, cut one. Griff, play that for me, please.

[Jake (Interviewer)]

Should Joe Schumer stay as Minority leader?

[Unnamed Political Commentator]

I think what is so important for folks to understand is that this problem is bigger than one person and it actually is bigger than the minority leader in the Senate. You had eight Senate Democrats who coordinated this, their own votes on this, as well as you have two retiring members. Many of them were up and are also up in several cycles from now with the hope that people are going to forget this moment. And I think what's important is that we understand that this is actually. This is not just a leader is reflected, is a reflection of the party and Senate Democrats. Democrats have selected their leadership to represent them. And so the question needs to be bigger than just one person. We have several Senate primaries this cycle. I know I'm being asked about New York. That is years from now. I have to remind my own constituents because they think that this election is this year. We actually do have Senate elections this year. And my hope is that people across this country actually participate in their primary elections in selecting their leadership.

[Madeline Dean]

Thank you.

[Mike Johnson]

Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

That's a nice answer. We understand it, but that's much ado about nothing. She wants the Senate seat and she should. And the likelihood is that if she ran against Chuck Schumer, she would beat him because he is. His unpopularity has definitely grown. I can say that. And we understand that because he's being blamed for it because he couldn't keep people together. My whole point is this. If you have representatives from Pennsylvania, from Nevada, from New Hampshire, et cetera, okay? And their constituency, their voters are really, really feeling the pinch. What, they're just supposed to go along.

[Stephen A. Smith]

With the other 3,940 plus Democrats in.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

The House and say, yo, we just.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Gonna let our own constituency suffer over something like this? Over people being fed over people paying bills? That's what they're supposed to do. I don't get it, but Ro Khanna, Representative Ro Khanna. He didn't mince words. He didn't dance as much as AOC just did there. He was a bit more direct.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Griff, play. Cut to.

[Mike Johnson]

You've called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step aside. You say he's no longer effective as a leader. Explain this for our viewers because he did vote against this compromise that you oppose. Why are you mad at him?

[Jake (Interviewer)]

Jake, you've covered politics a long time. Yes, he voted no. But eight senators who said they consulted him daily go and vote yes. One of those people is his number two. He's not going to do that without Senator Schumer sign off. And then conveniently, all eight of those senators aren't up for re election in 2026. This is the D.C. way. Senator Schumer could have blocked this if he had wanted to. And one of the challenges is, in addition to the halter premium spikes, it has undermines the narrative that this was a Trump shutdown. If eight Republicans, eight Democratic senators could have ended it, we should have kept the pressure on.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Did you hear that? They should have kept the pressure on. By not doing so, it gave depression and undermined the narrative that this was a Trump shutdown. Which essentially is the Democrats admitting that the plan all along was to make.

[Stephen A. Smith]

This look like a Trump shutdown. Therefore, it could be politically expedient and they could gain traction and gain some favor with the voters out there with the midterms coming up. Because that's what this was about. Nobody's fooled here. And I'm not even saying it's a faulty strategy on the part of the Democrats. What I'm saying is, damn, what the hell were you doing to find another way? See, this is where I come back to. This is where Stephen A. Smith comes into play. Because what pisses me off to no end is that had you done your job prior to the election, it wouldn't have had to. This wouldn't have been necessary. Had you paid attention to the economy, had you paid attention to affordability, had you paid attention to safety in the streets, had you paid attention to our borders instead of having open borders, allowing Trump to make it look like we were being invaded, for crying out loud, because of the extreme with which he embellished illegal immigration being pervasive in this country. Had you focused on that and the real issues, instead of focusing on woke culture and cancel culture and making sure everybody echoed the right pronouns and making sure everybody marched lockstep in parroting your speech, you'd have won the damn election. Had to make sure that Kamala Harris and the Democrats as a party wasn't able to circumvent the Democratic process and actually went through a primary by getting Biden out of there when you knew he wasn't suited for four more years instead of holding on for dear life until he had a debate on June 27, knowing that he would leave office three weeks later and it would be too late to have a primary so you could circumvent the democratic process. Maybe you wouldn't be in this position, but you did it anyway. And now you want the American people to make up for your foolishness. You want the American people to sign off on that. Oh, now you will care about the Affordable Care Act. Now you care about the subsidies. Now you're paying attention to premium prices doubling come December 31st. Now you're paying attention to all of that.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Huh?

[Stephen A. Smith]

How come you didn't do that before? How come you didn't focus on that before? This is what I'm talking about. I know the GOP's hands ain't clean in all of this. Mike Johnson delaying the process. Trump doing everything he can to create headlines everywhere else because he doesn't want us focusing on the Epstein files. We were born at night, not last night. You know what the hell is going on.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

But the Dems ain't innocent in all of this, not by a damn site.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Speaking.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Of the Epstein files, Representative Adelita Grijalva, she was a guest on the show. She was sworn in this afternoon. And she spoke about the Epstein files because ABC News came out with a.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Story today linking Trump to the Epstein files because Jeffrey Epstein, seen during emails or via emails, essentially alluded to the fact that Trump knew about the girls.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Whatever that means, without specificity. Adelita Rujova spoke about that because obviously, once she's sworn in, she's the final deciding vote for the Epstein files to be opened and essentially given to the public, supposedly.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And here she is today on the House floor speaking about it. Griff play cut fives.

[Unnamed Speaker]

Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein's abuses than he. He previously acknowledged. It's past time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and. And fight for we the American people. We need to fight for our immigrant communities and veterans. We need to stand up for our public schools, children and educators. We need to respect tribal sovereignty in our environment. We need to stand up for LGBTQ rights because that's what the American people expect us to do. Fight for them. That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Y' all cool with that? I have no problem with the Epstein files being exposed. I think anybody who's done what Jeffrey Epstein dead should be thrown under the damn jail they dispense. Should Spend the rest of their natural born life in prison if he was alive to do it. Young girls being sexually molested is as disgusting as it gets. It is as vile as it gets. We ain't making any excuses for, for anybody like that. What a despicable, despicable human being. There's a special place in hell for people like that. But that's not what anybody can definitively associate the President with. He knew Epstein. So did Bill Clinton. So did a plethora of other famous people inside and outside the world of politics.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Incriminating emails.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, what specifically and how significant was it?

[Stephen A. Smith]

And when we sitting up there as Democrats and we applauding on the House floor now that Alita Graham was there talking about, she'll be the final vote to sit up there and open the Epstein files. And everybody's applauded for the Democratic Party, ladies and gentlemen. Keep in mind that the Epstein files were in existence and free to have been open during the Biden administration. You were there for four years. How come you didn't open it as a Democratic Party then? What am I missing? I'm not saying. I know it's a legitimate question. Maybe I don't remember the answer. Maybe my extraordinary producers should be able to help me during the commercial break. But from my understanding, the same files that were open or being open now with the 220 pages of documents or whatever it is, with various emails that could have been done when Biden was in office. Well, why didn't you do it? If it's so important now? What were the Democrats doing at that particular moment in time?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

See, this is the kind of stuff that smells.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Because my attitude is just deducing how much they despise Trump, is if there was some real bona fide dirt on them, since you went after him with the 34 felony convictions, which essentially was deduced to, to him paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, a porn star, just so she wouldn't reveal.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Their happenings with one another leading up to.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The election in 2016. Okay, if you had something like that, that you were willing to parade him through the streets with, of course, if you had something on him about Epstein, you'd have let it go earlier. So to make sure he didn't become the 47th president. That's just my thinking from a logical perspective. But what do I know?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Either way you slice it, when that kind of stuff is going on, all it does is foster the continual divide that is inevitably going to exist. One side hates each other so much that neither side is willing to negotiate and work with one another until desperate times means desperate measures. And the American people are the ones that suffer first and they're the ones that suffer the most before the residual collateral impact is truly, truly felt. That's the damn problem. And even with the end of this shutdown taking place, I still find myself thinking more the same. Ain't nothing new. A continual resolution likely be reached, be signed, shut down will probably end. It's going to end the day. And as a result, okay, the government will be financed through the end of January. Let's get through the holidays. At least this ain't going on during Thanksgiving. At least this ain't going on through Christmas. At least this ain't going on through New Year's Eve. And we'll go into the New Year's and then we can be the same old sorry ass as we been.

[Stephen A. Smith]

At.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

The expense of the American people. 866-967-6887. That's 86696, POTUS. Up next, Democratic representative from Pennsylvania, Madeline Dean will be on with us. I think for a second. Y' all should go to break before I cut somebody out, because I'm really in that kind of mood. Back with more Straight Shooting with Stephen A. In a minute.

[Stephen A. Smith]

30 minutes past hour.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Number one back here on Straight Shooter with George Truly, Stephen A. Smith coming at you. I love to do every Wednesday night from 6 to 8pm over the airwaves of Sirius XM POTUS radio channel 124. My guest represents Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district. She serves on the House Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committee. Please welcome Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean to the show as we speak. Representative Dean, how are you? How's everything going?

[Madeline Dean]

Fine. I'm here in D.C. all right.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

It's good to see you. I've seen you obviously were on stage for News Nation a few weeks ago, and I've had the pleasure of talking to you on several occasions. So thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be on the show. So the shutdown is coming. The shutdown is coming to an end.

[Stephen A. Smith]

How are you feeling about it?

[Madeline Dean]

Mixture of feelings. Very disappointed with the Senate. Frustrated with the Senate, especially the vehicle they sent over. It is hideous, absolutely hideous. But on the other side of that, I am so proud of the American public. I'm proud of my Democratic caucus that we made the case to the American people that this is about the affordability of their health care, their access to health care, and can they pay the premiums to keep themselves and their kids covered or not. And they see on the other side of the ledger that the Republicans don't give a damn that they're about to be priced out of health care and they're going to have lousy health outcomes. So on the one case, I'm heartened that we were able to take this to the American people last Tuesday, or I guess it's a little more than a week now. Tuesday's election across the country, including in our very own Pennsylvania, showed that people have absolutely had it with this grotesque administration, its selfishness and corruption and its callousness around SNAP and health care and affordability.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Representative Dean, you talked about the Senate version and you used the word hideous. Explain specifically to my audience what was so hideous about it. Explain exactly what your problem is or what the Senate proposed.

[Madeline Dean]

Well, the Senate is sending us back and we just voted on the, the rule on this. They sent us back a continuing resolution which is a band aid budget, which continues the cuts to snap, for example, does nothing to undo the cuts to Medicaid and Medicare that were part of the big beautiful bill. And it continues the cuts to snap. That's what people I think don't know, that in the big beautiful bill, so called, they cut $186 billion to SNAP. 186 billion. That's $8 billion every single year for the next 10 years they're wiping out a SNAP intentionally. And so it does nothing to correct that. But what was slipped in at the last minute, and I took time today to be sure to read it, I commend it to anybody who has an interest. Send it to me.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I have an interest.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I have an interest. Please send it to me. I'll put it over the airwaves.

[Madeline Dean]

Please put it on the airwaves, page 223 and beyond. Do you know they slipped into this bill a private cause of action for the eight senators who were lawfully investigated in terms of their phone records around the January 6th investigation. Insurrection. It's a cause of action to line their pockets. $500,000 per count so you could claim eight, seven, nine, ten counts. You could get $5 million. Sitting senators voted for this, page 223 and beyond. So that was slipped in at the last moment. And two questions I'd like answered is did the eight Democrats who voted yes to get this over to us and to reopen the government, which is important to do, did they know about this corrupt provision that was put in here especially written for these eight senators, eight Republican senators. And then why didn't the eight Republican senators recuse themselves because they stand to profit from this. There's a conflict of interest when you vote for a bill that includes something to give you a benefit. It's so corrupt, it is so hideous. And I've tried to make the case to my Republican colleagues, even if you liked this continuing resolution, once you saw that late night addition to line the pockets of these senators, why don't you just vote no, say no, we're not going to do that. Strip that out.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Representative Dean right here with Stephen A on Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Seven Democrats, one Independent join Republicans to fund the government until late January. As we just discussed, obviously there's a lot of Democrats that have a problem with this. The Democrats let the American people down. In your estimation, those Democrats who decided to go with this, I understand your point about what did they know? Because if they knew about that provision that you just pointed out on that page, obviously that's incredibly egregious and they should be held to account for that. But if they didn't know and they just decided that there's American people that's suffering, the holidays are approaching, Thanksgiving, Christmas, they're not getting, they're not getting paychecks and they've got their own constituents to answer to, what's the crime in them crossing? I don't want to say a picket line because it's not a picket line, but you know what I'm saying, figuratively speaking, going up against their fellow Democrats to push this through. What do you say to that?

[Madeline Dean]

Well, I say they know now, for example, we saw Lindsey Graham publicly say he's going to make a claim. Good for you, Lindsey. Senator, you're going to make a claim. You just voted for, as I say, a winning lottery ticket for yourself. Grotesque. But I have understanding and empathy and I'm not in their shoes. I'm not in the Senate. I'm over here in the House. I didn't have to suffer through 14 votes. And I'm talking to my constituents all the time who are extremely worried whether it is about government workers not being paid, my own co workers here not being paid. This whole time I met with atf, I met with air traffic controllers, one from Reading Tower and one from Philadelphia Tower. They're horrified. They're embarrassed. Pilots are buying them dinners. That's not what they want. They're required to do their work. They are required to work as many as six days in a row, ten hours a day. And they're so proud of their work. So for the senators who say we had to reopen this government. We had to get people paid. We had to get the money flowing to SNAP again. SNAP never should have dried up. That's a complete illegal move on the part of the administration. I have empathy and understanding for what they were arguing for, but I think I wish they had held on. And I'll tell you the barometer that I go by over the course of this long. This weekend, including Veterans Day yesterday, my district office had dozens of calls and people saying to me, my constituents saying to me, continue the fight. You're absolutely on the right side of this. We are about to be priced out of our health care. And the callous nature of the president throwing a Great Gatsby party while people are standing in, in food lines. They get it and wanted us to continue the fight.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Listen, we could be here all day for the next two years lamenting the behavior of the president when it comes to issues like this. Being on a golf course while stuff like this is happening, renovating parts of the White House while stuff like this is happening. Calling for his name to be, you know, to be the new name of a stadium being built in the nation. Don't get me started with that stuff because we wouldn't have enough time. But I will ask, I will ask you this, though. I want to ask you about the culpability on the part of the Democratic Party in this regard. Health care is obviously extremely important. We get that and we understand it. But when the GOP makes the argument, affordable care, Affordable Care act subsidies, it's going to cost in excess of additional $1.5 trillion. This stuff is not sustainable to the American people. It's going to be too costly, et cetera, et cetera. As a Democrat, what do you say to that? Since obviously it is Obamacare that we're talking about and it's something that the Democrats have supported. Nevertheless, the price of it has exceeded expectations, at least according to the other side. What do you say to that?

[Madeline Dean]

Well, that they're not doing the math. The math is right in front of our faces. For example, we know that to continue the Obamacare discounts, premium discounts for a single year is approximately $35 billion. That's a lot of money, no doubt about it. But you know what they offered and gave in a permanent fashion to the wealthiest among us. Tax cuts. Tax credits for the wealthiest among us costing $350 billion a year. 1, 10. That amount is what it is to keep millions of people affording their health care. Accessing health care. Ten times that amount was the giveaway and the blowing up of the deficit, $350 billion a year, $3.5 trillion over 10 years. So they just got to do the math. And these budgets are statements of our values. Their statement is we value blowing up the deficit to give tax credits to the wealthiest and we do not value making sure you can access health care.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Representative Madeline Dean right here with Stephen, A straight shooter right here on POTUS radio. One of the people taking major, major hits is Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader. There are people calling for him to be gone. Where do you stand on all of.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That, may I ask?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

People within the Democratic Party call a form to be gone. That's why I ask.

[Madeline Dean]

I've actually said I don't usually talk about what I say in caucus, but I will say what I said in caucus because these are my words. We shouldn't waste one minute Democrats shooting at Democrats. We have found success in our messaging because our values are leading us. So I'm not going to spend one minute talking about what should happen over on the Senate side. I'm a member of the House. The Senate needs to take care of itself.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Let me ask you this about you and Mr. John Fetterman, a fellow representative, you know, fellow senator from the state of Pennsylvania. Have you spoken to him? Because obviously he was willing, you know, to cross party lines as a senator and put his vote forward to, you know, end the shutdown. That's a different position than yourself, obviously. Have you had any conversations with him and what has that been like?

[Madeline Dean]

Well, thank you for asking. I don't know if you knew this, Stephen, but I ran against him for lieutenant governor back in 2018.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I didn't know that.

[Caller]

Yes.

[Madeline Dean]

Yeah. And it was a heck of a run. We wound up really. It's strange to say this as opponents, but we struck up quite a friendship. And you can, the look of us, you know, I'm five foot four and he's six foot forever.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Yes.

[Madeline Dean]

And so but we struck up quite a friendship. I will say that I have tried to talk to him through this CR issue and he has not returned my calls on it. So I disagree with his vote. I don't understand it. And I called him and literally left him a message just to say, john, here's how I'm voting and here's why I'm voting this way. The way I see it from the other side of this Capitol, on behalf of my constituents in the Fourth, I just wanted to share these ideas with you. He didn't return my call, but he has Spoken publicly about his vote. I disagree with his vote.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

You know, I'm not supposed to admit this over the airwaves, but I will anyway.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I genuinely like you. I mean, I've met you on a couple of occasions and you know, I just love your passion, I love your knowledge, I love the fact that you don't pull punches, you know, and even though I pride myself in being a middle of the road guy, you know, I found myself increasingly disgusted with Democrats.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Leading up to the election.

[Stephen A. Smith]

And I said, damn it if I knew her and I spoke to her more, I feel a lot better about the Democrats. I need to talk to her more because you don't disgust me the way some of the folks on the left.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

And the right have disgusted me. I must ask you, however, I'm just wondering now.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Heck of a compliment.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, you're worthy of it. You deserve it because you don't pull any punches. You're no nonsense. You know what the hell you're talking about. I gotta give you credit where credit is due. But I must ask.

[Stephen A. Smith]

As we reflect on everything that has.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Transpired with this whole shutdown, I can't help but rewind to the election of 2024 and ask myself if the Democrats had focused on issues like health care, affordability, safety in the streets, the economy. I'm talking about focusing on it. I'm not talking about mentioning it, I'm talking about focusing on it.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I think that he would not have.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Been able to win the election if that was a focal point. Instead of woke culture, cancel culture, et cetera.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Now that we are here, what's your.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Mentality moving forward and how are you feeling about the state of the Democratic party as the 2026 election draws a year away?

[Madeline Dean]

I'm not the top strategist in D.C. or in Pennsylvania, but you're absolutely right. If we had kept it simpler, we thought we were making the right arguments. I was super proud of the massive pieces of legislation that are making a difference across this country, whether it's infrastructure or Safer Communities act, the Inflation Reduction act, the American Rescue Plan. I had fun talking to people about these things, but guess what? It wasn't resonating. And so what we should have done. And we've learned that lesson. And great candidates in Virginia, in New York City, in New Jersey taught us, keep it simple. This is about how can I afford my lifestyle, how can I afford to put food on the table, how can I afford to get a mortgage, pay my rent, educate my kids? If we stay with that, the other things will come to us. Because I have tried to say it's about health in three ways. It's your economic health, it's your physical and mental health. And I think, you know, I care an awful lot about mental health, addiction and those issues. But it's also our civic health. So I hope we've learned a real lesson. I feel a lift from the election of Tuesday From California's Prop 50 through the east coast and through what happened in Pennsylvania. The results in Pennsylvania are terrific. The retention of the Supreme Court justices. You saw some of the Bucks county races that were historic wins for Democrats. So I feel very good about it. You're right. 2024, we maybe complicated the issue way too much.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, Representative D. How are we to feel as American citizens when we hear the manner in which you might talk about the other side is justified, as you may be when we look at it and we say, how will anything ever get done? Because I'm thinking about the shutdown that took place, and I'm saying, okay, from a strategic perspective, you hold out, you hold out, you fight the fight.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You heard Democrats all over the place talking about leverage, but you knew Trump wasn't gonna budge. Trump's been after the Affordable care Act since 2014, two years before he even went in, before he even came to office. He's been after this. So you knew he wasn't going to budge. How long were the Democrats willing to.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Sit out and allow a shutdown to continue moving forward, knowing this man and.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The GOP were not going to budge.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Because he has them doing whatever he wants them to do? For the most part, I think we all see that.

[Madeline Dean]

I don't have an answer. I don't know how long we would have held on, but we did see, I think, a referendum on the arguments we were making and on how people are feeling about their own economic lives. But about the horror that is this administration. When the president held the Gatsby Party the night before, SNAP was to dry up. And by the way, that was illegal. I think there's been a movement by Republican members to say SNAP dried up because the government shut down and they try to blame us. So there's a couple fallacies in there. They're in control of everything. They shut the damn place down because they couldn't govern. And SNAP did not dry up because of a government shutdown. It dried up because the administration went to court to try to not pay. SNAP benefits my constituents, Republican constituents. That was beyond the pale for them. Absolutely beyond the pale. That this president would have grotesque parties, gatsby themed, obviously, Stephen, he never read Great Gatsby. It doesn't end well for those folks. And he denied food to children, to veterans, to seniors. That is what went beyond the pale for my constituents.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Representative Dean, going back to your point about how senators snooped on by Jack Smith could seek up to $500,000 and what have you. Going back to that, I'm just looking at it and I'm looking at some of these stories. Senate Democratic leadership aide defended the decision to include the provision saying, quote, this protects the institution and senators from an out of control Pam Bondi run Department of Justice. I'm wondering in your thoughts, I'm interested in knowing your thoughts about how this may protect Democratic senators from an out of control Pam Bondi in the future as well. I want to know your thoughts about that.

[Madeline Dean]

Of course, this is not about Pam Bondi. This is about January 6th. These guys are trying to line their pockets because they're upset that their phone records were lawfully subpoenaed. You know, some of these things were as a result of grand juries. This is by the book, the rule of law. If there's nothing to see here, what are you suing about? If you did not participate in any way with the incitement to insurrection and the actual insurrection, then you've got nothing to worry about. And I want to, I'm going to send you this language or highlight it for you. We'll email it over because it's $500,000 per instance.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Per instance.

[Madeline Dean]

So a senator might say, here are 10 instances that I am claiming. And you know what else is very cynical in the way that it has been written? It is the higher of either your actual harm. So let's say somebody actually proved $10,000 worth of harm, which they're not going to be able to do, or the higher of $10,000 or $500,000. So if I'm that senator and I make my claim and I'm able to prove $10,000, guess what? I get 500,000. That's the way they wrote it. The higher. Oh, not your actual harm, the higher up. And of course, what they have happen is settle these things now without any kind of investigation. Want to just settle, line their pockets, take this money from the treasury, from taxpayers like you and me and anybody listening, line their pockets. And then Donald Trump's going to say, there's the precedent. Please pay me my $230 million settlement.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I'm wondering whether or not this is going to assist in stopping the weaponization of the doj but that remains to be seen. Before I let you get on out of here, one last question. And I'm not saying that's gonna happen. I was just wondering about it. But having said that, where do you go from here? Considering how depressing this looks on the side of the Democrats pointing out some of the things that you've pointed out in this CR right now? Where does the Democratic Party go from here in light of this shutdown coming to an end?

[Madeline Dean]

This may sound foolhardy on my part, but I sat on the floor just now as the bill and the rule was being argued. I kept thinking to myself, the time is always right to do what is right. So for these Republican members, it is not too late to separate yourself from the hideousness of this continuing resolution with this corrosive, corrupt pocket lining for special eight Republican senators. It's not too late to separate yourself and say I don't want to be known for all of history to have been a part of this grotesque corruption and a tearing down of what we should be able to count on as the rule of law. It is not too late. I don't know what it's going to take. But I do know that my caucus, and I in particular am really heartened because we're going to go into this new year as disheartening as it is here in D.C. with the lies and false arguments that Republicans are willing to make publicly on the floor and to their constituents and to the media. I am heartened. My constituents get it. And I'm hearing from people also beyond my own constituency. They get it. They want us to keep up this fight so that we can actually reclaim the arguments around affordability and actually make lives better for the common good, not for the super wealthy and the super connected and the super loyal to this President. I believe, sadly, I believe this is going to fall in on the President. He surrounded himself with sycophants and weak people who really can't stand on their own. Their claim to power is based on loyalty to this President and they like that connection. This is going to collapse in on itself. And we didn't even talk yet about the Epstein files.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Why we didn't even have to because we don't have to because we know how bad that is. So as a matter of fact, I'm one of those people that believes we've seen a whole bunch of news about a whole bunch of things coming out of the administration just to distract us from the Epstein files. That's just my opinion. But I'll save That for another day. Representative Dean, we have to get on out of here. 4th congressional district, Pennsylvania State of Pennsylvania. Congresswoman Madeline Dean.

[Madeline Dean]

Can I just pay you a compliment?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Yes, ma'.

[Caller]

Am.

[Madeline Dean]

Since you paid me a pretty funny compliment that. What was the word you used? I forget the word you.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I'm trying to remember.

[Unnamed Speaker]

I'm trying to remember he didn't hate.

[Madeline Dean]

Me or whatever when you walked off stage the other day, I said, I like this guy. He's had it with this conversation.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I have. I have. Honored to talk to you. Thank you so much for your time. It's wonderful talking to you.

[Madeline Dean]

Thank you.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

You can all. You're always welcome back anytime. Thank you so much for inviting me.

[Madeline Dean]

Take care.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Back with more in a minute. 676-887. That's 8669-676887-86696. POTUS, you're listening live to Straight Shooter with Stephen A. That was a very, very interesting interview with Madeleine Dean, representative out of the 4th congressional district from the state of Pennsylvania. She seems like a straight shooter, no nonsense. And I like that. Whatever she feels, she feels she's not playing games. And she talked about how hideous and that's the word that she used to describe the Senate and what they were proposing and some of the things that they had in the bill. And there's certainly something to investigate when senators are able to sue for $500,000, up to $500,000 per case for anything that was exacted against them. This is that. That's taxpayer money. That's taxpayer money. What the hell is going on? This is why they become politicians after them, because, I mean, it's a racket. It's what pisses the American people off. Think about that. I'm not condoning or justifying the insurrection because it was an insurrection. This is the kind of nonsense that we're hearing about that leads to stuff like that happening, playing with the lives of American people. Our number two. Up next, Stephanie Rule from msnbc, soon to be called Ms. Now she's up next. Don't go away. Straight Shooter with Stephen A.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Welcome to our number two of Straight.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Over the airwaves of SiriusXM POTUS radio channel 124. Thanks again to chairman for the House Judiciary Committee, one and only Jim Jordan for being on the show with us. And now I have one of his colleagues in the House with me. He is the speaker of the House. My guest has served as the 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. He is now the man at the center of the longest government shutdown in American history. He is Mr. Mike Johnson, and he's on the show with us right now. Speaker Johnson, it's an honor to have you, sir. How are you, Stephen?

[Mike Johnson]

It's great to be with you. Congrats on the new show. It's still kind of new, I guess. I'm going to be on later tonight with our good buddy Sean Hannity. I'll tell him you said hello.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, my condolences, because he's crazy. I mean, I mean, I wish you all the luck in the world when it comes to that guy.

[Stephen A. Smith]

But, but, but, but let me get right to it. First of all, all when is this.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Shutdown going to end?

[Mike Johnson]

Speaker I wish I could tell you, really, the only person that can answer that is Chuck Schumer because he leads the Democrats in the Senate and as you know, because you're keeping the score. They voted 15 times now to keep the government closed. 15 different occasions. They've made it the longest in history. I don't know if that was the objective all along, but real pain is being felt by real people and it's, it's getting more and more painful by the hour. We've got to break the impasse. But, but here's the thing, Stephen. As you know, because you're tracking this, we sent them a totally clean, nonpartisan cr. I know that that sounds like, you know, legislative speak to people back home. But what it means is we, we found the simplest possible measure was only 24 pages in length to just keep the government in operation so that we could finish the appropriations process, the government spending bills for the year and negotiate what remained on the calendar for the end of this year. Health care was one of those things. There were lots of issues, but this is the way it's always been done and the Democrats always have done it in the past. They did it 13 times during the four years of the Biden administration. But now suddenly they wanted to pick a fight because they had to show that they were tough to the what I think is the Marxist rise in their party and they're running scared because of that.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I was getting ready to ask you, verbally speaking, not anything they hint towards anything. What do they actually say is the reason they haven't signed the cr?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, they claim that this is a fight about health care, but it's not true. And everybody here on the Hill knows it's not true. What they're trying to say, this is about is the expiration of the Obamacare Covid era subsidies. It expires at the end of December, December 31, not the end of the fiscal year, September 30. So they needed something to claim that what this was about, and they globbed onto that. It's not legitimate, it's not real. We were always planning. Every Republican and every Democrat in the building, Senate and House, knew that, that we were going to have to work our way through that complex issue in October, November, December, before the end of the year. They tried to claim that it's about that. That's not. That's a red herring. That's a distraction. The real, real reason, and this is just the honest truth, is that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are both from New York. We saw what happened in New York City last night. We see the rise of the activist, kind of socialist base in the party. It terrifies the old guard here on Capitol Hill. And both of those guys are concerned they're gonna get a challenge from a Mandani disciple in their next election cycle. So they had to show a fight. They had to pick a fight, and this is one they chose.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

What about the notion that they did this? Had they been holding out because they knew that the election was coming up and that it would look as if the GOP was the ones that were most culpable in all of this and it would work for them in the election? I think it stands to reason that, that, that might have had something to do with it when you consider the fact that Zoram Hamdani just won the mayoral seat in New York and obviously you got Sherrell and Spanberger that won the gubernatorial seats in New Jersey and Virginia, respectively.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, look, there were no surprises last night. I mean, blue states and blue cities elected blue candidates. I mean, that, that was what everybody expected, frankly. Anything else would have been a surprise. I don't think we should read too much into the, the results last night or into the results of any off year election because they, they almost never indicate what will happen in the, in the upcoming year. We know the big contest is the midterm elections next fall. We are very bullish about that on my side of the aisle because we have a lot to. To show. We've got a great record to run on. We've been delivering on our promises to the people. And Stephen, in the last election cycle, last fall, we had a true demographic shift. I mean, a real historic shift in the electorate where we had a record number of Hispanic and Latino voters and black and African American voters and Jewish voters and union workers, all these demographics. And we're going to prove to them they made the right choice. And they'll have time to evaluate that before next November. And I think it's going to go well for us.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I'm wondering how concerned are you are that you are going to prove that? Because I'm looking at the president right now like, listen, I've seen the tariff wars. I mean, there's pledges, but they ain't guarantees. I don't disagree with what he did with the border because I never thought Biden should have opened the borders. So I'm going to be on the record right now. I don't care how unpopular it is. I agreed with him. I understood once Biden opened the borders, you got to do something to close it. You can't have all of that happening, not in this country. We get that part. But I also know that the manner in which it's been handled, particularly by ice, in terms of people being grabbed in the streets, everybody's not criminals, everybody's not here illegally. And I think the optics and how bad it has looked has served to scare some of the American citizens that the level of chaos that exists in the streets of America right now to some degree, in some, could somehow some way mirror what we saw during his first term. And that kind of scares people as well. I want to know, does people like yourself and others, have you thought about that? Have you talked to the President about that?

[Mike Johnson]

Yes, look, we're aware of the optics and we're trying to do the right thing by the American people. That's the promise we made last November. The president ran on it. The border, the open border and the chaos that it created, as you know, was really the number one issue in the election last fall.

[Madeline Dean]

All.

[Mike Johnson]

And we went out and promised that we would bring order back to the chaos and that we would fix that. We would. We would stand for the rule of law. If you don't have a secure border, you don't have sovereignty as a country. And everybody understood that. We checked the box, as you know, Stephen. I mean, we've had almost zero illegal alien crossings over the border in the last several months. And that's because we have a commander in chief who's taken it seriously. And now we have to deal with the estimated roughly 20 million people who came across that border unlawfully. Now, you got to do it in the right way. We want to go after the hardened criminals and get them out of the country. That's like a 90% poll at the issue. But you got to be careful about maintaining the rule of law, ensuring that people are following it. And the White House is well aware of that. We are, too. But I would say this, comparing the two parties as we go into the next election cycle, we really do have a split screen. I mean, just consider the last nine or ten months, the beginning of this Congress, the beginning of the new administration. On one side, you got President Trump and the Republicans, and they're delivering for the people. I mean, we solved the border crisis. We're trying to solve the crime crisis in creative ways. We cut taxes, we cut regulations, fraud, waste and abuse in government. I mean, we got energy, American energy dominance going again. We got new trade agreements more favorable for the country. And the President is solving wars around the globe. He's up to eight or nine now. And on the other side of the screen, you got the Democrats. And what can they say they accomplished in nine months? They shut the government down. You know, they pushed some ICE officers around. They, they inspired political violence. I mean, this is not hyperbole. This is the real comparison between the two, too. I like our chances going into the election because we're working for the people and we can show it.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

We're talking to Republican out of Louisiana. One on Speaker Mike Johnson right here with Stephen A. And straight shooter with Stephen A. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared on ABC's the View on Tuesday. She says she blamed you, sir, for not bringing the House back into session, calling it, quote, an embarrassment. I guess the question would be, why won't you call the members back? And number two, how do you feel about what she directed directly at you?

[Mike Johnson]

I'm, I'm not unaccustomed to hearing criticism from Marjorie. We have intense fellowship, as we see in the Deep South, Stephen. And she knows I've got an open door. She can come in, talk with me anytime. But, you know, she goes on these shows, she likes to get the big interviews, and that's fine. Everybody has the right, you know, but, but I'll tell you this. I'm in constant contact with all the House Republicans, and the reason we've not brought them back yet is because we did our job. We passed the clean, clean, nonpartisan continue resolution on September 19th, and we're now waiting for the Senate to do their job. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have held off on that. They voted against it. They don't open the government. And so we can't do anything until we fulfill that most basic function. I mean, that's the most basic responsibility of the Senate and the House, of the Congress, is to make government work for the people, to keep it open, to keep the services flowing, and. And the troops paid and all the rest. And so that's the first order of business. And anything else is. Is just a side issue. So I will tell you, I have a weekly conference call with all the House Repub. And I talk to them more often. 99.5% of all the House Republicans understand exactly what we're doing and why. Marjorie has a difference of opinion. That's up to her, you know, but.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Why is it that we're just sounding like there's absolutely nothing you can do? Like there's nothing you can do?

[Stephen A. Smith]

I mean, if the. If the Democrats don't agree with this.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

This is what it is. The government's going to be shut down, and there's absolutely no recourse that you have available to you in your arsenal and at all.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You or President Trump, who I call.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

The art of the deal. I do that facetiously because I'm getting on him. I can do that. I've known him before he was. Became the president.

[Stephen A. Smith]

The art of the deal.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

A guy that can make a deal, that can figure out a way to get a deal done. Where's that guy with all of this right now while federal employees are not being paid?

[Mike Johnson]

I'm glad you asked. I mean, he is the great dealmaker. And he tried before this began. Remember we had that fateful meeting where Leader John Thune in the Senate, I, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, the two Democrat leaders, we all went to the Oval Office, he brought us all in, and we sat right across Resolute desk, and the President tried to make a deal with those guys. And he said, guys, don't close the government down. It doesn't help anyone. It hurts the American people. And they just basically gave him the middle finger, Stephen. I mean, that's what happened. And so they walked out. The President said, these guys don't want to make a deal. They want to shut the government down. And that's what they've proven over and over. So you're asking me why I'm not negotiating right now. Here's the simple truth. There is nothing that I can pull off of that continuing resolution to make it more palatable for the Democrats, because guess what? I didn't put a single Republican partisan priority or policy on that measure at all. In fact, Steven, this is so important. This cr. This continuing resolution continues. The government funding at the Current levels, which is the Biden era policies and spending. I mean, literally, it's the Democrats stuff that they're voting against. So there's nothing I can do to go make it better. I have nothing to negotiate. I literally don't have anything I can pull off of that. And that's the whole problem here.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Again, no, there's people that's going to look at the Republican side now, not just the Democrat side, because you got people think they have an agenda. They wanted to, you know, they wanted the voters to have to show that they have voters remorse for voting Trump in the office. They wanted to use this for the election and gain an advantage. There's a whole bunch of reasons that people throw out about the Democratic, the Democrat side. On the Republican side, people look at y' all and they say, you know what? The American public are going to question the level of seriousness that you guys have about governing, accusing y' all of grandstanding to some degree. How are you going to answer the American public as those sentiments grow in your direction?

[Mike Johnson]

Well, we've done the opposite of grandstanding. I mean, I have a live press conference every single morning and I go out in front of the American people. And, you know, Fox News carries it live. Other stations do as well. Every morning we take questions from the press and we just look straight into the camera, Stephen, and tell them the simple truth. The truth is very simple. We have laid bare all the cards. Everything's out on the table. We, we gave a simple nonpartisan measure to keep the government in operation so Congress can do its job here and finish everything else. I don't have a political strategy. Strategy. I'm not playing a game here. I'm just trying to keep the government in operation. It's the Democrats who are engaging in this campaign of misinformation and doing this. And I know it sounds like a he said, she said thing, but the American people are smart and they can watch the tally. They can watch the scoreboard. 15 times house and Senate Republicans have voted to open the government. Fifteen times Democrats have voted to close it. And I mean, that's the score. That's the reality. And that's the thing they can't get around.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I'm going to ask you the same question I asked Representative Jordan about specifics in regards to the finances. You know, we can talk all day. The Affordable Care hack subsidies, they're going to double, premiums are going to double, et cetera. We've heard all of that.

[Stephen A. Smith]

That's us talking.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

We're not the speaker of The House of Representatives.

[Stephen A. Smith]

You are paint the picture. Obamacare, what it cost then, what it was supposed to cost, what it ended up costing, what we're anticipating it's going to cost. Really, to articulate and illuminate the urgency.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Of dealing with this health care crisis we got in this country, could you paint a financial picture the numbers. Throw it out there for my audience to hear so we can understand.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, I will. It is a crisis and it's not created by Republicans. I mean, that's the biggest political gaslighting in the history of America. Remember that. The aca, the Affordable Care act is exactly the opposite. It's been the Unaffordable Care act because from the time it was enacted in 2010, by most estimates, premiums have been risen by 60% in most categories. I mean, health care is unaffordable and it's increasingly inaccessible because the system doesn't work. The Democrats response to that is to subsidize. Stephen, you know, when the government is subsidizing something, it means it's not working on its own. They got to prop it up well. They want to. They want to extend the COVID era Obamacare subsidy, which is really a subsidy to insurance companies. And you know what happens when you subsidize insurance companies? It drives the cost up even further. So we need real reform to make health care affordable again, to. To increase quality, increase access to care for more people. The Republican Party is the party trying to do it. The only ones that have ideas on the table to do that. The. The Democrats just want to keep doubling down and spending more tax money to prop up a broken system. I'll give you a quick example. This is not just talk from us. We did it in the one big beautiful bill, the working families tax cut. In the House version that we passed and sent over to the Senate, we had what's called a cost sharing reduction, a CSR provision in there. It would have driven, according to the Congressional Budget Office, not Republicans, it would have driven the average premium down in America by. By 12% and it would have saved taxpayers about $30 billion over 10 years. The Senate Democrats fought to take that provision out of the bill. So it didn't make it in the final legislation by comparison. Okay, remember I said that would have dropped prices premiums by 12% and saved about 30 billion. If you extend the Obamacare cups the COVID era subsidy, as they're trying to do without any reforms, it will only reduce premiums by about 5.7% on average. And it will cost the taxpayers 358 billion additional dollars. Look, we have real ideas to fix it. We have. We actually publish booklets full of ideas. We got to build consensus around it. And it's a very complicated thing because health care is very complicated. It's a big percentage of the US Economy. We have to do it right. And Republicans are the ones that will lead us out of that wilderness.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Thanksgiving is in three weeks, sir. SNAP benefits of being cut in half, as we all know. But they're talking about how it'll take weeks or even months for recipients to get them. Could you explain why that is?

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, it's a great question. The easiest way to stop all this chaos and get SNAP benefits rolling right now is for Democrats to come in here tomorrow and vote to reopen the government. But if they don't do that, we're relying upon a contingency fund. Here's the problem. It's math. It's about $9 billion a month to cover SNAP benefits. We got about 42 million recipients on that. Right. There's only $5.2 billion in the contingency fund. So you got about half of what you need. So in order to get to even use the contingency fund is that the courts have ordered to be done, the states have to recalculate and adjust their systems to send out partial payments. It's not going to be enough. It's going to be a long lag time to get that done because it's an unprecedented situation. And that's why we're appealing to the Democrats. Stop causing the pain. Just get the government open. We're not asking you to vote for any Republican priority. We're just saying do what you have always done. Do what you did 13 times during the Biden administration and Chuck Schumer and 10 Democrats in the Senate did as recently as March of this year. Chuck Schumer himself went on the floor, Stephen, and gave an impassioned speech, said, we have to do the cr. We have to keep the government open.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Because last March.

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, this is March. This is like eight last March. Yeah. And the same guy now has dug his heels in and says, we can't reopen. I mean, it's just. It's a 180. And again, the only explanation is that he's worried now. He's more afraid of the. Of the radical rise of the base in his party than he is making people go without food. I mean, that. That sounds harsh, but that is a reality.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

If Donald Trump were not president, would this be happening? What I mean, by that. Is that the last time there was a lock, a shutdown this long? It was his first term. Now it's happening in his second term. And you guys, I see you guys religiously calling it deranged, you know, Trump deranged syndrome. There we go.

[Stephen A. Smith]

So I'm asking it, based off of.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

That flavor, the kind of things that y' all have been saying. If Donald Trump were not president, do you believe that the Democrats would be this rigid in their thinking, in your estimation?

[Mike Johnson]

No way. No, I mean, that's the whole point is they're trying to show that they're willing to fight Trump to their base, and they'll pick a fight over anything or nothing. Some people call this the Seinfeld shutdown because it's really about nothing. I mean, that's the whole point. But I can tell you this. This is my Exhibit A in my case that I'm making to you. We don't do this. I was speaker under President Biden. We did not shut the government down. I mean, I got a lot of pressure from my angry part of my base to do it, but it would be too dangerous for the people, and we were going to do the right thing. We're not going to make troops go unpaid and TSA agents and Border Patrol agents and air traffic controllers. We're not going to stop SNAP benefits and, and nutrition supplements for women, infants and children. We wouldn't do that. So we took tough votes. We voted for Biden policies and spending because we, we. We care about the people. And the Democrats are demonstrating every day here. They have a very different priority, and it is themselves and their own political survival. That's what this is about.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Speaker, before I let you get on out of here, I'd be. I couldn't. I'd be remiss neglecting to not ask you this question. You haven't sworn an Arizona rep report, Elect Representative Adelita yet. Why do you have to follow the Pelosi president? Because I heard you allude to that. A lot of people think that you guys, particularly you by name, are stalling when it comes to this. What do you have to say to that?

[Mike Johnson]

We're not stalling. I mean, that precedent is not just hers, it's previous speakers as well. What happens here is that when somebody's elected in a. In a special election, that's what she was. She fulfilled the seat of her late father, which is a great honor to her. You wait until you're back in regular session to do it. I cite Pelosi because she did it a number of times. Like for example, when they had special elections filled during an August recess for Congress. She would logically wait until the next month when everybody came back to get into session to do it. I'm anxious to administer the oath to her and we will, but we got to get the lights turned back on here first and get Congress open and operating for the people so that we can get all this done. We got a lot ahead of us. There's no other objective here. I'm just trying to follow the regular order. By the way, she can serve her constituents in every capacity right now. She's got a full staff. She's got offices and computers and phones and she can be doing what everybody else is doing right now as the Rep Elect until we just go through the formality of administrative oath.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

But what she can't do is go on the Hill and vote as a member of the Democratic Party to, to have the Epstein files open, which is what people bring up as a reason as to why she hasn't been sworn in yet. To that you say what?

[Mike Johnson]

Yeah, it's, it's another red herring. Total distraction. It's a moot point now. Look, the House oversight is doing a full in depth investigation and they're delving through the Epstein files and releasing them. I mean people have lost track of this. There's 43, 000 pages of that stuff out in the public on the website right now. Two Fridays ago, a little over a week ago, they, they released the latest Epstein estate files, which is his personal logs, his calendars, his flight records, flight logs, his financial records and all the rest. We've got subpoenas that are being supplied, answered right now and the more the information comes in, the more it's released. The only thing that's being redacted right now is the names of young women, the victims, the victims who went through these horrific crimes as a result of these sex trafficking operations. And we have to protect them, but that's the only thing that's being withheld. So it's all out there. It's in, more is coming. And I can tell you the House Oversight Committee is filled with some of the biggest guard dogs in Congress on the Democrat and Republican side. And they've got their teeth sunk into this thing deep. So it's already happening right now. I mean that's, that's just a non issue.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Very last question for you. So regarding the filibuster and President Trump, I saw him speaking this morning and he wants, he wants it eliminated in the Senate. He's basically saying that's the only way anything will get done in order to pass, you know, the record breaking number of bills and circumvent Democratic obstruction, as he called it. What are your feelings about that? Eradicating the filibuster and just moving forward without needing 60 votes? What are your thoughts about that?

[Mike Johnson]

He and I have talked about this a lot and what you're hearing is an expression of his anger and frustration that the Democrats won't reopen the government. He doesn't want the American people to hurt. We don't either. And desperate times call for desperate measures. But, but I reminded him that what, what a lot of the Senate Republicans believe that's not a House issue, it's a Senate issue. But what they believe is that it's a very important safeguard against the worst impulses of the Democrat Party. My Republican colleagues will say that because they say, sir, they've already told us what they would do without the, without the speed bump of the filibuster if they ever took over again. They would expand the Supreme Court, pack the court. They'd go to 13 or 15 judges or whatever they wanted. They'd make Puerto Rico and D.C. states, they would do Second Amendment restrictions. They would nationalize federal elections, just go on and on and on, and there'd be nothing to stop them. And so I think the fear on both sides of the aisle, to be fair, has kept the filibuster as part of the tradition. The founders intended the Senate to be what they referred to as the cooling saucer. Right. The House would be hot, lots of activity and lots of emotion, and it would go over there and it was supposed to simmer and cool. So cooler heads prevail in the Senate. If you take the filibuster away, that doesn't exist anymore and we would have massive whiplashes for the people between elections, between the parties, and that wouldn't be good for the system.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Speaker Johnson, appreciate your time. Thank you so much. I'm going to let you get on out of here and brace yourself for dealing with Sean Hannity because he's a mess. I know that's going to be tough for you, but anyway, thank you so much. I really appreciate it and just want you to know, as I say to both sides of the aisle, you're always welcome here. I don't take sides. I don't give a damn about all of that. You got something to say? I want you to know that you got a platform here to come and speak. You and everybody on your side of the aisle anytime you please. So please know that. And thank you so much for coming on Straight Shooter. We Stephen, I appreciate it.

[Mike Johnson]

It's an important public service, my friend. Keep it up. Thanks so much.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Thank you, sir. All the best to you, one and only Speaker Johnson, Republican out of Louisiana, right here on Stephen H. Fisher speak of the House. You heard what his position was. You heard where he stood, you heard what Representative Jim Jordan said. And where he stood. We know from last week where the Democrats stand on it. We heard from Akeem Jeffries the week before that. There's a lot going on, there's a lot to talk about and I'm here for it. The number to call up is 866-967. That's 8669-676887-86696. POTUS, you're listening live to Straight Shooter with STEPHEN A. Courtesy SiriusXM POTUS radio, channel 124. Back with your calls and more in a minute. 34 minutes past hour. Number two back here on Straight Shooter with yours truly, Stephen A. Smith. Coming at you as I love to do every Wednesday night over the airport of SiriusXM POTUS radio. Number to call up as always is 866-967-6887. That's 8669-676887-86696. POTUS got a few lines open, getting to the calls for the very first time because I had Representative Madeline Dean out of the 4th district of Pennsylvania, Democrat out of the 4th district of Pennsylvania. And of course, you just heard me with Stephanie Rule, formerly of MSNBC with the 11th Hour show and now it's going to be named Ms. Now. So you've heard her positions, you heard her feelings, you know where she stands. Appreciate both perspectives that the ladies provided on this particular day, day 43 of the shutdown, it is now coming to an end. The shutdown will end and obviously our government will be back up and running. People will be employed, they will be paid retroactively for time missed, et cetera, et cetera. I will tell you, I'm very alarmed by what Representative Dean pointed out, how individuals who happen to be senators implicated, you know, this is senators allowed to sue the United states government over January 6 phone records due to Senate passed revision tucked into the spending package. Senator Lindsey Graham, who's been a guest on the show, Senator Marsha Blackburn, Senator Bill Haggerty, Senator Josh Hawley, Senator Dan Sullivan. Obviously, Blackburn is out of Tennessee, so is Haggerty. Hawley is out of Missouri. Dan Sullivan is out of Alaska. Tommy Tuberville is out of Alabama. Ron Johnson is out of Wisconsin. Cynthia Loomis is out of Wyoming. My question is this. What the hell are you needing to sue the government for? And don't you understand that when you sue the government, you're essentially asking for taxpayer money to come into your pockets? As far as I'm concerned, the potential of any damn lawsuit from them should be thrown out the window for the 43 day shutdown alone. You were getting paid then, while American citizens weren't getting paid who were working.

[Stephen A. Smith]

For the federal government.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Who are you to come and get even more of our additional dollars to.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Pad your pockets, let alone at $500,000 per case, up to $500,000 per case.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I mean, that's just as crooked as hell. 866-969-6768, 878-6696 polis. Let's go to the phones. Let's go to Michael in Connecticut. You're live with Stephen, A straight shooter. What's up?

[Caller]

Hey, Stephen A. How you doing, man?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I'm all right. You live on the air, bro. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Hey, man. So first of all, I just want to say, huge fan of your work and following you, you know, for many years on espn, obviously appreciate the platform that you're bringing with politics. My question is, so I'm an independent Democrat leaning voter and I'm very young. I just turned 25 yesterday. And obviously, you know, as someone who's young, right. You know, I have many elections to come where I'm going to be a voter. I'm going to be, you know, making my voice heard for who I want to represent us presidential level, state level, so be it.

Right.

But I'm really disgusted with the state of affairs of our political situation right now, if that makes sense. Because, you know, I think Trump is a big reason for that, you know, his divisiveness and just, you know, the things that he says. And then the government shutdown, I mean, you've been talking about ad nauseam about, you know, just how unfair it is to the people who work for the government who can't get paychecks and who are not able to, you know, make ends meet and all that stuff. And, you know, obviously this whole fiasco with the Democrat senators who cross the aisle to fund.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I need you to get to your question on my brother. I got other callers on the line. I appreciate your perspective, but I need you to get to your question. What is it?

[Caller]

Right, okay. So my question is as a Young voter. Right. For someone who wants to be hopeful for the future of our country, what advice would you give to me?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, here's the advice.

[Caller]

Who wants to look for hope?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Here's the advice I would give to you. You first of all know what issues you care most passionately about and pay attention to those issues. And those who are proponents of it and those who are adversaries of it. Study position from both sides of the aisle and both side and both angles, and decide what's best. Be a participant in local elections. Because that's what really affects the average everyday American citizen, even more so than federal legislation that comes down the pike. And you pay attention from that and you can only change from within. And in terms of strengthening and hardening your intestinal resolve, the one other thing that I would say to you is this. Prepare to be frustrated. Because in a binary system that we're living in, you're never going to be happy 100% of the time. It's never going to happen. There are going to be things about both sides that absolutely disgust you. But most importantly, more importantly than anything else, what should disgust you more than anything is the inability for both sides to work together on behalf of the American people. Show your side, they show their side. And we peel what's best for the American people from that. If you know that's what they're doing, then you will feel much better about it. You don't feel much better about it because you know it's exactly what they're not doing. So we have to do everything that we can to foster them doing exactly that for the sanity of America as a society. These politicians throw us to the wolves on far too many occasions as a collective body. They don't come together thinking about what's in our betterment. They think about what's in their betterment. And they, on far too many occasions, have used us as pawns. And that's why there's so much vitriol and cynicism and viciousness that we're aiming towards one another. I promise you, if we could do it to them as easily as we do it to ourselves, we would. And they wouldn't act the way that they act. But unfortunately, they're insulated to some degree because of that. And as a result, we find ourselves in these precarious times. I gotta run. I appreciate the call, Michael. Thank you for the call. Let's go to Derek in New York. You're live with Stephen A. Talk to me, D. How are you?

[Caller]

Hey, what's up?

Why Is it the House?

I've seen the government shut down, but the House. Why is the Senate, like the House is more partisanship than Senate? More like. Like. Like the House seems to be they're more united than the Senate.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, it's not so much that what happened is. And I mean, you could say that because obviously, you know, you could take that position, but the Senate, essentially, you had Trump pushing for the GOP for a filibuster, you know, to just eradicate the filibuster, that they could just get 51 votes and that would be that, as opposed to requiring 60. But the flip side to that is that with the Senate, you had three senators and Fetterman and a couple of others that were willing to cross party lines to vote against the government shutdown. And they were looking for about five or five or six more additional figures. And for the longest time, they held out until they couldn't anymore. You had, for the most part, members on the left in the Senate holding a hard line along with House Democrats saying, we're not budging one inch because we gotta address the Affordable Care act subsidies because prices for healthcare are going to double and it's going to be a hindrance to the American consumer, blah, blah, blah. And they drew a hard line in the sand, but Trump wouldn't budge. And what some of those senators were saying, look, he's not gonna budge. If you're in Pennsylvania, if you're in Nevada, if you're in New Hampshire, we got constituents here that ain't going for that. And we can't afford all of this stuff. We got to make something happen. And that was their position. And so because that was their position, and you were waiting for the Senate because the House had already voted on it, and you were waiting for the Senate, our focus was on the Senate and the divide that existed between them. Whereas the House, it had already been decided because the Republicans already had the majority, and that was that.

[Caller]

You can see that the problem solving caucuses, the Republicans and the problem solve are joining Democrats. If you vote no to it, you see me sign the province of causes. I'm hearing that on X. All that they're saying that.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Well, we'll see. I mean, the reality is that the shutdown is going to end and that enough Democrats caved to side with the GOP because they knew that it was unwise to test the resolve of the GOP under Trump, because Trump was making the case, no matter how much is gonna hurt us is going to hurt them. And the Democrats have strategized about this all along, assuming that they would have the leverage because it would be perceived as a Trump shutdown. Trump shutdown. Trump shutdown. And sure enough, the polls were showing that the Republicans were being blamed more than the Democrats. But in the end, Trump didn't care because as has been the case, most people believe he gets what he wants from the gop because if he doesn't, he's going to attack them and they're gonna get booted out of office. And so when your primary concern is keeping your job as opposed to doing your job, you're gonn capitulating to the President of the United States if you're a member of the GOP whose name is not Marjorie Taylor Greene, because she certainly ain't capitulating to a lot of stuff that he's talking about right now. But that's about it. They knew that. And as a result, they knew and suspected that the Republicans wouldn't fold. And that's why they, they got in panic mode and they ultimately decided to acquiesce and cave in.

[Caller]

Last question, Chuck Schumer, is he worried about his leadership next year?

Is he worried about his.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Not next year, 2028? He Definitely. I don't expect him to win. I think Chuck Schumer's done, I think that enough Democrats. Ro Khanna has spoken out against him. AOC in her own way has done so. Looking at what happened with Mamdani in the mayoral election in New York City and the direction that they're going in, I think that a lot of people see Chuck Schumer as non effective and they think it's time for change. Ro Khanna, representative out of California, said it. Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced. If you can't lead the fight to stop health care premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for? That's their position and a lot of their contemporaries feel the exactly same way. So I think Chuck Schumer's days are numbered. Appreciate the call, man. Thank you so much. Let's go to Mike in Chicago. You're live with Stephen A. Talk to me, Mike.

[Caller]

Yeah, I was listening to Stephanie, but I guess she's gone. But one part I'm a died in the world Chicago death, Chicago Democrat. But I watched 60 Minutes Sunday for probably the first sector or third time in 10 years.

[Mike Johnson]

Okay.

[Caller]

And two farmers that were just about gone. They were just about under soybeans couldn't, you know, get rid of, couldn't afford their. They couldn't afford their equipment and on and on and on. And everybody that they knew, all right, they said, the tariffs are hurting us, too, because things are way more expensive than what we had before. Then they said, but Donald Trump's a real smart guy and he could figure this out. And that pretty much says. And down in Chile, they gave them, and they're lying about that now. 20 billion to $40 billion. And they're saying it was a loan, it was only a billion. They just don't play by the same rules. To use the sports analogy, which I know you're used to, they've got 14 guys on the field, and they throw a flag and they don't come off the field.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I got you.

[Caller]

They just stay on the field.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

All right, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You're absolutely right. They are playing by different rules, but it's because they can afford to, because the American people is going for it. And that's really what we're talking about. Listen, before I get back to my call, speaker of the House Mike Johnson is on the House floor right now talking about this shutdown issue coming to an end. Let's try. I'm sorry, I apologize. Jeffries. Hakeem Jeffries. I apologize. A minority leader for the House. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is speaking on the House floor right now. Let's hear what he has to say real quick. Let's chime into that.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Next year and in the speakership of Donald J. Trump, once and for all, that's how this fight ends. Mr. Speaker, during this painful Trump Republican shutdown, what we've seen is two different philosophies in terms of how to govern for the American people. The Democratic Party philosophy is clear. We are ready, willing, and able to find bipartisan common ground anytime, any place, to enact spending agreements that actually make life better for the American people. But in order to do that, we need to have partners on the other side of the aisle who are actually willing to find a bipartisan path forward.

[Stephen A. Smith]

I don't want to hear anything about partners. That's the problem with our politics. Y' all haven't been partners in over a decade. What have you been willing to work on? Everything is partisan. Every Democrat voting for every Republican voting against, Every Republican voting for every Democrat voting against. It's nothing new. What do you mean, working together?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Did you work together leading up to the election?

[Mike Johnson]

Did you work.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Who the hell was the advisor? Who the hell was the Democratic strategist that told y'?

[Caller]

All?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Focusing on the LGBTQ community and 1% of this population with transgender folks should.

[Stephen A. Smith]

Be a more pertinent issue than 13.6% of the population with black folks that were suffering with affordability issues in this country leading up to the election. Who told you that? This is the kind of BS I'm talking about. Everybody in their grandmama knows cost of living, affordability, safety in the streets is priority. Everybody in their grandmama knows that if you have the borders flooded, forget open borders, closed borders, whatever. If you have the borders flooded and there's an inordinate amount of people coming into the country illegally, you're going to have one side viewing it as a good thing because they're going to talk about how we have a, we're a mosaic and we have an open door policy and we welcome all. And you're going to have the other side saying, yo, we got folks that are undocumented that is in our country and they're going to point to crime and all of this other stuff and embellish and exaggerate and sully the waters for campaign purposes. Did you pay attention to that? You didn't. And what happened instead of focusing on issues that work for every American, affordability, safety, and showing that you had a.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Better economic plan and scheme, you tried to guilt folks into voting for you. And now here we talking about the importance of working together. Anybody trying to hear that right now? Eight Democrats crossed and voted with the GOP shut down over. I flow with Madeline Dean. I like her because her candor ain't subjective. It seems to be perpetual. Maybe that's what the Democrats should try. Maybe that might win you an election. A real one, not the one that was a foregone conclusion that just passed. More Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Your call is closing out the show anymore. 53 minutes past album number two. Back here in the Stephen A's with show. I'm sorry, Straight Shooter with Stephen A. Coming at you every Wednesday from 6 to 8pm Eastern Standard Time over the airways of SiriusXM POTUS radio. Let's get back to the phones at 866-967-6887. That's 86 POTUS. Let's go to Chris in Virginia. You're live with Stephen A. Chris, what's up?

[Caller]

Good evening sir. Hey, I. I wanted to apologize to you from the first time I talked to you or maybe came off a little brash with the numbers I gave you. Wasn't trying to correct you like that but you know, I think it was.

A two way street.

But.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

No, my apologize as well, you know you were right. You had the correct information. I did not. Period. Men are men, my brother. You were right. I stand correctly. And I appreciate that. And I appreciate. I appreciate the education. Go ahead.

[Caller]

Yes, sir. But I wanted to push back on the Biden situation. A lot of people say that same thing. Well, what did Biden do when he came in office? And why didn't he look into Epstein and so on, so forth. My question is, why should he have looked into Epstein?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, sir, that's not what I was saying. I wasn't talking about looking into Epstein. I was simply making the case that if the Epstein files were there and available under your. Under the Democrats, under Democratic power, okay, then you could have released it then. So why is it a big deal to release it now when you've always had it? That's my point. That's all my.

[Caller]

My thing about that is that, first and foremost, everything was under seal. Second thing was. What was really the first thing was we came out of an administration where that president got fired because of the economy, because of the pandemic, because of the job loss, because of the bad oil deals. First you want to produce more than you can handle. Then Covid shows.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

But, Chris. But, Chris, I think you're thinking about Biden. And I'm telling you, I'm not thinking about Biden. I'm thinking about the Democrats that are in office, that are gung ho about.

[Stephen A. Smith]

About releasing it.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

Now, I'm saying they could have done that before, too. That's all I'm saying.

[Caller]

Well, what I'm saying is there was so much to doing this, looking forward to everything that the Democratic Party and the Democratic president had to do to get this country back online through Covid and everything else. There's no way he would have did it. And what they did, they would turn around and bring up this, say, okay, we got all this other stuff going on, all these other impossible. A new election coming up, and we're going to stop and we're going to pump the brakes.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I got you.

[Caller]

Try to unseal. And Epstein came.

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I got you. I'm running out of time because I only got two minutes. I appreciate your call. I get where you're coming from. And by the way, thanks for the call. You know, the Epstein files and a Biden doj. There may be more legal nuance, but the general thing was the DOJ didn't release the full Epstein files, primarily because federal law sharply restricts disclosure of grand jury materials under federal rule of Criminal Procedure 6e Grand Jury evidence is kept secret to protect witnesses, informants, victims, and the integrity of ongoing or past investigations. And the Justice Department cannot unilaterally release this material either. So it's a lot to get into, but I get where you're coming from. I understand. David, in Massachusetts, you're live with Stephen A. Real quick. David, go ahead.

[Caller]

All right, quick question. Do you believe there's a possibility that we can return to civilized, dignified discourse both within the government and in mainstream America?

[Stephen A. Smith (Host)]

I think. I think mainstream America has to take it upon ourself to do it. I think it's harder to pull off, David, when politicians don't do it because we're so disgusted at the power and the dominion that they have over our lives. When they act like juvenile delinquents and don't know how to act and comport themselves, it really rakes our last damn nerves and they give us an excuse to lose our minds. And I think that that's the kind of stuff that happens. But when they act accordingly and they set a standard that compels us to follow it, I think it goes a long way towards serving the American people better. We don't need them to do it in order for us to be intelligent and decent and civil enough to do it ourselves. But it is more challenging for us to do it when we're utterly disgusted by how they conduct themselves and we're watching them get away with it. I got to get on out of here. That's it for this edition of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. I'll be back a week from now. Next Wednesday night, 6:00pm Eastern Standard Time, over the airways of p radio, channel 124. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining the show. Stephen A. Signing off. Peace and love.