Tech in DC: SEC Chair Atkins, Speaker Johnson & Senator Warren 9/29/26

20:03Mike Johnson:Visit the Wayfair store today at Edens Plaza and Wilmette. Wayfair, every style, every home.

20:12Mike Johnson:Welcome back to Squawk Pod from CNBC. Today, Joe Kernan, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross-Orkin are down in Washington, D.C. for a special day of coverage. Here's Joe. The CEOs of Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI, and NVIDIA are meeting with President Trump today to discuss artificial intelligence and the balance between innovation and oversight. Joining us now, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana. You're also expected to attend this meeting today. We'll talk about this, talk about AI, and revisit what Senator Warner was talking about. And we've got, I mean, we have an economy, we have a midterm, we have the war.

20:51Mike Johnson:A lot going on. Today it's AI. Yes. And you more laissez-faire, you more with the president on this, or more with what is populism on both sides seem to be anti-AI? I'm for striking the right balance. I've been urging this meeting for quite some time. I think the leading minds need to get together at the White House and have this discussion. President Trump's the only one with the gravitas to be able to pull all these people together. What's happened over the last many months is that the leaders of these AI platforms come into the speaker's office for courtesy visits. Every time they have a new model or a new version coming out of their tech, they come to tell me about it.

21:27Mike Johnson:And they've all said, you know, there's also some danger here. Well, each of them have a different prescription on what the safeguards, the guard rails, so to speak, should be. And I have resisted the siren song to jump in and do these blanket moratoriums and all of this hyper-regulation because we cannot lose our edge to China. So this is about striking the right balance. I think we've got to make sure we do this well. We need to keep America ahead in this transformational technology, but also do it in a safe way. There's corporate responsibility here, of course. These folks have to provide safe products.

22:00Mike Johnson:But I think a little oversight, a little transparency, a little external auditing of what's going on would calm the nerves of a lot of people. And I think we've got to figure out what that exact balance is. So when you hear Anthropic or OpenAI, they say one thing, then you hear Jensen Wong at NVIDIA. You just write it off to talk in their own game, you know, a horse in the race. And they're both saying what benefits their own individual companies? Well, that's right. And I mean, they have fiduciary obligations to their own corporations, of course. But we have a broader obligation to the people and to safety and to ensuring that this is done right and well.

22:40Mike Johnson:Jensen said it well, I think, a couple of days ago. He said security and innovation are not mutually exclusive. You can do both. And when you push innovation, you can push innovation and safety and security as well. And that's what we want to make sure is happening. There's three tracks, as I understand it, to summarize this in layman's terms of the tech. You've got the labs that are pushing the frontier on this. Then you have sort of the monitoring of all this. And then you have the alignment with the standards that are being put in place. We have to make sure that all three of those tracks are being pursued.

23:09Mike Johnson:simultaneously and that they don't go too far on the advancement and leave the safety protocols behind.

23:14Elizabeth Warren:When they come to you and talk to you about what they'd like to see, what kind of sandbox they'd like to play in, do they also ask you for protection from liability in current law?

23:22Mike Johnson:You know, it doesn't come up. And there is a lot of federal law. Of course, products liability law applies here directly. And we're going to make sure that that keeps everybody in check. But I will say that each of them have said in their own ways, in their own words, that, you know, They welcome oversight. And I think what's going to come out of the meeting today, I hope, is that we have an agreement of the mind, so to speak, around the table. Congress can't go in and just take a knee-jerk reaction to overregulate this because the frontier labs are ahead of where members of Congress are. I put together a task force in February of 2024, bipartisan, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, to look at this issue and see what we should do.

24:01Mike Johnson:And the chair of that, the leader was Jay Obernolte of California, a Republican. and he has a master's degree in AI. Yes, he does. They came up with a two - In UCLA. That's right, there you go. Really smart guy, he gets it. And they came up with a 270-page report of various things we've got to consider. But finding consensus on that is a challenge. And when you get the leaders of the tech involved in that discussion, that they willingly come forward and say, yes, we'll agree to some external audits and some oversight transparency. I think that is the way to strike the balance and not put us behind China.

24:33Elizabeth Warren:But none of that will be voluntary? It will be -

24:35Mike Johnson:I hope it's voluntary. We'll find out what comes out of the meeting today. I think that that's where they're headed. I think they see the handwriting on the wall. And I think they want to ensure investors, consumers, the American public, that they're going to do this in a very safe way. And that will, I think, put us in the right place. It's funny because we're going to put an IFB and they say, is there a way that you're able to come up with a really long question for the speaker while we're putting in an earpiece? I go, you're asking me whether I'm able to have a long filibuster. Just filibuster.

25:10Mike Johnson:I got my earpiece. Of course. Yeah, I can do that. I'm not sure why, but we'll do it anyway. But my question, let's get off AI for a second, talk about the midterms. Obviously, inflation was lower before the war. And when Biden left office, it was all the way down to lower than where it is right now. But for the four year period, it was at five percent. Gas prices were lower when Biden left than they are now. But for the entire Biden administration, they were 389. They've averaged 343. And hit five dollars. But if you bring up the war, you need to have an argument about whether that was a good move.

25:45Mike Johnson:And I don't think we won't know for I don't know how long about whether that was going to bear. I mean, it could bear immense positive things for the entire world if the Middle East, after all this, works its way out, if it's a different place. I don't know whether we're going to get there. I don't know how close they were to a nuclear weapon.

26:04Elizabeth Warren:The counterfactual, what would have happened?

26:05Mike Johnson:The counterfactual, but a lot of the inflation numbers. This is how well. He asked me if I could do a long question. The inflation numbers, the gasoline prices. And the speaker has to go now. Yeah, whatever you want. He's got some time. But whatever you want to point to, you need to be able to defend the war for the midterms, I think. Of course. Look, a lot of things going on here. Look, the big question is, should Iran have a nuclear weapon? I think every American says they should not. That would be a danger to us and everybody around the world. Every administration for almost 50 years had the same objective to ensure that didn't happen.

26:36Mike Johnson:They got this close. I'm on the Gang of Eight. I got the inside, highest level classified briefing. It was a very, very dangerous and imminent situation, and we had to take care of it. Operation Epic Fury was an epic success. Now we've got to resolve that. The president's laser focused on it. You've heard developments over the last 24, 36 hours. I think we're getting very close to that. I think Iran is running out of resources to sell. They're led on to 15 million barrels of oil to sell to China, we think. And so we're entering a new phase of this, and I think we get it resolved. They would say the JCPOA or whatever, they would say that that was sufficient to have stopped Iran from getting it during the Obama administration.

27:12Mike Johnson:And we can debate that for five segments. And the strait would be open, and they still not have a, I mean, they're saying it was a war of choice. And that's, they have, if it wasn't a war of choice, then you're pulling the rug out from under the entire argument. Well, that's their phrase. That's what they've come up with. But even the people who were in the Gang of Eight briefing, the Democrats, understood the necessity of doing this. Now, this is a political argument they're making. But let's put all that debate aside because they're never going to agree with us. They can't, at least publicly.

27:40Mike Johnson:Okay. But here's the thing. The economy, all the economic conditions are in place. As Scott Besson said at the end of last year, 2025 is like setting the table. The feast and the banquet will be in the economy in 2026. And just as we predicted, as we calibrated with a big, beautiful bill and all of our policies, the biggest tax cut in U.S. history for working families, the biggest spending cut in U.S. history,$1.6 trillion in the big, beautiful bill. We have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years, the biggest decline in prescription drugs in 60 years. You've got the most secure border in a half century, not a single illegal alien released into the country in 16 straight months.

28:14Mike Johnson:And the small business incentives that we put in, the pro-growth policies we put into all the legislation, all that was working just as expected. First quarter, economy begins to take off. Go roll the tape. We were all talking about it. And then the Iran conflict began. Now, we had to do it. The president's convinced of that. We are. The world is a safer place because it was done. But let's put that aside and talk about what's going forward. in this election cycle in 35 days. Do you want to put Democrats back in charge who gave you$5 gasoline, who the Democrats said, Joe Biden himself and all of them, they want to end fossil fuels?

28:47Mike Johnson:Is that going to return those policies? Is that going to bring gas prices down? Of course not. They want to reopen the borders. We close the borders. I mean, this is law and order. This is common sense versus crazy. That's what's on the ballot in 35 days. You have to keep the team in charge that is putting the conditions in place for the economy to do better for everybody. Is it 35 days? Because we were trying to figure it. Is it 35 days? 35 days, Andrew. Right. Speaker, you know, on this midterm question and and you alluded to it already, but I'm curious if, in fact, the House were to go blue, what the Senate doesn't and obviously the president is the president.

29:27What do you think the genuine ramifications of that would be? because you really would still have or not still have, but you would have in this case a genuinely divided government. So how much to the extent that you're worried about Democrats doing some of the things you're talking about, would they ultimately be able to do beyond holding hearing after hearing after hearing? I imagine we would have a lot of that.

29:51Mike Johnson:Well, let me tell you the nightmare scenario. It's not going to happen because I'm very bullish on the midterms. I convinced my team, the Republicans are going to keep the majority in the House and the Senate. I think we're going to grow it. I'm about to go six straight weeks on the road until that election day. We're going to go to 40 districts across 22 states. This will come down to the outcome of about 22 districts around the country. And I believe we can win those. But let's play it out. The nightmare scenario. Heaven forbid the Democrats take control of the House. They will turn every committee of Congress into an investigative body.

30:22Mike Johnson:They will do nothing all day, every day, every hour of the day, but go after the president, his family, his cabinet, you know, donors in the party, big figures in business and industry. If you're caring about your pocketbook, your family's stability, you know, the stability of the markets, you have to keep Republicans in charge because the Democrats do that. They go to lawfare on steroids. It will roil the markets. It will empower our enemies around the world at the worst possible time. They will be playing dangerous political games for their own benefit at the expense of the American people. This is common sense versus crazy.

30:54Mike Johnson:The DSA has told us what they're all about. By the way, the insurgent left is consuming the Democrat Party. There will be no blue dog Democrats, no free market Democrats left after this cycle. We will not be having arguments and debates about traditional issues, you know, marginal tax rates and inflation and foreign policy. This will be a battle between whether or not we're going to keep the republic. We're going to break this thing down and go down this dark, dangerous road to Marxism. That is the energy, the excitement, the grassroots on the left is taking over the party. So that's what's at stake.

31:23Mike Johnson:Common sense versus crazy. The Democrat Associates of America. There's an interesting political calculus. There's an interesting political calculus. I'm sure you you've spent some time thinking about, which is, in fact, and I know you don't want to contemplate it. But if, in fact, the House were to go blue and things were to play out the way you just described, that that might actually help the Republicans in twenty twenty eight. We care about the interests of the American people. We're not looking at twenty twenty eight. I'm looking for the next two years to make sure we keep on pace to grow the economy, to provide more jobs.

31:55Mike Johnson:We had a million private sector jobs created in the economy. We passed landmark legislation in this House against the odds. Remember, the obstructionist Democrats shut down the government, this Congress, for 120 days, a record long, the two longest shutdowns in U.S. history. They have no objective and no intention of working for common sense, bipartisan solutions for the American people. They just hate Donald Trump. And they will turn the entire mechanism of the legislative branch of government into an attack mode to go after him. It will not benefit the economy, the American people, business owners, job creators, entrepreneurs, risk takers.

32:29Mike Johnson:You have to keep the grownups in charge. You have to keep common sense, steady hands at the wheel in the House and Senate. And that is what we are offering the American people. So I think if they look at this objectively, it's an easy contest for us. We're running against people who have said and put in writing as their platform, they want to abolish the border. They want to abolish prisons, defund the police, defund the Department of War, expand the Supreme Court, abolish the U.S. Senate and remove the president. They want one unicameral body of the House to run everything. Why? Because they've evaluated over two or three cycles.

32:58Mike Johnson:They'll elect enough Marxists to be able to take over the means of production. That's what Marxism leads to. Human suffering, misery, famine and death. Communism has been the reason that tens of millions of innocent people were killed in the 20th century alone. I'm not going to defend some of the people on the far left who have made some of those comments. But to suggest that the entire party wants that may be too much. Do you agree with that? You have friends that are Democrats. Yeah, I've had friends who are Democrats and they're being run out of the party because it's being taken over. Look, I'm telling you, the most dangerous candidate for Congress in the country right now is not the one waving the communist flag, who the openly avowed Marxists, the Al-Sayed's and the, you know, AOC's and the radicals.

33:41Mike Johnson:They got people who are terrorist sympathizers who won Democrat primaries around the country. The most dangerous candidate in America is the Democrat running as a moderate. OK, they won't be able to do that. They will have to get in line. They will have to kiss the ring of the socialist, the Marxist, because that's where the energy, the excitement, the grassroots of the party is headed. I'm telling you, this is not a midterm like we've ever faced before. What if you keep the House and I don't know what the chances are. What would you do for the final two years of the we had former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said that Trump did immigration.

34:16Mike Johnson:He's done, you know, trying with drug prices, he's done he's done some things. But if he could fix Social Security and he's a fixer, you know, in the private sector as well, if he could do that, that would be a lasting legacy. That would be a big legacy. See, I mean, we're going to have to shore up the programs and make sure that they're sustainable because we're within the window. Medicare and Medicaid, too. I mean, this is why we're at$40 trillion, right? Right. We've done program integrity work already in the big, beautiful bill. We looked at Medicaid, fraud, waste, and abuse in particular.

34:47Mike Johnson:You had young, able-bodied men on Medicaid. They were not intended to be there. We had illegal aliens, millions of illegal aliens taking taxpayer funds. They were not eligible to have them. So we did program integrity measures, took those people off the system, and you know what it did? is strengthened Medicaid. It provided it for the people it's intended for. We have to do more of that work across the labyrinth of the federal government. But what we would do in the next two years is exactly what we have been doing already, and that is putting the conditions in place for a strong America again.

35:16Mike Johnson:We restored not just American energy dominance and peace through strength, but a vibrant economy. The conditions are there for this to take off. And that's why the stock market indexes are high. That's why job numbers exceed expectations. The Atlanta Fed says 5.1 percent economic growth expected in the third quarter. That doesn't happen by happenstance. It's because we did what we said we're going to do and put in pro-growth free market principles in legislation and in federal policy. We have to continue that. We've got so much more to do, and we can make things so much better. We've just got to keep going.

35:47Mike Johnson:Mr. Speaker, thanks. And we have, after all that, and people at home are listening to the Speaker, now we're going to have Senator Elizabeth Warren on. So that's - Oh, this will be fun. That's what we do. Talk about a contrast. That's what we do. Anyway, good to have you on. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. You heard him. Senator Elizabeth Warren is up next for a different perspective.

36:09Elizabeth Warren:If you want to come in and make money off these data centers, then you may need to make sure you're not externalizing costs to communities and to everyone else. But right now, Republicans, uh-uh, talk to the hand. They are with the big tech guys that they're all having lunch with and dinner with and big events with. And those boys want to be able to come in and build whatever they want to build. And they don't want to pay for the consequences.

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38:48Elizabeth Warren:Welcome back to Squawk Pod. You're watching Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We are live from Washington, D.C. today, where tech executives and government leaders are gathering to talk AI safety, regulation, and much more. Our next guest is pushing for information on how Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft are using their tax breaks to subsidize AI spending on data centers and much more. Joining us right now is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. She is the ranking member on the banking committee. And Senator, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. It's good to see you. It's good to see you, too.

39:21Elizabeth Warren:So let's dig into this. You've been looking at the tax revenues that have been coming in this year. The CBO is projecting that it will be down from last year. And you've got some questions about that specifically. Yeah. So partly what we're doing is just trying to track what all the tax cuts that the Republicans put in place last year, who got them and what they're being used for. And right now, I think it's particularly appropriate to look at these companies that are getting huge tax breaks who are trying to push forward these data centers that a lot of localities don't want. And so, you know, here are folks in their local communities trying to fight these guys off and discovering that they're actually subsidizing these guys through our tax laws.

40:04Elizabeth Warren:And so I just want to find out more. How much money are they saving and what are they doing with it? A lot of this is because of the tax laws that were put in with the big, beautiful act, whatever you want to call it. And we just spoke a little bit about that with Kevin Hassett. His point is, yes, the tax revenue from these companies is going to be down this year, but it was by design because they want to see money that is put back into manufacturing, money that is put back into building.

40:31Mike Johnson:It's immediate expensing, right?

40:33Elizabeth Warren:Right, immediate expensing that you could take this year. Building those data centers that the American people don't want. Right. His point is that the tax revenue will come down this year and it will grow in the following years as those data centers come up in their jobs. All these groundbreaking is going on everywhere. But when you're expensing a factory, especially, it's a big expense and it lowers your taxes this year. But when the factory turns on next year and the year after, then you're going to get the revenue. You're going to get the profits. You're going to create the jobs. And so it's true.

41:05Right now we've got the biggest investment boom I've ever seen. I followed investment when I was a kid for Alan Greenspan at the Fed. And there's never been anything like this because of the tax policy, the big, beautiful bill. But when you get a massive amount of investment, then you get to deduct the cost of the machine against your taxes this year. And to look only at this year is just foolish.

41:24Elizabeth Warren:Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, this has been their argument every time. They cut taxes and they always say, and ultimately, it's really going to pay off for you. And you know what's happened every time in the past. The academics come back later. They study it very carefully. And they say, no, what really happened with those giant tax breaks is the richest people got richer and everybody else got left behind. And we're just watching, I would say, the 2.0 version of this. But I think we're probably at about the 20.0 version of this. So what's your plan? So my plan here is on AI is that we can't keep these data centers getting subsidized by the American taxpayer and just building everywhere they want.

42:10Elizabeth Warren:Local communities get to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to have these folks. And they want a full assessment of what this thing is going to cost. I mean, that's something that Congress actually agrees on. I think there is bipartisan support on the idea that they should go back to the localities. No, actually, there's not. There was a bill that I saw the other day that was like 400 and something votes that went. Yes, that said states could consider. OK, I'm sorry. That is a nothing bill. That is like states could consider the sky is blue. So what do you want to do? And the air blows.

42:39Elizabeth Warren:Look, let's start with the fact that where we really need to be thinking about this A.I. project overall is we start with enforcing current laws. and, you know, somebody breaks into my house and comes in and riffles around. Oh, I'm 100 % in favor of this. If you look at the agents and the breakouts that have happened, I'm just saying on the data centers themselves, if the answer is not to give the authority back to the states and localities, what is it? The states and localities already have the authority that this particular statute is talking about. It really is to say on the data centers is that we don't do anything with the data centers.

43:17Elizabeth Warren:You do a national moratorium. until the data centers can establish to the satisfaction of the local community that the full costs of the data center, you know, what it takes to hook up and the stress and the extra costs of expanding the grid, what it's going to mean for jobs in the community, what it's going to mean for the water system, what it's going to mean overall is going to be absorbed by the data center and not pushed off on the folks who live there. There are vocal Republicans like Governor Abbott in Texas who are basically doing the same thing, a moratorium in his state until he can do some assessment of what's happening.

43:55Elizabeth Warren:And Ken Paxton, I think, who's running against that for United States Senate. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit. I don't know where you come down. What support do you have in the Senate at this point to do what you're talking about, a national moratorium on this? The Democrats? I think we're all pretty much there, that we want to see regulations. And look, for all you market folks, this should be a yes, yes, yes. Because what it's really saying is if you want to come in and make money off these data centers, then you may need to make sure you're not externalizing costs to communities and to everyone else.

44:29Elizabeth Warren:But right now, Republicans, uh-uh, talk to the hand. They are with the big tech guys that they're all having lunch with and dinner with and big events with. And those boys want to be able to come in and build whatever they want to build. And they don't want to pay for the consequences. What do you think in terms of the agents, what you were just talking about, these agents that have broken out of their sandboxes and done things that, look, if this was a human behind it, there would have been lawsuits filed. There would have been prison time potentially for any of these things. What do you do with that when it's an agent?

45:03Elizabeth Warren:And how do we track this down? because it seems to me like there should be liability laws that already exist that could be used to go against these. Absolutely. No, I think you're 100 percent right. There are liability laws, but we actually need a Department of Justice that wants to enforce the law instead of suck up to Donald Trump. I guess started to say earlier, somebody breaks into my house and riffles around. And look, they don't get to say, oh, well, I didn't break in. I used my little remote bot to break in and steal your stuff. The answer is like, hell, you're still the one who is responsible and you're still the one who will be held accountable under under criminal laws.

45:40Elizabeth Warren:And yet right now, nobody's even looking at an investigation of these guys because the Trump administration, Donald Trump has said these are his buds. After all, they've contributed to his ballroom. They've contributed to his inauguration. They've come and they suck up and have dinner with him. And so there's no enforcement.

46:01Mike Johnson:To AI, you think that this holds great promise? Yes. Okay. There are people, you know, we talk about electricity or the industrial age. They say that it pales in comparison to what the payoff down the road could be for AI. So if your concerns are satisfied with some of these other issues, then you would be pro the development of AI. And we need all these billionaires that suck up to Trump to do these things. unencumbered to some extent, right? You don't want China to do it.

46:32Elizabeth Warren:Let's talk about China.

46:33Mike Johnson:Okay.

46:34Elizabeth Warren:Okay. So what does it take for China to have frontier AI in its weapons systems, in its economy? What does it take? Well, it means they're going to have to have, they're going to have to have power, they're going to have to have people, they're going to have to have data, and they're going to have to have the cutting edge chips. And they have three of those things. They have the power. They have the people. They have the data. They don't have the cutting edge chips. Now, we have export controls in the United States. And we can and should and at one point did say to NVIDIA, you can't send the frontier chips to China.

47:16Elizabeth Warren:Send them the other stuff. That's fine. But you can't do that. NVIDIA makes big contributions to Donald Trump, goes and visits, does a little sucking up. And the next thing you know, NVIDIA gets to sell its chips to China. Now, if you're concerned about competition with China, the first thing we could do is shut that down. We now have three widely bipartisan bills pending in both the House and the Senate. One basically says, don't send the cutting edge chips to China. The second one says don't send in the machines to make the cutting edge chips. And the third one says if you send them somewhere else, like to the UAE, they've got to have a tracker on it so we know if they end up in China.

48:01Elizabeth Warren:We need to cut off China's access to those chips. That's one place we have a comparative advantage. And right now, Donald Trump is instead inviting Jensen Wang to sit with him at the table, the guy who's ahead of NVIDIA. and makes money off the more chips he can sell outside the United States. The only thing I'll say is that's a big mistake. Just to play devil's advocate and give Jensen Wong's perspective on this, he has said if we're not selling American chips, and I don't even think he wants to send the highest chips there. I don't think anybody wants to do that. But if you're not sending our chips, they are going to come up with their own with Huawei with others.

48:41Elizabeth Warren:And then that could become the standard for the globe. And we lose our competitive advantage. That is just so wrong. Let's start with the fact that he is sending the highest tech chips that he can because he's making the most money off that. Why do you think he's at this lunch right now? Why do you think he shows up? Why does he ride on the airplane to go to China? It's so that he can make the connections so that China is buying his chips. China's advantage is not making the cutting edge chips that we make. China's advantage is doing the knockoffs and do it for 20 percent of the same price. And that's what China is really, really good at.

49:18Elizabeth Warren:What we are trying to protect and should be trying to protect and our export control laws are in place to protect is to keep those cutting edge chips from making it to China. It will slow down the process and give us time here at home to get some better controls in place and put us in a better position in negotiating with China.

49:42Mike Johnson:I don't think Blackwell goes yet, does it? Or Vera Rubin? The highest end chips do not go to China yet.

49:48Elizabeth Warren:Yeah. Good luck with that. But at this point, they don't. Look, they shouldn't be going to China. Will Donald Trump say we're not? Will Donald Trump say we're going to block the highest end chips?

50:00Mike Johnson:You're assuming. You know what happens when you assume.

50:05Elizabeth Warren:What I'm doing is I'm watching Jensen Wong sit there at dinner with the head of China and the head of the United States of America as they all bow and scrape to each other. He is saying so, that he is sending his best stuff to China and that is not good for the United States. Yeah, he wants to claim it's all good. He wants people of the United States not to worry about it. We have laws against that. So the next person who tells me they're worried about competition with China, I will say back to them. We have a huge bipartisan majority in the House and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats to say those chips do not go to China.

50:48Elizabeth Warren:Those chips, the machinery to make the chips do not go to China. And every chip that leaves the United States that's high end has a tracker on it. Why is it that Donald Trump objects to that? Why is it that the leadership of the House and Senate object to that? So the bills can't be brought to the floor because of the leadership? Yeah. They've got huge majorities. This is not a Democrats only. This is Democrats and Republicans. And look at the difference that makes if we do that in the negotiations then with China. Now we've actually got something to negotiate with when we're trying to put in place worldwide standards.

51:21Elizabeth Warren:And yet without that, if they can buy anything they want, because you make money, Jensen Wong makes money from selling these chips online, as long as that is the case, then we have no negotiating leverage with China. This actually gives us some leverage. This is the place we have comparative advantage and fail to take advantage of it. Senator Warren, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me.

51:47Mike Johnson:That's Squawk Pod for today. Thank you for listening. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Weekday mornings on CNBC starting at 6 Eastern and going all the way until 9. To get the smartest takes and analysis and the biggest interviews from that TV show, please follow Squawk Pod wherever you're listening now. We'll meet you right back here tomorrow. We are clear. Thanks, guys.

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