All Chaos Breaks Loose as GOP Blocks Trump’s Agenda

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1:05Ben Meiselas:Republicans are turning against Donald Trump in Congress and blocking major legislation that Donald Trump thought was absolutely going to pass. Republicans turning against Donald Trump is happening fast and it's happening furious. We previously reported how Republicans in the Senate joined forces with Democrats. and in a 50 to 47 vote, discharged a war powers resolution to block Donald Trump from engaging in further military operations in Iran. So it passed in the Senate. But the question is, is it going to pass in the House? This will go before the House of Representatives today. Jim Himes, the ranking Democratic member on the key military committee, says that they believe they have the Republican votes and they have a lingering Democrat from Maine, Congress Member Golden, who was previously voting against the Democratic position to block Donald Trump from having war powers.

2:07Ben Meiselas:And Democrats believe indeed in the House of Representatives, they will be able to discharge a similar war powers resolution as the Senate. Both chambers about to issue a stunning rebuke of Donald Trump's unlawful and catastrophic war in Iran. Now, Donald Trump still has the ability to veto it, and he probably will veto it, but it will be sent to his desk, and it will become very clear that the American people, as represented in both the Senate and the House, want this war done. This war should never have happened from the outset. It is crushing the American people, and Americans are sick and tired of it.

2:48Ben Meiselas:We're going to follow the vote in the House. It's never done. It's never a done deal. It's not a done deal, but we're going to be following that. There's other critical pieces of legislation where we see Republicans joining forces with Democrats to block Donald Trump's fascist and disgusting agenda. When it comes to Donald Trump wanting to create a$1.8 billion slush fund to pay January 6th insurrectionists arising out of a purported$10 billion lawsuit that Donald Trump brought in his personal capacity against the Treasury Department and the IRS for a purported leak of his tax returns in 2019 when he was in office as part of a broader tax return leak involving 450 ,000 other individuals whose tax returns apparently leaked who didn't sue because there is no valid claim to be brought.

3:44Ben Meiselas:It would also be brought against Trump's 2019 IRS. Trump filed this in January, 2026. And he also built in a provision that he can't be audited and that he's exempt from any liability from past tax fraud or any past misconduct in not paying taxes. Well, in that situation, Republicans are also joining forces with Democrats, they say, And they're going to try to come up with a mechanism to kill Donald Trump's ability to have this slush fund for$1.8 billion. Republican Congress member Fitzpatrick literally used those words. I am going to work to try to kill this, to make sure that this slush fund doesn't exist.

4:26Ben Meiselas:And he told the Midas Touch Network. The Midas Touch Network has a whole D.C. bureau, as you know, on Capitol Hill. And here's what Congress member Fitzpatrick, Republican from Pennsylvania, told our Pablo Monriquez earlier in the day. Let's play this clip.

5:04fascinations are, but can't do that. Have you ever heard of any other Americans like other than Trump is an associate? I haven't. Who are unauditable by the IRS? I've never heard that before. Okay. So would that be part of the legislative? Of course. Of course. Yeah. You can't do that.

5:21Ben Meiselas:And you know, we have reporters everywhere on Capitol Hill. So then Fitzpatrick spoke with our head of our DC bureau, Scott McFarlane. And here's what Fitzpatrick told McFarlane. here play this clip. Slush fund for crooks and rioters is at risk of melting right here, right now at the Capitol. A key Republican here in the U.S. House, Brian Fitzpatrick of suburban Philadelphia, a frontline Republican, says he is keen on killing this thing. His constituents do not like it. We also spoke with Republican Congress member Schweikert, again, very right wing guy, he's not happy about this slush fund either.

6:01Ben Meiselas:This$1.8 billion slush fund. Here's what he had to say. Play this clip. Any thoughts on the$1.776 billion fund? Oh, I'm very concerned about it. Deep concerns? Yeah, it's partially. I don't know structurally how you do that. There's already a section to redress those sorts of agreements. Thank you, sir. And then you had Republican Congress member Kylie saying basically the same, that he doesn't understand what the heck this fund is about and nobody should be getting any money who participates in an insurrection. This is a Republican. Here, play this clip. Of course I have concerns. It's very strange, very unprecedented.

6:49It's very concerning. Do you think that January 6th riders from now being part in should be able to receive money from this fund?

7:20It's a very unusual arrangement. I think that there does need to be congressional oversight into exactly how this came about and what exactly is going to be the criteria for any distributions.

7:34Ben Meiselas:More on that slush fund in a moment. Now, the other area that Republicans had joined forces with Democrats to kill, Donald Trump's ballroom,$1 billion. Trump, Magamite tried to engineer this in a reconciliation bill to pay for this golden ballroom where Donald Trump just ripped down the East wing of the White House. And now he's saying that this golden ballroom is actually a quote, drone empire, whatever that means. It's a shield against drones and ballistic missiles. And there's going to be an emergency room hospital right there at Donald Trump's beck and call. Well, you know, you've seen all the deranged things that he says.

8:19Ben Meiselas:It's a gigantic drone empire. Well, the provision has officially been stripped from the reconciliation package. Now, you may be saying, Ben, didn't you report on this over the weekend? Don't give me old news. Not. There's an update. So over the weekend, we learned that the parliamentarian who decides whether certain items, funding items, violate what's called the bird rule. It's called taking a bird bath. You see whether you can pass things through reconciliation. The parliamentarian makes these decisions about the impact of certain things on the deficit and how it impacts things for purposes of a reconciliation bill.

8:57Ben Meiselas:Anyway, the parliamentarian said that this$1 billion ballroom funding violates the Byrd rule in the Byrd bath and it needs to be removed. Democrats challenged the ability for it to be put into a reconciliation package. Then the question is, could Republicans try to revive it, make it less money, chop it up and put it in other pieces of legislation? And Republicans decided at their lunch yesterday, we're not supporting this thing. We're done with this thing. We're out and we're not going to help Donald Trump fund the ballroom. He said it was going to be dealt with with private funds. So we are not jumping in this at all.

9:37Ben Meiselas:Now, this is also, I think, one of the reasons that Republicans are doing this. It's also part of retaliation for Donald Trump not endorsing Texas Senator Cornyn, who's the current incumbent in Texas. Donald Trump instead endorsed Cornyn's opponent, the very, very, very corrupt Texas attorney general who lots of people think is going to lose in this upcoming election to the Democrat as the Democrat is significantly ahead right here. You'll see Ken Paxton's the name of the Texas AG who was impeached. He's running against James Tallarica. I'll get to this in a moment. We've got some big news that is blowing my mind that it's not getting nearly enough attention.

10:21So right now, more than 60 % of the United States is experiencing drought conditions, and more than 20 % of the country is in extreme drought. Honestly, have you heard about this anywhere? Front page headlines, leading the nightly news. It seems like a pretty big deal to me is all I'm saying. According to climatologists, this is one of the most severe and widespread drought events that we have seen in decades. The main culprit is an unusual La Nina pattern, which shifted storm tracks farther north and left huge parts of the country, especially the south, southeast, and Rocky Mountain regions, without the rainfall that they depend on.

10:53And here's the critical climate story in all this. Rising global temperatures are making this drought even worse. hotter air pulls more moisture out of the soil and vegetation, intensifying dry conditions and putting enormous stress on crops, water supplies, and ecosystems. Colorado, Georgia, and Florida are among the hardest hit states right now, with some areas facing exceptional drought, and relief may not come anytime soon. Experts say that meaningful improvement is unlikely until late summer or even next winter when a potentially historic El Nino could shift weather patterns in the opposite direction.

11:27So the Trump administration can ignore climate change all they want. Climate change sure is not ignoring us. And we need to make sure that we are keeping these issues front and center. That's it for this report. Now I want to hear from you. What are your thoughts on this news, on climate issues, and on our climate coverage like this? There's so much chaos right now that they're trying to drown out what may be the most important issue of our time. So use your voice and speak out in the comments below. I'll be reading them. Okay, Ben, back to you.

11:56Ben Meiselas:But let me share with you over here what the Congress member, rather what Senator Cassidy had to say about the ballroom. Now, remember too, Senator Cassidy has been a key vote against Donald Trump on all of these things that I've just mentioned. And what just happened, Donald Trump threw Cassidy under the bus, told people to vote for Cassidy's primary opponent. Senator Cassidy from Louisiana lost his primary. And now Senator Cassidy's out there working across the aisle finally with Democrats. Watch what Senator Cassidy had to say about Trump's golden ballroom. Here play this clip. There's no architectural plans.

12:38Ben Meiselas:There is no environmentals. There's no engineering. There's no sense of when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly a billion? In my mind, that is, it could cost a lot less. It could cost a lot more. I just don't get it. Now, Senator Cassidy also posted the following message as well. People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a$1.8 billion fund for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability. This is adding to our national debt. If there needs to be a settlement, the administration should bring it to Congress to decide.

13:26Ben Meiselas:So clearly you have Cassidy getting his revenge right there indeed. I mean, you also had Lindsey Graham calling Donald Trump out as well. You know, after certain news broke that Donald Trump was considering a letter of intent with Iran, although, you know, this is often fake news when Trump says letters of intent. We'll see what really happens there. Lindsey Graham lashed out at that idea. Lindsey Graham says, well, I hope for a diplomatic solution. It must be comprehensive to ensure that Iran is no longer the largest state sponsor of terrorism. It also must be real and the negotiations must be reliable.

14:05Ben Meiselas:I appreciate everyone's efforts in the region to help this cause. I'm hearing that Pakistan's field marshal may travel to Iran. What could go wrong? Maybe he'll report the status of Iranian military aircraft being housed in Pakistani air bases. Like so many, I'm watching very closely what unfolds regarding yet again, another effort to reach a deal with the Iranian regime. I wish all involved success. That is real. That is real. Essentially mocking Donald Trump for fake deal after fake deal after fake deal. Now, we also learned that the IRS previously prepared a 25-page memorandum outlining what they saw as flaws in Donald Trump's frivolous suit against the IRS and the Treasury Department.

14:49Ben Meiselas:And they advised the Justice Department to move to dismiss it. This was a frivolous case. There's so many grounds. Statute of limitation, immunity grounds. There's no valid cause of action under the Iqbal and Twombly pleading standards at all. I could go into this and do a whole hour video on it. But Trump's lawsuit for$10 billion alleging he was emotionally distressed because his 2019 IRS had some contractor who leaked 450 ,000 people's tax returns. It ain't a lawsuit. It should be thrown out right away. In fact, you should get rule 11 sanctions for it, not enter into a collusive settlement agreement, then not tell the federal judge about your settlement agreement, have the justice department say that they'll never audit you ever and that any past tax liabilities you don't owe.

15:38Ben Meiselas:This could be hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars in benefits to Donald Trump unjustly right there. And so that needs to obviously, obviously needs to be called out. And then we have Mike Lindell, Donald Trump's buddy, the pillow guy, saying that he's going to be asking for$400 million from the fund. Here, play this clip. We actually put into the government a couple months ago through following a process that they told us about then. Now, this is new, and we are actually going to get it out there. I don't care which comes first to help my employees that lost. They lost millions upon millions of dollars.

16:18We had three third parties look and do an evaluation of MyPillow, what it was prior to all these attacks and what it is now and all of them average 400 million dollars that it costs the brand and cost my pillow and um it's um it's just horrific that our own government could do this to a the american dream this uh company that was built on the american dream and made in the usa and to have this happen um this will be uh it will be a blessing to actually get uh made some of these are my employees made whole that were stockholders because and in my pillow and even a lot of them that have lost their jobs, you know, that were affected then and all this.

17:04Ben Meiselas:Also, Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, says he's going to be asking for $2.5 million. And one of the things that I think from the fund, the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, they ain't taking our taxpayer dollars. Even Republicans right now are saying no, no, no. And also, I think they're seeing the writing on the wall, what's happening in Texas right now, where a Democrat, James Tallarico, is leading Ken Paxton, who Trump just endorsed. And I think Republicans in the Senate and the House say, wait a minute, Trump is like, is he intentionally trying to destroy us right here? Here, play this clip.

17:37It's simply put, they're looking at the numbers. They are looking at the numbers and the idea that Democrats can't win in Texas. I want to put that to rest. They could very well do it. James Tallarico could very well win in Texas. And I want to use a comparison point with 2018, because there was all this talk about Beto O 'Rourke, right? Oh, could he beat Ted Cruz? He could beat Ted Cruz. The numbers at this point in that campaign, simply put, did not support that conclusion. But the numbers at this point absolutely support the conclusion that James Tallarico can win. So take a look. Texas Senate polls in May of the election year.

18:06When you matched up O 'Rourke, Beto O 'Rourke versus Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz was up by seven points. He was clearly ahead. But look at the polling average now when you max up Ken Paxton versus James Tallarico. It's actually Tallarico that's ahead by four points. And Johnny B, I was looking back at every single Texas Senate race that I could find. And at this point in the campaign, James Tallarico is polling better than any Democrat in at least 24 years. You have to go all the way back to 2002 to find a Democrat even polling anywhere close to where Tallarico is polling right now. Texas, Democrats have dreamt about turning it blue.

18:41This time, the numbers actually support the idea that they may actually be able to do it. I have to say, this is a difference that I have not seen before and I was not aware of. And a lot of people are making the comparison to 2018. One of the reasons is that Ken Paxton, if he's a nominee, not a super popular nominee. And people are like, oh, well, Ted Cruz as an incumbent senator, he wasn't that popular either. So what's the difference between Cruz and Ken Paxton? Yeah, the idea that Ted Cruz was not that popular, that's a falsehood. That is simply put a falsehood. You go back. Again, just look at these differences right here.

19:10OK, Texas GOP candidate net favorability. Ted Cruz's net favorability was actually plus seven points in my average. Look what Ken Paxton is. The complete inverse of that, he was seven, he's seven points underwater. So look again, you just look at the numbers. In 2018, Democrats had this dream of turning Texas. The numbers didn't support it in large part because Ted Cruz was actually decently popular. But Ken Paxton is anything but in poll after poll after poll. He is underwater. No wonder Republican senators are running scared, especially after that Trump endorsement of Paxton yesterday.

19:42Ben Meiselas:So then you had Donald Trump's Attorney General, Todd Blanche, give this bizarre interview with CNN last night. Did you see it? Where Todd Blanche says, yeah, I have no issues giving money to people who'd attacked and try to kill police officers. That happens all the time. We always give money to people who try to attack and kill police officers. Like quite literally, what the hell are you talking about? What do you mean we give money? No, we don't. This is a deranged, idiotic regime. Here, play this clip. You're the nation's top law enforcement official right now. Would you be okay with people who were convicted of hurting police getting taxpayer money?

20:21Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time, okay? There's a process where if you believe you have your rights violated, you can apply for funds, you can sue, you can file a claim, you can go to court. In some of those cases, the state, the government, the federal government settles those cases. It's abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why anytime anybody does that and it's a federal officer, we'll prosecute them. But that's a completely different question with whether an individual is allowed to apply for a claim, whether they'll get a claim, who depends.

20:56I can't. It's not. It would not be appropriate for me to talk about absolutes, like absolutely not under no circumstance. I mean, we can talk about hypotheticals till we're blue in the face, but that really wouldn't be fruitful.

21:10Ben Meiselas:Then CNN said, but don't you think the average taxpayer would be upset that like your taxpayer dollars are going to like insurrectionists and like terrorists? Like you're like, and horrible people and people involved in J6 to which Todd Blanch says, no, I think Americans would love this. Here play this clip. Now, he really doubled down, insisting not only is this legal, but this is something he says that taxpayers would support because they would want people who had been unfairly treated to be compensated. But Aaron, you and I have been in this business a long time. Nobody who's ever been investigated by the Justice Department or by authorities has been happy or thought it was fair.

21:48So it's still a little unclear how they're going to prevent a feeding frenzy of taxpayer funds here. but they have about 30 days to select the members for this committee and lay out more ground rules for how they're going to vet this influx of claims. Whose idea was the audit addendum? Let's play this clip. Played no role in my decision except to do the right thing. Whose idea was this audit addendum? What do you mean whose idea was it? Who came up with this? Did they ask for it? The president has outside counsel and their counsel, the Department of Justice, not me. and there was negotiations and this was what was part of those negotiations included a discussion around the, you know, any pending audits.

22:31Ben Meiselas:And by the way, even Republicans are not buying this. So on all of these fronts right here, war powers, I believe you're going to have the House and the Senate both coming together today. Blocking that will keep you posted. $1.8 billion slush fund, Republicans joining with Democrats blocking that. $1 billion to the ballroom. That's been stripped out of the reconciliation bill for good. Bye-bye to all of that. There you have it. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. And thank you all so much for watching. Seriously, subscribe. You may not think you're subscribed.

23:09Ben Meiselas:Double check that you're subscribed. Thanks.

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