Are You There, Congress? with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi

Summary

Summary of "Are You There, Congress? with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
• Host: Comedy Central
• Episode: Are You There, Congress? with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi
• Release Date: May 8, 2025
• Description: Jon Stewart hosts an in-depth conversation with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi, exploring the challenges and ideas shaping Congress amidst the current administration.

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Introduction and Setting the Stage (00:33 - 06:00)

Jon Stewart kicks off the episode by critiquing President Trump's recent comments about Canada, highlighting the disconnect between Trump's rhetoric on simplicity and consumerism versus the administration's perceived excesses. He expresses frustration with Trump's approach, setting the tone for a broader discussion on the dysfunction within Congress.

Notable Quote:

"I'm really hung up... Trump says your kids have to go without. Why don't billionaires... say maybe you don't need $350 billion?" (04:50)

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Understanding Congress and Executive Overreach (06:24 - 11:48)

Stewart introduces the guests, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi, co-chairs of the Problem Solvers Caucus. The conversation begins with a foundational explanation of Congress, emphasizing the tension between legislative authority and presidential executive orders.

Fitzpatrick criticizes the extensive use of executive orders by the President, arguing they overstep the boundaries of Article II authority and undermine Congress's legislative power.

Notable Quote:

"The only exception to that is executive orders... many executive orders President signed do exceed the boundaries of Article 2 authority." (07:00)

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The Problem Solvers Caucus and Budget Negotiations (08:22 - 11:48)

The guests delve into the mechanics of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group requiring 75% approval for bill endorsements. Suozzi explains the caucus's structure, aimed at fostering bipartisan support to overcome legislative gridlock.

Fitzpatrick discusses the current budget negotiations, highlighting Republican attempts to manage tariffs independently without Democratic involvement. The challenges of the reconciliation process are examined, noting its limitations and the necessity for bipartisan collaboration in most legislative matters.

Notable Quote:

"Less than 15% of people vote in the primaries... pandering to those extremes instead of talking to the people generally." (27:36)

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Dysfunction and Lobbying in Congress (21:51 - 28:22)

Stewart and the guests address the pervasive dysfunction within Congress, attributing it to factors like gerrymandering, primary election incentives, and the overwhelming influence of lobbyists. Fitzpatrick provides examples of how entrenched interests resist legislative changes, citing Trump's inconsistent stance on prescription drug negotiations as a case in point.

The conversation underscores how primary elections drive legislators to cater to extreme bases rather than the broader electorate, perpetuating polarization and legislative stagnation.

Notable Quote:

"Less than 15% of people vote in the primaries... pandering to those extremes instead of talking to the people generally." (27:36)

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Structural Reforms: Term Limits and Open Primaries (37:19 - 43:46)

The discussion shifts to potential reforms aimed at mitigating congressional dysfunction. Stewart advocates for term limits to prevent career politicians from becoming disconnected and entrenched, while Suozzi emphasizes the need for open primaries to allow independent voters to participate.

Fitzpatrick and Suozzi agree that increasing voter participation in primaries and reducing the influence of ideological purists can lead to more moderate and broadly representative legislators.

Notable Quote:

"If we can start focusing... on permitting reform... we could team up together and work across the aisle." (36:05)

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Legislative Actions and Successes (54:21 - 56:19)

Stewart highlights the successful passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill as a testament to the effectiveness of the Problem Solvers Caucus. The guests discuss their ongoing priorities, including immigration reform, economic policies, and addressing national debt and deficits.

They emphasize the importance of bipartisan efforts in tackling complex issues and restoring functional governance.

Notable Quote:

"Immigration... we have the ability to bring the best and brightest people from all over the world." (56:19)

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Challenges and the Future of Congress (58:27 - 60:56)

The conversation turns to the broader challenges facing Congress, including executive overreach and the need for legislative authority to counterbalance presidential actions. The guests stress the urgency of securing borders, modernizing asylum systems, and ensuring economic security through comprehensive immigration reform.

They argue that without structural changes, Congress risks becoming ineffective, leading to increased reliance on executive orders, which may undermine democratic processes.

Notable Quote:

"The government is supposed to be afraid of the people... rather than the people being afraid of the government." (53:35)

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Conclusion (60:28 - 63:00)

Stewart wraps up the discussion by acknowledging the frustrations with the current political system. He reiterates the need for collaboration and structural reforms to revive effective governance. The guests, Fitzpatrick and Suozzi, express optimism that with increased public accountability and bipartisan cooperation, Congress can overcome its dysfunction and better serve the American populace.

Notable Quote:

"You're the government is supposed to be afraid of the people... rather than the people being afraid of the government." (53:35)

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Key Takeaways

1. Executive Overreach: President Trump's extensive use of executive orders is seen as a strategy to bypass Congress, challenging the balance of power established by the Constitution.

2. Problem Solvers Caucus: A bipartisan group aiming to bridge partisan divides and overcome legislative gridlock through collaborative efforts.

3. Dysfunction in Congress: Structural issues like gerrymandering, primary election incentives, and lobbying influence contribute to legislative stagnation and polarization.

4. Proposed Reforms: Implementing term limits and open primaries to reduce extremism and encourage more representative and moderate governance.

5. Legislative Successes and Challenges: While bipartisan efforts have led to successes like the infrastructure bill, ongoing challenges such as immigration reform and budget negotiations remain critical areas needing attention.

6. Call for Accountability: Greater public participation in primaries and holding legislators accountable to the broader electorate are essential for improving congressional functionality.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• 04:50: "I'm really hung up... Trump says your kids have to go without. Why don't billionaires... say maybe you don't need $350 billion?"

• 07:00: "The only exception to that is executive orders... many executive orders President signed do exceed the boundaries of Article 2 authority."

• 27:36: "Less than 15% of people vote in the primaries... pandering to those extremes instead of talking to the people generally."

• 36:05: "If we can start focusing... on permitting reform... we could team up together and work across the aisle."

• 53:35: "The government is supposed to be afraid of the people... rather than the people being afraid of the government."

• 56:19: "Immigration... we have the ability to bring the best and brightest people from all over the world."

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Insights and Conclusions

The episode provides a critical examination of the current state of Congress, highlighting the systemic issues that hinder effective governance. The Problem Solvers Caucus emerges as a beacon of hope for bipartisan collaboration, but significant structural reforms are deemed necessary to address deep-rooted dysfunctions. The discussion emphasizes the importance of restoring legislative authority, increasing public engagement, and implementing measures like term limits and open primaries to foster a more representative and functional Congress.

Overall, the conversation underscores the urgent need for changes that align Congress's actions more closely with the will and needs of the American people, ensuring that democratic processes are upheld and that governance is both effective and accountable.

Transcript

[Jon Stewart]

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[Tom Suozzi]

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[Jon Stewart]

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[Tom Suozzi]

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[Jon Stewart]

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[Tom Suozzi]

I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] this episode is brought to you by Lifelock. Not everyone is careful with your personal information, which might explain why there's a victim of identity theft every five seconds in the U.S. fortunately, there's LifeLock. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year by visiting lifelock.com podcast terms apply hello everyone. Welcome once again to the weekly show podcast. My name is Jon Stewart. I will be hosting the program today. It is, I think we might be even taping a day earlier than normal. Yeah, it's Tuesday, May 6. May 6 be with you. We've got May 4 and then Cinco de Mayo. May 6 really has got no game. It's got nothing going on. Which is, which is truly a shame. The premier of Canada, Mark Carney, visited the White House today and the President once again said incredibly rude and disrespectful things about Canada. But I am still hung up, quite frankly on the interview that he did with Kristen Welker on Meet the Press where he, he continues to float this idea that Americans just have too much that in this new world order that he is creating that it is important for children to learn gratitude and simplicity. In terms of the amount of dolls he seems to be stuck on 30 to 37 dolls as the magic number of what spoils a child. I'm not sure there is a child that has received $30 in a in the span of a year unless they are a Trump child. Which is it gets us really to the crux of how fucking wrongheaded his entire approach may be because he sees no value in moderation for himself. There is no he is not leading through through the exemplar of a dignified and less consumerist life. He as you can see, every time there is another press conference within the Oval Office, another Gold cherub gets its wings. Another gold cherub and another gold leaf frame until there is no wall space left in the Oval Office that fuck you for telling the American people oh you know what, so your kids have to go without. Why don't billionaires. Why doesn't he ever say hey you know what, maybe you don't need $350 billion. Maybe you just need 10 to 12 billion dollars. Maybe, maybe you don't need any of those things. Why isn't his scolding of excess in any way self reflective and turned around to the people who have bought and sold this country to all the interests that are making it more difficult for people to live better lives. Why not say the same thing to the profits of the insurance companies and to the banks and the financialization. No, it's people who are buying pencils for their, for their kids who've gotten out of control. That's what's out of control. Those people, not him in his Saddam like palace with you know what, what if you had 10 golden toilets instead of 20 or the font on the giant Trump sign was slightly smaller. God. And Congress just stands slack jawed as it all goes down. We're so upset about the tariffs. We've got to do something about the tariffs. Let's have a vote about it. Y. I don't, I don't know about that. Why don't we, you know what, we'll, let's, let's wait, let's see what happens. Which is why actually. So we're going to be talking a little bit about Congress today. We got a couple of Congress people that are coming on the show. We're going to talk about the intricacies of it, the ins and outs. These are a couple of guys who are working with something called the Problem Solvers Caucus. It's right in the name there. They're. They caucus to solve problems generally about how many dolls I'm sure people can buy. But let's get to our guests and learn a little bit about why is Congress so passive and what are they going to be doing about the chaos and destruction that is being levied on so many American families as we move forward in this administration. From Caligula for God's sakes let's get to them now. Ladies and gentlemen, very pleased today we have to elected officials of these United States of America. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and Congressman Tom Suazi. Brian Fitzpatrick represents a lovely district in Pennsylvania. Congressman TOM Su. Areas of Nassau county and, and queens etc. They are co chairs of the problem Solvers Caucus, which is a congressional caucus that I think we can only assume solves problems. Gentlemen, welcome to the, to the weekly show. I, I wanted to start by asking you guys about this Congress. Congress. Tell me about this Congress. It's apparently elected representatives that have the power to enact laws. They used to be before the President took over.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

And there are 435 members of the House of Representatives. There are 100 senators.

[Tom Suozzi]

Boom.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Both of them together make up the Congress. The Senate is two senators from each state, times 50 is 100. And the 435 members of Congress each represent about 750,000 people.

[Tom Suozzi]

Very nice. Representative Fitzpatrick, has it been difficult? The President, United States, Donald Trump, he signed, I don't know, 150 executive orders. He has done all these things. Is he bypassing Congress? Do you guys feel like you have as strong a voice you both? Well, Representative Suozzi, you've only been there for a little bit, but Representative Fitzpatrick, as a Republican, do you feel like you still have a strong voice in this administration?

[Jon Stewart]

For sure. Tom and I actually came in together. We lost him for a brief stint when he ran for governor, but Tom and I came in together the same.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Year I ran for governor of New York. Got my butt kicked. And then George Santos took my place.

[Tom Suozzi]

Oh, dear Lord.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

And they kicked, they kicked him out.

[Jon Stewart]

And then I came back and then Suazi came back. But to answer your question, John, big upgrade. Yeah, yeah. To answer your question, I've never been a fan of executive orders, and I think we're seeing, we're seeing them abused more and more. Where we're seeing presidents come in and really testing the boundaries of their Article 2 authority. I think they're doing so in expectation of getting challenged by the judiciary to rein them in. We've seen that with the aumf, the authorized use of military force previously. We're seeing it now with tariffs and the like, the Alien Enemies act with immigration. But, you know, as far as, has Congress lost its ability to oversee. No, I mean, the budget still has to go through us, right? I mean, we're going to be voting on multiple budgets, we're going to be voting on appropriations. It's all got to go through us. The only exception to that is executive orders. And many executive orders that President signed do exceed the boundaries of Article 2 authority, and that's when they get smacked down by the courts.

[Tom Suozzi]

Well, we're saying that's an interesting point because we are seeing, you know, when you talk about the budget. Well, let's, let's start there with the budget. So this time you. You guys represent this Problem Solvers Caucus, which is basically. It is a bipartisan caucus that gets together and they try and make recommendations. And forgive me if I'm getting the details wrong, but apparently you can't make a recommendation through the Problem solvers caucus unless 70% of the members agree to it. And it's a. Is it a 50, 50 coalition? 50% Democrats, 50% Republicans? Is that the idea?

[Jon Stewart]

It is. It is. If you want to join, you have to find someone from the opposite party to join with you.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

There's about 50 of us.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, we're about 25 and 25 right now. And yes, it's actually 75%. So for the caucus to endorse a bill, 75% of the overall group and at least 50% of the members of each party need to say yes. Now, if 75% of the group says yes, the 25% that do not, if it comes to the floor, they still have to support it because it's been endorsed by the group.

[Tom Suozzi]

So when you join this caucus, you are making a pledge.

[Jon Stewart]

Yes.

[Tom Suozzi]

That if the Problem Solvers Caucus endorses this, then then the entire group has to endorse it. So this is an interesting point. Then you're in budget negotiations right now. I'm assuming that the reconciliation process is what's going to get triggered and that Democrats will not be involved in the budget process whatsoever. Is that an incorrect assumption?

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

That's a correct assumption. Right now, it's been very much my way or the highway with the president and the Republicans trying to cobble this thing together on their own without any reaching across the aisle to the Democrats. And if they don't succeed in this or at some point when they're trying to get something else done, they don't succeed, then we hope that we'll be available as a group to work together to try and find compromise on things. But right now, you know, Democrats and Republicans have used the reconciliation process when they're in power. The main reason they do the reconciliation process is because it's a provision that doesn't require 60 votes in the Senate. It only requires 50 votes in the Senate.

[Tom Suozzi]

He's suggesting it's a way for them to avoid the filibuster in the Senate. That generally would require some. Some bipartisan action. Now. So for the Problem Solvers Caucus, you're basically sidelined in terms of. Of budget. And that is, for the most part, right now in Congress, the large majority of. Of what you guys are doing there hasn't been, I think the President signed what, five pieces of legislation. This, it's, it's a, it's a small number comparatively, with his executive orders. Would that be correct?

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah. So keep in mind the only thing that's accepted from the 60 vote filibuster is reconciliation. So literally everything else will require bipartisanship because it can't garner 60 votes in the Senate without it.

[Tom Suozzi]

And so that's what makes it so difficult. Now, my understanding is that the Republicans are going to attempt within reconciliation to maybe expand the powers of that through reconciliation. So they're also going to deal with regulation and some other elements that are a little bit more controversial than just sort of your standard fare. These are the appropriations. Would that, would that also be correct?

[Jon Stewart]

Well, I think it's important to note that in order for. So you've heard this term called the Byrd Rule, named after former Senator Byrd.

[Tom Suozzi]

That's right.

[Jon Stewart]

That basically requires that for anything to fall under the rules of reconciliation, which is a once a year thing only under certain scenarios, that it's got to be budgetary in nature. So there's a lot of things they call, they get it, it gets birdbathed or birded out. So I'm not sure what you're referring to in terms of regulations. There's going to be a lot included.

[Tom Suozzi]

My understanding it was about the executive's ability to pass something that the Republicans wanted, which was a change in how regulations can be struck down.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh, you're probably, you may be talking about. Yes, I think it's called the REINS Act. I think that's.

[Tom Suozzi]

That's correct.

[Jon Stewart]

So basically what that idea suggests is that any regulation that has over a $100 million impact on the economy has to be revisited. So the criticism is that the code of federal regulations is this cumulative bible. It gets added to every year, but nothing ever gets taken away. And regulations that might have been passed in the 50s or 60s that are no longer germane or relevant are still in the books. So it would force an automatic sunset unless affirmatively renewed by Congress. Now, you raise a good question, John. It is unclear whether that would even qualify.

[Tom Suozzi]

That's right. And would that be the parliamentarian who would decide if that.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

It is the Senate parliamentarian.

[Jon Stewart]

Senate parliamentarian.

[Tom Suozzi]

Senate parliamentarian.

[Jon Stewart]

Because the Byrd rule only applies to the Senate, not to the House.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

I mean, the bottom line is that it's very hard to change the laws as part of reconciliation. It's much more about the budget. So, for example, there's a lot of stuff that's debated about immigration right now. And one of the things the problem solvers is working on, we have seven working groups. One of our working groups, one of the ones that has the most energy is behind immigration so that we could try and make a bipartisan deal that will secure the border for the long term, that will fix the broken asylum system and will modernize the legal immigration system so that the dreamers and, and the farm workers and the health care workers and other people that are essential to the United States of America and who've been here for 10 or 20 or 30 years, we could figure out how to legalize them.

[Tom Suozzi]

Now, is that different than the Lankford bill that came out before the election that there had been bipartisan support for and actually would have passed had it not been. I guess the president wasn't. The president then intervened and said, please don't pass this. He. Is this a substantially different bill than that?

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

I don't wanna say substantially different. A lot of the elements from that are in there, but it's not that bill. And we're using a lot of different bipartisan bills that have been worked on over the years, like on the dreamers, for example, and on the farm workers. The Farm Workers Modernization act, we're using those and trying to cobble together something that's been bipartisan for many years but never got over the finish line. And we're hoping that when the push comes to shove and the administration needs some help to get something done, that this will be one of the things that we could make, one of the first things we're trying to push through.

[Tom Suozzi]

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[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Yeah, I don't share that vision. Obviously, I'm the Democrat here, Brian's the Republican.

[Tom Suozzi]

And I don't know that Brian shares that vision. No, Brian, even though he's a Republican.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

I'm reasonably sure that Brian doesn't share that vision either because it's a vision of the United States, competition with three branches of government that have equal power. And you know, the America's founded on the idea all men are created equal. It's founded on that we all have inalienable human rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. But it's also founded on you can't trust each other, which is why we have these different branches to stop any one branch from taking over because they're always going to fight for their own self interest.

[Tom Suozzi]

What article the Constitution is, you can't trust each other. It's in there somewhere. It's how it's worked.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

That's article one and two. That's how it works.

[Tom Suozzi]

Brian, you're in, you're caucusing with the Republicans. And let's let the audience know Brian's record in Congress. I think you've been voted the most bipartisan member of Congress for however long. You both are in districts that voted for the candidate from the opposite party. Representative Suozzi is in a district that went for Trump even though he's a Democrat. Representative Fitzpatrick is in a district that went for Harris even though he's a Republican. So, so you're really in the kind of that crucible and, and Representative Fitzpatrick, I want to start with you because within navigating that sort of Freedom Caucus, you know, really stringent purity testing that goes on as far as the Republican Party and what Trump wants, how do you navigate not necessarily being on the same page about these issues like immigration or tariffs or those kinds of things?

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, I don't, I mean, I think navigate, John. I, I, honest to God, I mean, every time I've run and I've, I've been, I've run five times now. I was an FBI agent before I was in Congress, and I never run for anything before. And I've been primaried every, every single time I've run, I've been primary by the far right every single time. So I'm used to that.

[Tom Suozzi]

And you have kind of a built up immunity then to the, you know, they always challenge members to that because.

[Jon Stewart]

It'S so, they're so ridiculous. I mean, they're just ideological purists and that's just not how life works. I ask them all the time. I just marvel I'll find them on the House floor and they're rattling sabers and they're mocking their fellow American on the other side of the aisle. And I just ask them, is this how you function at home? Right. Could you imagine if we took the attitude towards our spouses or our partners that if you don't agree with me 100% of the time, you're stupid and a bad person? That's just ridiculous. And yet you have a lot of adults acting like children here that conduct themselves that way. I'm a term limits believer, John. It's the first bill I introduce every single Congress. I think it's so important that this not be a career, that this be a temporary public service. And I think a lot of good things flow from that, because if you're not trying to stay here and become a committee chair or build up your little political fiefdom or whatever you want to call changes the way you approach the job. And I'm a huge term limits believer. I think the biggest problem in Congress are the people that have been here 20, 30, 40 years. It's not meant, it's never meant to be that.

[Tom Suozzi]

I love that. Recently, Dick Durbin, Senator from, from Illinois, he announced at 80 he was not going to be. And he announced it as though it was an unusual announcement. He's 80 years old and he announced, I don't, you know, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna run again. I think we should set an example. And I was like, yeah, at 80, just, just when he was hitting his prime for the Senate.

[Jon Stewart]

I don't remember who it was, Tom, maybe you can remind me, but there was a celebration of, of somebody recently who broke the record for, for the longest serving House Republican. Then they threw a party for him and I'm like, what, what a perverse incentive that is, right? We're celebrating someone who's been here for 55, 60 years. That's an embarrassment, I think.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Was the guy from Alaska, Was it.

[Jon Stewart]

Was it, was it Don Young?

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Yeah, Don Young. Don Young.

[Tom Suozzi]

Well, Clyburn just said he's not, you know, they, they asked him because I think he's 82, he's in the House, obviously, but they asked him and he said, I'm never leaving. This is my life. But I do think there are perverse incentives. So let's talk about that a little bit because are there structural things within the House or within the Senate that you guys as a bipartisan coalition would change? That could. Because one of the things that I felt I learned from having lobbied Congress over these years is it's a surprisingly insular place. It really is perversely removed from the wants and needs of the people they represent. And the people that have the access really are industry leaders, moneyed interests and those kinds of things.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Well, they hire people who are professional people who have full time jobs, whose job is to understand the intricacies of Congress, not only the laws and the regulations, but the people and the politics as well. And that's their full time job, is to work on trying to have influence on particular pieces of legislation. Now, a lot of lobbyists bring a lot of intellect and ability to the conversations about the impacts of different laws, but it also. Why have we not been able to fix a lot of big things for so many years? Because someone's benefiting from the status quo. In every instance, somebody benefits from the status quo. So if you want to try and change the status quo, the people that benefit from the status quo are going to use all of their effort to do everything to make you look like a jackass and beat you for trying to change the way it is. So like Donald Trump when he first was elected president in 2016, before he became president, said these pharmaceutical drug companies, they're getting away with murder. These guys, the way they charge so much more in America than they charge in other countries. And then when it came time to do a law to negotiate prescription drug prices, it was no longer a priority for him. I think that that'll come back soon, because people want to start saving money in Medicaid and Medicare and negotiating drug prices using the purchasing power of the US Government, the largest drug purchaser in the world, through Medicare and Medicaid. Using our power to negotiate prices will save us a lot of money. So it's such common sense. We passed a bill in the Biden administration where, you know, we can negotiate the prices for, like, the price 10 drugs.

[Tom Suozzi]

10 drugs.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

I mean, we should be doing this with, with all the drugs.

[Tom Suozzi]

Yeah, it was. It was insane. But that gets us to the crux of the conversation, which is this is the dysfunction within the Congress. What leads to the opening for a more populist leader like Trump to bypass it through the executive actions. In other words, is the failure of Congress to understand how to effectively deliver for the people that are outside the Beltway and not the lobbyists. Is that how the ground is seeded? And I'll ask you, Representative Fitzpatrick, for someone to come in and go, screw all this. I'm going to bypass all this complexity and deliver directly. Even if it's very much on the fringes of what may be for the Constitution.

[Jon Stewart]

People rightly get so frustrated when they see Congress function or not function. Right, yeah. John, an illuminating example is when you came and joined me and Tom and many others fighting for the PACT act and the 911 Heroes Fund. And, you know, there are people dying literally every week. And Mitch McConnell said, well, we'll get to it when we get to it kind of thing. And you threw up your arms in a committee hearing. It's a moment I'll never forget because it sort of illuminated to me, you're thinking like the average person out there, right? Like, why can't they just fix this? There's real people that are losing their lives, and you have this disconnected person that's been in Congress forever saying, oh, well, we'll put it on the docket and we gotta, you know, schedule floor time.

[Tom Suozzi]

I believe regular order. He asked me, he said to me, why are you so upset about this?

[Jon Stewart]

I know, I know.

[Tom Suozzi]

I go, well, my friends are dying. So that, yeah, that makes it kind of an emotional issue.

[Jon Stewart]

But that moment really was so illuminating to the disconnect that exists between how the public thinks, which is what you were reflecting, and sort of this inside the Beltway, completely disconnected mentality. But I will say this. There are certain institutional impediments that prevent so many things from happening. Number one is the construct in the House right now, John, is If you get 218 votes on the floor, you get Everything. If you get 217 votes, you get nothing.

[Tom Suozzi]

You get nothing.

[Jon Stewart]

And yet a 218 to 217 breakdown is reflective of a very divided public right who probably want us to compromise. So I am a huge believer in a coalition government. I don't like this all or nothing zero sum concept because it just creates more division. I'm also a big believer in something that myself and my Democrat colleague Jared golden are advancing to open up primaries to allow independents to vote. Primary used to be a noun, now it's a verb. Now it's something you do to somebody. And I cannot tell you how many of my colleagues go on the floor. We call them the vote no hope yes crowd, where they know voting for something's the right thing to do. For Democrats, it's border security. For Republicans, it's Ukraine. Take your pick on issues. And because they're worried about their primary, they vote no on a bill that they know is the right thing to do. Because in a lot of these states, I believe over half, if you dare to register independent, you are told in one out of two elections you're not welcome to vote in the primary. So envision this scenario. You could be a 98 year old World War II veteran who stormed the beaches of Normandy and saved civilization. And you register independent in a country that was founded on independence. And you go to the polls and you're told in one out of every two elections you're not welcome here. That is insane. And I think not only is it will cure an injustice, but allowing independents to vote in primaries will allow more moderates to emerge from the primaries and not these extremists. All these are creating problems that Tom and I see.

[Tom Suozzi]

Right.

[Jon Stewart]

That are jamming up the system.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Let me just follow up on one thing about the primary system. What the problem is, we have 435 seats in Congress. Of the 435 seats in Congress, 380 of those seats are safe seats. You can't lose because they're gerrymandered. They're drawn. You pack all the Republicans in 190 seats over here.

[Tom Suozzi]

Well, you can't, you can't lose if it's gerrymandered to your political party. But you could be. To, to Brian's point, you could lose a primary.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

That's the only way you could lose is a scandal or a primary.

[Tom Suozzi]

That's right. That's. That's the threat is you'll lose your job.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Nobody votes in the primaries. As Brian just pointed out, less than 15% of the people vote in the primaries. So when you hear the crazy stuff coming out of Republicans voices or the crazy stuff coming out of Democrats voices, they're usually pandering to that small base of people that vote in the primary because they don't have to listen to the people, the whole population, cuz they're gonna win the general election. They only have to listen to this small group that can kick them out in the one way they can lose, which is in a primary. So they pander to those extremes instead of talking to the people generally. One of the reasons that Brian and I are the way we are is because we're constitutionally made this way. But also politically we have to listen to both sides because we wouldn't win otherwise.

[Tom Suozzi]

But that's why sort of there's this sort of platitude of like, well, we all have got to collaborate, we've all got to work together. But the system is not really incentivized for that in any way, shape or form. But the second part is the long view of it is if Congress is not able to address its dysfunction, it will be making itself irrelevant. You, you, you put yourself in a position that it becomes this vestigial arm of a government because it opens the door for executive order, especially through these executive orders can oftentimes be incredibly popular.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Well, they're popular, but they're gonna be proven, I think in most cases to be illegal.

[Tom Suozzi]

And when that process runs through the courts in the next 11 years.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Right, in the next couple years, and you'll see a response from the people for the things that are not popular, because some of the things that are happening right now, as we've seen, are not popular. People don't like to see the prices going up, they don't like to see the stock market going down. They want a secure border and the border is more secure now than it was before. But they don't like people being shipped away without going through due process. They don't like us treating our allies the same as we treat our adversaries. So these certain things are unpopular, but when.

[Tom Suozzi]

So the Senate had an opportunity just I think it might have been last week or the week before to address that disconnect. They had an opportunity to retake for the Congress the power of tariffs and it ended up being a theatrical display in the Senate. Three Republicans, I think Murkowski, Collins, maybe one other, voted to have that done. But you knew it was theater because it was just the right amount of senators that would leave it to J.D. vance to break the tie. And what does that do to the lawmakers? And what are the conversations like that we're not privy to? Not the ones that happen on the news where people say, we know this is theater. We know that probably Senator Thune went, okay, I've got three slots. I have three people that can vote to retake the power of tariff from the president without us actually having to do it. There's no way that there's only three people in the Senate on the Republican side that believe that the Senate should retake the power of tariff. So how do we explain that to the American people?

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

That's yours, Brian.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, Swazi taps out.

[Tom Suozzi]

He taps out. All right, quick break and we will be right back. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You might say all kinds of stuff when things go wrong, but these are the words you really need to remember. Like a good neighborhood, State Farm is there. They've got options to fit your unique insurance needs, meaning you can talk to your agent to choose the coverage you need, have coverage options to protect the things you value most, file a claim right on the State Farm mobile app and even reach a real person when you need to talk to someone like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. Hey there, travelers. Kaley Cuoco here. Sorry to interrupt your music. Great artist, BT Dubs, but wouldn't you rather be there to hear it live? With Priceline, you can get out of your dreams and into your dream concert. They've got millions of travel deals to get you to that festival, gig, rave, sound bath or sonic experience you've been dreaming of. Download the Priceline app today and you can save up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% off flights. So don't just dream about that trip. Book it with Priceline. Got your happy price? Priceline. We are back.

[Jon Stewart]

John, There's a lot of people in Congress, including in the Republican conference, that are very concerned about the tariff situation. I think if you, if you took a poll amongst the majority of the conference, the majority of people that have not taken action yet are people that want to give a limited Runway for the president to do that which he said he was going to do, which is to recalibrate and have reciprocal tariffs on countries. Tariffs, in many ways are a remnant of World War II and our effort to help Europe reconstruct after World War II. So listen, we are all hearing it back home about the impacts of economic policies that both hurt and help businesses. We heard it in the last administration with inflation. We're hearing it now with tariffs. And it's only A matter of time before enough of my colleagues actually step up and do something. So I will tell you this myself, Don Bacon, have pending legislation that we were set to introduce. It's taken. Once the president put that 90 day pause, we paused the introduction of it. But we're prepared to go on it because I sit on the Ways and Means Committee. A tariff is a tax. Taxes go before our committee again. As I said at the outset, I think this is an example of the President testing the boundaries of Article 2 authority, expecting to be challenged in the courts to provide clarity about what they can and can't do because they're going to get away with as much as they can get away with legally.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

There are Republicans that are speaking up. And I choose as a Democrat, as hard as it is, because I've got people in my ear saying, this is the end of the world, you gotta fight more. I've got other people saying, you gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet. But there are Republicans that are speaking out. Brian speaks out all the time about the wrongheadedness of the approach to Ukraine of this administration. There's a Freedom Caucus guy named Gary Palmer from Alabama who says the President can't get rid of the Department of Education. Only the Congress could do that. He has to go through Congress. There's a guy from Florida, Mario Diaz Balart, he's a chairman of a subcommittee on appropriations, says the Congress has the power of the purse. I zealously will guard the power of the purse. What the President is doing is inappropriate. So there are Republicans that are speaking. Don Bacon, that was just mentioned by Brian earlier, a member of the Problem Solvers. There are people speaking out. But it's not easy in this environment that is so toxic. It's not easy in the environment where everybody's afraid about losing a primary. And all the people that vote in the Republican primaries are, are really a lot of MAGA people to go against the President. But we got to keep on encouraging those people that are doing the right thing to speak out more forcefully.

[Tom Suozzi]

Well, even more. You know, when Senator Murkowski says we're all afraid, and I don't think she was talking about holding onto her job. I think she was talking about she, she is physically afraid. And if we lack the courage to do what's right, I think the frustration as I watch it is. And you rightly say there are people that speak out. You know, Senator Cassidy spoke out about his concerns about RFK Jr. And HHS. You know, you have Senator Willis today spoke out about Ed Martin and not, you know, allowing him to become the district attorney for D.C. and all those different things. I think what's hard to watch on the outside is to see people speak out on principle and then vote on convenience. Awful that. I think that's been the toughest part to, to watch is you see the theater of it. But when it comes down to the voting, there's a, a real dearth of, of courage and I don't know, you know, Representative Suozzi, obviously as a Democrat, you guys are in a different position. You're the opposition. But Representative Fitzpatrick, you, you're probably dealing with this behind the scenes.

[Jon Stewart]

Oh yeah, which is why I think open primaries and term limits would solve 80% of the problem. I'm convinced of it.

[Tom Suozzi]

But that would take congressional action. And what kind of a Congress would ever willingly cede their own power? I just can't imagine it.

[Jon Stewart]

So how about this? If we can't get enough of our colleagues to do the right thing and vote against their own self interest, how about we grandfather in the ones that are sitting and that way, at least organically, over time, we get back to a citizen legislature. There's a number of ways we can do this.

[Tom Suozzi]

I like that.

[Jon Stewart]

Listen. The 22nd Amendment. George Washington, amongst many of his great qualities, set the tradition for term limits. All he wanted to do was go back home to his farm in Mount Vernon, live under the laws he helped pass, make way for a new generation of leadership. They talked him into a second term, he said, no more. It's a tradition that every president honored up until fdr, who obviously served four terms and died in office, at which point Congress passed the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. But true to form, the 22nd Amendment, they applied it to the executive, they didn't apply it to themselves. So if we can all agree that term limits make sense for the executive, why, pray tell, wouldn't it make sense for the legislature or the judiciary for that matter? If we believe that we want new blood coming in through the system, that that's an essential greeting to democracy, why wouldn't we support that across the board?

[Tom Suozzi]

Or, or blood that isn't corrupted by the incentives of the system, which I'm sure for you guys look.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Yep.

[Tom Suozzi]

But you know how much of your job is, is fundraising, is trying to get money from all this. The idea that corporations are people and money is speech has polluted. I'll give you an example. This. We talked about the PACT act earlier. I remember when we first came down to discuss this. Rosie torres of burn pits. 360. Some veterans groups, John, feel we met with. It wasn't problem solvers, it was for country. The for country caucus. There's got to be. How many caucuses are there in Congress?

[Jon Stewart]

Quite a few, but not. Not too many that are actually like real legitimate caucuses. With honor is great. The Four Country Caucus, that's. That's a problem solvers version. But there are people that served in.

[Tom Suozzi]

The military, but tons of caucuses, mostly just resume padding. It's free. It's for the yearbook. The congressional.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

A lot of them are.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tom Suozzi]

So we met with them. You know, Rosie had laid out a very compelling case. The veterans that were there, they were all incredibly supportive of doing something for these burn pits. And as we were leaving, we got pulled aside by two representatives, and they said, this is something that needs to get done. There's a lot of veterans that are suffering. Could you guys write it? Could you guys write it now? We have the best interests of what these groups are at heart. But what it said to me was, oh, shit, if. If Congress is so busy that whoever has a legitimate concern that comes in is offered a seat at the writing table. Hey, if I'm a bank, if I'm an insurance company, if I've hired a ton of lawyers to do all that, it means that industry and lobbyists are in charge, really, of legislation.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Well, it depends on the issue, and it depends on the member of Congress. So, you know, each member of Congress, we have like, you know, 15 people who work for us. I've got half of them in my district office. They deal with a lot of casework. They deal with a lot of people calling up who have a problem with like, Social Security or IRS or Immigration or something like that that we help to resolve their issues. We have a press person, we have a scheduler. We have people that mainly do casework down in Washington. I've got a press person and three people that work on legislation. A lot of the heavy lifting on the big issues that you hear about are done by committees and not caucuses. Committees that are the formal.

[Tom Suozzi]

Senate, Veteran Affairs, House Veteran affairs, et.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Cetera, et cetera, Ways and Means, appropriation. And they have massive staffs, and those staffs are the ones that often write the legislation. So over the two people that went to you and said, can you write this? Were probably not on the committees of jurisdiction that had the staff available to write the legislation.

[Tom Suozzi]

Well, I'll tell you the difference as to why maybe you guys can address this. Is what they realized is what we were asking for wasn't something that they would have been negotiating against themselves if they had gone to the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee or the House one, the.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

House Veterans Affairs Committee.

[Tom Suozzi]

Veterans Affairs Committee. Because they would have negotiated out things that they thought were not germane or doable. So to get the veterans what they needed, we actually needed independence because those committees are captured by the same interest that you guys are talking about. It permeates the entire building, does it not, Representative Fitzpatrick?

[Jon Stewart]

No doubt. John. I, I mentioned before I was in Congress, I was an FBI agent. I ran, I ran the FBI's corruption unit here at headquarters in D.C. and not only was there a correlation, there was a direct linear correlation between the length of time in office and the instances of corruption. Because what we found, what we found was that the most principled, well intended backbone people that come into this system, when all you see all day, every day, is people flaunting those lines, that becomes the new normal and then that becomes the normal way to conduct oneself. So you are absolutely, you are absolutely right that the lobbyists are way, way too powerful. Pharmaceutical industry is probably, you know, notoriously at the top of that list. Right. We have the most absurd laws when it comes to drug pricing, drug advertising, drug advertising on television. I mean, it's insane.

[Tom Suozzi]

It's nuts.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

There's only two countries in the world that allow drug advertising on tv, the US and New Zealand. Yeah, we're the only places in the world that allow it. Everywhere else it's prohibited.

[Tom Suozzi]

Right. And listen, insider trading, I mean, there's, you know, that goes on all the time there. You just saw that just recently when the tariffs got done. Then all of a sudden there was a huge boon for all that.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

I want to be careful, though, that, you know, I don't want to just feed into this whole thing that everybody sucks and everybody's corrupt and the whole thing blows.

[Tom Suozzi]

Understood.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Most of the people in Congress are trying to do the right thing. And I think that, you know, the problem that exists is a human nature problem. When John F. Kennedy was the President of the United States of America, before he was president, he wrote a book called Profiles and courage. After 175 years of American history. There's only eight people in that book. So it's not that easy to stand up to your own party or to the structure and say, I'm sick of this shit and I want to change it. And so what you need is the people to hold you accountable. The problem is the primary system where so few people actually participate in the primaries, the only people holding you accountable are often people on the fringes, the far right or the far left. They're the ones with all the energy and activity holding people accountable. So if you want to get politicians to do the people's will, you need more people to participate in these primary elections. Brian's idea of open primaries is a great example of a way to do that. Mandatory voting like they have in Australia would be a way to do that. If everybody voted, I guarantee our politics would completely moderate because the people would. Most normal people want the things you think about every day and you talk about every day. They just don't. They're so busy with their jobs, you don't get it. They're busy with their jobs, they're busy with their families. They don't take the time to get involved. Most, you know, the far left is like 8% of America. The far right is about 8% of America. Then you have traditional conservatives, traditional progressives. 50 some odd percent of the people are the politically disengaged and the politically disenchanted. Ah, the whole thing sucks. It's rigged, it's no good.

[Tom Suozzi]

Yeah, and, and, and I wonder though about this, you know, because, you know, we talk about that a lot, that it's. Oh, it's, it's the extremes on one side or the other. But social media has polarized this country in a way that's far deeper and far more val. I think I would have agreed with that maybe 15 years ago. I think now if you expand it out, these kinds of rigid clinging to, to dogma or ideological differences is much more pervasive in our society than it does. And I think our understanding of government is much less. So we have this more reptilian, reflexive understanding of it. And I'll give you an example of how that works. And, and hopefully this will resonate with you guys. So, for instance, doge, Department of Government Efficiency. Who could be against that? You know, the idea that you can make government more efficient, but unfortunately in the practice of it, or the idea that there's a deep state that's controlling your life and you have no control over it. So DOGE comes in, they do that. I'll just lay this out. For the Zadroga bill, for the 911 first responder community, there were 93 people that worked in NIOSH administering this bill. It was all done to statute. It was all done really well. They cut 30% of those people. They just, as they say, rift, which is RIF, which is the, the way that they Retire people and fire them now another 16 of them. And what this has meant is they say, oh, we're not, we're just reorganizing. But in the reorganization, there are now people sick with cancers that can't get certified to the program and can't get treatment. This is the chaos and confusion of those that don't understand how these things run are creating real damage down the line for real people.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Yeah. So now people can't sign up for the programs that they have available to them.

[Tom Suozzi]

And so that's what I'm saying.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

So the problem solvers, Brian and I talked about that problem solvers are going to work on helping to re. Reinstate those people.

[Tom Suozzi]

So walk us through how you guys might do that because that maybe that gives us a better sense then of what this, the idea of problem solvers and, and how you guys can, to, you know, with, with concerted action can make that difference. How, how would you guys go about this?

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

So the program you were talking about is called niosh, right? National Institute for Occupation Safety Health.

[Tom Suozzi]

Yeah.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

And they fired the guy who was the doctor that oversaw the whole thing, named Howard a while ago.

[Tom Suozzi]

That's right.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

And a guy named Andrew Garbarino on Long island and some others. And we also, who's a Republican, he's a Republican. He said, hey, you can't fire this guy. It doesn't make any sense. And they reinstated the guy and said, oh, we're gonna give him from now till June 2nd and we'll make another decision on June 2nd. So everybody's like, okay, you know, the Republicans and Democrats for the New Yorkers especially, are standing up and they're not gonna do this again. Well now they just did it again like literally a couple days ago. And they fired these 16 more people again.

[Tom Suozzi]

That's right. And then said they didn't.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

You know, when everything's said and done, this whole thing's been very reckless. They said we're gonna cut $2 trillion and they said we're gonna cut $1 trillion billion.

[Tom Suozzi]

Yeah.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Now they're down to $150 trillion and it's gonna end up costing them $150 trillion in lawsuits and rehiring people and loss of productivity. Forget about that. So it's reckless.

[Tom Suozzi]

Right.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

So I think that what we can do is Brian and I can get our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans. This is a kind of a no brainer. I think Brian would agree with me. Brian, you agree, right?

[Jon Stewart]

I do.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

We would team up together. We'd get our 50 members to come out and say, you know, you got to bring these people back and bring some heft to hold the administration account. Now the President is going to say, I didn't mean to fire these guys. They shouldn't have fired these guys. We got to. I'm sure he's saying that I didn't know that happened. But unless we can bring. There's so much going on out here, flood the zone, that it's hard to bring attention to individual issues. So by getting the 50 of us to work together to bring attention to this, I think that we can help to reinstate.

[Jon Stewart]

John. Way back in 1993, there was this Bill Clinton. As soon as he got elected, he started, created what they called the Reinventing Government Initiative. And they, I believe, downsized the federal workforce by 280,000. And they did it in a normal, humane manner. And the way, if you want to make government more efficient, a good starting point is to go to the agency head and say, hey, can you find 10, 12% of your budget that you can trim in a responsible manner? What we're seeing now is the Silicon Valley approach where you walk into the library, you dump all the books off the bookshelf onto the floor and you pick each book back up one at a time that you think is relevant. It does not work. I'm a huge advocate of pepfar of combating HIV AIDS in Africa.

[Tom Suozzi]

Right? You're talking about the programs that we had, usaid, some of those programs that had like HIV that George Bush started.

[Jon Stewart]

George Bush started, yeah, George Bush and Bono. This was their, this is one of their legacy items.

[Tom Suozzi]

But we're hollowing out. I think the downstream effects of this, guys, is that we are hollowing out any of the government's ability to, to exercise these kinds of programs. They're very complicated, the statutes are written that way, and it's going to be hard to claw them back in any real way.

[Jon Stewart]

And the brain drain too. I mean, the people that we're losing in Africa, you can't replace that kind of knowledge. These are lifelong missionaries that have spent their life doing this. Moreover, John, once you take these kids, some adults, but mostly kids, off these antivirals, the virus comes racing back. Oftentimes, if you reapply the antiviral, it doesn't work as well. And we have basically really contained HIV AIDS. We could easily find ourselves back in 1980s footing again if we're not careful about it.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Then you end up with hunger and you end up with aids and you end up with other problems. And these things they Cut money from food banks and then the terrorists come in and use that as a vehicle to come in and provide assistance to people in their desperate conditions. And then they get a foothold in it. This, the symbol of Elon Musk with a chainsaw, which they thought was so positive, that he thought was so positive at the time, is really a symbol of what they did. They came in with a chainsaw to cut stuff which required a scout.

[Tom Suozzi]

This gets back to our original premise though, which is how is Congress going to. We are all talking about devastating consequences of reckless behavior of people not understanding and not as a bug, but as a feature of what they're trying to do. How does Congress regain some semblance of control so that this hollowing out of American exceptionalism, the brain drain. Look, you may not like Harvard, but the best minds and the best research is part of what comes out of those funding grants. If we are to turn our back on all that, I don't understand how that makes us great or how Congress can keep saying, hold on, guys, let's just give it, give it another five minutes, give it another 10. At what point do we reach a tipping point? All right, we're going to take a quick break. We shall be right back.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

The new McCrispy strip is here. Dip approved by Ketchup Tangy barbecue, Honey mustard, honey mustard, Sprite, McFlurry, Big Mac.

[Tom Suozzi]

Sauce, double dipped in buffalo and ranch, More ranch and creamy chili. McCrispy Strip Dip now at McDonald's. Make your next move with American Express Business Platinum. Earn five times Membership Rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels. Plus booked on amextravel.com and with a welcome offer of 150,000 points. After you spend $20,000 on purchases on.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

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[Tom Suozzi]

Of membership, your business can soar to new heights. Terms apply. Learn [e-mail] Business Platinum Amex Business Platinum built for business by American Express. We're back, Congressman Fitzpatrick.

[Jon Stewart]

So it's going to start, John, next month with the appropriations process where there are 12 different appropriations bills that have an open amendment process where Democrats, Republicans, anyone can offer any amendment they like. And we are going to have to write these appropriations in a much more specific way that limit executive branch discretion. What we are experiencing now, all of that is with prior year appropriations. We've never had a situation, John, where the executive branch is sending money back to the legislative branch saying we don't need it. Normally these agencies are spending every last dime they have, even if they don't need to, to sit, to advocate for more money in the following budget year. So this is unprecedented. We've never really had this situation before. So we're really gonna have to button up the appropriations process this coming next month to write it in a way.

[Tom Suozzi]

That we're to protect these kinds of things.

[Jon Stewart]

Yes, yes.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

So with everything said and done, this is not popular for me to say amongst my own party. It's not popular for me to say with my family is. I think it's gonna work out. I think that the American people responding and saying they are dissatisfied with the way things are going is gonna be reflected in every district throughout the country where the politicians are gonna have to respond to their people. They're gonna be more afraid of the people than they are of Donald Trump picking them out. So I think there are enough people of goodwill and I think there are enough.

[Tom Suozzi]

Oh, dear God.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

And I think there are.

[Tom Suozzi]

Do you realize what this is? This is, as we talked about, profiles and courage. It's profiles in fear. So now you're basically, the basic premise is hopefully everything goes such to shit that Congress I think it has already voters than they will of Trump.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

But that's the way democracy is supposed to work. You're the people. The government. The government is supposed to be afraid of the people. It's not that people are supposed to be afraid of the government.

[Tom Suozzi]

Right. Or working in collaboration with them to just not be afraid of them, but to just listen to them and execute. And the irony of all of this is Trump administration is spending billions more in their first hundred days than the first hundred days from last year.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Right.

[Tom Suozzi]

They're actually spending more.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

And the tax, and the tax cuts that are coming from the Republican Party is going to cause a massive bigger deficit than we've ever had, bigger than.

[Tom Suozzi]

Anything else ever seen before. So let's, let's just talk about what within problem solvers. Give me a couple of successes that you guys have had that you feel really positive about and that you feel like you can, you can build on as kind of a, you know, a first couple of steps to starting to get this done. And what have you seen from your group in this new world we're in?

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, I'd say the most recent one would be the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Joe Biden ironically touted that as his greatest legislative success of his presidency. And that was a bill, John, that passed, that got across the finish line because there were enough Republicans that overcame the bleed of the Democrats in the squad who voted against it. So the Democrats in the squad Voted no. There were me and 12 of my colleagues that voted yes to get across the finish line. A major, major investment in our U.S. infrastructure. That was exhibit A of how our group can be effective. What are we keying in on now? Immigration. The biggest failure of our country is our failure to get our immigration system right. We have the ability to bring the best and brightest people from all over the world that want to come here. And it's the biggest advantage we have in this country. Nobody wants to move to our adversaries countries. Nobody's looking to move to China or Iran or North Korea or Russia. Everybody wants to come here. That's a huge demographic and economic security advantage we have. And we can secure the border. Tom and I want to work together on that permitting reform. We got to streamline this absurd permitting process to yield the benefits of a lot of our local natural energy. Then lastly is debt and deficit. It is not hard to figure out how to solve this. We don't have enough people with the courage to do what it takes and to put everything on the table just like we do in our family budgets. You look at revenues, you look at expenses, you figure out where you can button up expenses where you can raise more revenue and solve this debt crisis.

[Tom Suozzi]

Although a country isn't, you know, if my family had a mint.

[Jon Stewart]

True, true.

[Tom Suozzi]

They would, they would make money. Or if my family could sell debt to, you know, Japan.

[Jon Stewart]

Still got to pay these bills back at some point.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Yeah, There's a tremendous amount of energy around doing something on immigration. I mean, it's just like everybody knows this has to be done with.

[Tom Suozzi]

The first step of that be to decide what is the level of immigration a country can safely and appropriately absorb. And what I never hear in the immigration is to the positive, which is what does it add economically? What is the amount of people that can be absorbed?

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Right now, half the farm workers in America are probably undocumented.

[Tom Suozzi]

So is that the first step? Rather than sort of viewing it as this blob, we start to really tease out what this all is.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

The first step is if you want to get the Republicans to help and some Democrats, the first step is really, we have to really secure the border for real. So now the president has done a lot of that, but that stuff's all temporary based upon executive order. We have to have congressional action so that it'll be permanent to secure the border for the long term. The asylum system has to be fixed. The asylum system is the main. In 1980, we loved asylum. Would somebody remember when Robin Williams did The movie Moscow on the Hudson, and everybody's like, I defect. Yes, we win.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We're the good guys.

[Tom Suozzi]

Reagan had the greatest immigrant amnesty program passed, and that was all in the 80s.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

We loved asylum, but we have to stop the Democrats and Republicans from fighting each other. And we have to pick our common enemy. Our common enemy are the cartels and the organized crime and the coyotes that get paid $10,000 a person to bring people to the southern border and tell them what to say to try and game the system so that even though 85% of the people who claim asylum ultimately get denied, it takes six or eight years for those cases to be adjudicated, because. So it's back.

[Tom Suozzi]

So Representative Fitzpatrick, is there, you see energy on your side for this as well, or is it too politically difficult to find themselves in sort of agreement with the Democrats on this? Is it. Is it too hot right now for the two sides to even begin to come together on it?

[Jon Stewart]

I think it's only too hot when border security is not part of the conversation. I think as long as border security is part of the conversation.

[Tom Suozzi]

Although it was with the Lankford bill that was.

[Jon Stewart]

Yeah, listen, I supported the Lankford bill. I put a statement out. I wanted it to come to the House. I would have voted for it, happily. But I think that to Tom's point, if we can start focusing. When you have groups like the Chamber of Commerce. Right. Typically a right leaning group that are all in for the DREAM Act. I voted for the DREAM Act. Are viewing immigration as a positive. As long as it's coupled with law and order border security, we should view that as an economic driver in this country. All of our adversaries, John, Russia, North Korea, China have massive demographic problems. They have a low birth rate. They have aging populations and nobody wants to move there. That's the biggest threat they have to their economy is demographics. We have an endless labor supply in this country. It's the biggest economic benefit we have. And if we can get this right, Tom and I are very eager to work on this together.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

So you have a unique situation. I'm a Democrat. I'm supporting strong border security. Brian is a Republican. He's supporting legalizing the dreamers and the farm workers and trying to bring people into the country.

[Tom Suozzi]

Yeah. It's as though it's two people who are trying to make sense. It's.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

We're trying to solve problems.

[Tom Suozzi]

It's trying to solve problems. John, what the heck? Here's what we need to do. Make Congress great again. I know it's not the great greatest acronym.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Exceptional. We want it to be exceptional.

[Tom Suozzi]

Exceptional. Again, whatever it is, gentlemen, I very much appreciate the conversation. It's really helpful to get, you know, a realistic inside view of what's going on because I think people are just so incredibly dispirited right now and frustrated by this runaway train. So I really appreciate you guys being here. Representative Tom Suazi, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick. The Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group in Congress trying to get a few things done before Elon moves us all to Mars or wherever the hell we're all going. Thanks so much for joining, guys.

[Brian Fitzpatrick]

Thanks, man.

[Jon Stewart]

Thanks, guys.

[Tom Suozzi]

Those guys were, were, I have to say, a little bit more. They, they tried to go down platitude road, but I thought they, they brought it down to a slightly more honest assessment of like, hey, we lack. We lack courage. I love the idea that he was like, I wish we were less afraid of Trump and more afraid of voters. I think that would be the. But it is all fear based. It was.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. Shout out to term limits. Let's go. I loved that detail about the primaries as well. Yeah, great points.

[Tom Suozzi]

Yeah. I just, I just don't know how realistic.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, no, of course. But it's like, you hear politicians and they're like, there's two options. I can either be reasonable and do nothing or be primaried by an ideologue to my right. And it's like, what if there's this secret third thing?

[Tom Suozzi]

Hmm. What if you were reasonable and did something. Hmm. Interesting.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Something that really interested me that we didn't really get into necessarily was learning how many caucuses exist in Congress. And I'll give you a few just to give an example.

[Tom Suozzi]

But of the other caucuses.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah. Like, I don't know if this was the 118th Congress or the last Congress, but there's like pickleball caucus and there's the cranberry caucus.

[Tom Suozzi]

Cranberry caucus.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Somebody has to look out for their interests. Yeah. Hobbies.

[Tom Suozzi]

Wait. I could see the cranberry caucus being like a very small subsection of New Jersey because I think we have cranberry bogs.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. You have cranberry bogs.

[Tom Suozzi]

Right. How is that its own? We get together and just talk cranberries.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, both of our guests today were on the Quiet Skies Caucus. And it makes sense because they both have districts with airports near, so that's how it goes. But something else you brought up that I thought was really interesting was that of course, you spend a third of your time, let's say Fundraising as a congressperson, but easily. Representative Fitzpatrick is in dozens of caucuses. Suozzi is in two dozen. If a few of those meet weekly or a few of those have a group chat, like, how do you have time for anything?

[Tom Suozzi]

No, cranberry caucus is all email. They just, hey, what if we put cranberries and apples juice? What would that be like?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Let's not also forget that Suazi opened the door for bipartisanship by allowing George Santos into Congress. True.

[Tom Suozzi]

That is crazy. So sw, I guess Suzzi was the representative, went off to run for governor. Santos got the seat.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes. And he flamed out.

[Tom Suozzi]

That was so fast, though.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Sad.

[Tom Suozzi]

Imagine how big a liar you have to be for Congress to go. You got to get the fuck out of here.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They're like, it's a little much. Yeah.

[Tom Suozzi]

Look, we lie like crazy, but you. You got to get. That's just too much.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Tom Suozzi]

What do we got? For what, Brittany? What are we. What are we dealing with questions today? We got anybody?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Suozzi]

All right. What do we got? What do we got?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Now that we're 100 days plus out into the Trump administration, is America great again?

[Tom Suozzi]

Oh.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Or do you think he just needs a couple more days?

[Tom Suozzi]

But it's an excellent question. I think the tipping point's around 111 to 114. We're so. We're on the precipice of greatness like nobody's ever seen before. My favorite part about, because as far as he's concerned, we were great the day he won. We sucked. We were a catastrophe. I don't know if you saw the Welker interview that he did, but she was saying, you know, hey, these are some things in the economy. We've lost trillions of dollars in wealth. There's a lot of uncertainty. There's some headwinds that are going on here. Some people are saying there's going to be a recession. You know, when is it the Trump economy? And he goes, well, I honestly believe the good parts of the economy are me and the bad parts are Biden. I just thought, well, what a simple way to go through life.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Tom Suozzi]

Does he. Do you think he does that with his kids? You know, I look at the kids and I think, oh, yeah, the good part is me, and the bad part.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Is, it's so simple.

[Tom Suozzi]

Whichever of their moms.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And he doesn't have to be specific, he's just like, the good thing, however you broadly define that is me.

[Tom Suozzi]

I love this thing. Like, we. Trillions of dollars in investment. Like, you've never seen before. And go, we haven't seen it yet because the last time you said the same fucking thing and none of it happened.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, and we have seen trillions of dollars in investment. Exactly. You're cutting that right, Right?

[Tom Suozzi]

Sad nonsense, Brittany. How do they get in touch with us? How do they continue to send in such specific questions about what day will be great again?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Twitter. We are weekly show pod. Instagram threads. TikTok, Blue Sky. We are weekly show podcast. And you can, like, subscribe and comment on our YouTube channel, the weekly show with Jon Stewart.

[Tom Suozzi]

Nice. Thank you guys very much. We had another fine, fine program, you guys. Your. Your. Your preparation and attention to detail is second to none. I truly appreciate it. Lead producer, Lauren Walker. Producer Brittany Momedovic. Video editor and engineer Robertola Audio editor and engineer Nicole Boyce. Researcher and associate producer, Jillian Spear. And our executive producers, Chris McShane, Katie Grape. All right, kids, next week we'll see you again. Weekly show podcast. See you next time. Bye. Bye. The Weekly show with Jon Stewart is a Comedy Central podcast. It's produced by Paramount Audio and Busboy Productions. Paramount Podcasts.