GOP Shuts Down Congress as It All Hits…

0:00Ben Meiselas:Republicans are now shutting down the House of Representatives early. As we predicted, they are now going into recess. Magamike Johnson says the reason he's shutting down the House of Representatives has nothing to do with the fact that a war powers resolution was just passed, rebuking Donald Trump's catastrophic war in Iran. It has nothing to do with the fact that Thomas Massey is pushing forward the Epstein Transparency Act II and doing it as a discharge petition. Mag and Mike says, no, it has nothing to do with the fact that a Republican, Thomas Massey, put forward articles of impeachment yesterday.

0:34Ben Meiselas:No, it has nothing to do with that. It's just this Congress has been so productive, Mag and Mike Johnson says, that we got to go back and we're so excited to tell our constituents how great we did. Here, listen to what he has to say. Play this clip. We're going to modify the House schedule by a day. And let me explain to you why the House has done its work. You've seen the statistics we've been talking about for the last few days. This house has been the second most productive in terms of legislation in the history of the institutions in 1789. We passed over 900 pieces of legislation. Right now, about 700 of those bills are sitting in the Senate awaiting action.

1:11We'll pass over 70 bills this week alone, including the Rate Payer Protection Act and the Russian Sanctions Bill. We have CRAs. We have anti-fraud measures, really important, meaningful legislation. But the House has done so much of that for the last 19, 20 months or so. And a lot of it is just awaiting action in the Senate. So it's time for our members to go home to their districts and make their case to the American people to go and explain all the great things we've done. You've seen the record. You've seen what we've delivered. We gave them this Congress.

1:44Ben Meiselas:And finally, Meg and Mike Johnson says, we are so thrilled to go back to our congressional districts this is just what we're really excited to do there's so much great stories about like how amazing america's doing right now so that's what we're going to say here play this clip an extraordinary record of achievement and so i'm excited for my republican colleagues to go home and talk to the american people work in their districts and explain to them not only serving their constituents but explaining to them all the great things we've done for them and all the things we're going to do in the days ahead so So that's the modification of the schedule.

2:15We just sent out a whip notice, changing it by a day.

2:17Ben Meiselas:By the way, while he's doing that, you have J.D. Vance, who's sadly our vice president. He was out there on these like right wing tech bro, crypto bro podcasts or whatever this is all in. And he's like, OK, my message to the voters is please, please give me another chance. Please give me another chance. This is for real. How pathetic is this? Here, play this clip. immigration. We've pursued H-1B reform that prioritizes American workers over foreign nationals. There's a lot of good that's been done, but there's a lot of work left to do. Don't give power to the people who cause the problems that we're fixing.

2:53Give us another chance or give us another couple of years to continue to work on the amazing things that we've been doing for the past two years.

3:00Ben Meiselas:And all of this is going on. We learned earlier today that the Federal Reserve was raising interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75 to 4 % as the range, with one other rate hike likely this year, perhaps even two. As inflation continues to surge, Donald Trump brought in Kevin Warsh to be the chairman of the Federal Reserve after threatening the prior chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, with criminal prosecution for not lowering interest rates. Donald Trump brought in an interest rate hawk who raised interest rates. Great job, Donald. This is what Kevin Warsh said moments ago. Let's play this clip.

3:37Yet for more than five years, inflation has been running above target. So our predominant focus is on the price stability side of our mandate. The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long. This summer's inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved. Based on the most recent CPI and PPI data, the 12-month change in total PCE prices likely was around 3.6 % in August, core PCE and CPI prices running at about 3.2 % and 2.4 % respectively. Too many categories are still posting increases above 3 % on both a six and 12 month basis.

4:28Ben Meiselas:Now we are learning that there were actually other Republican Congress members who were getting ready to sign the discharge petition for the Epstein Transparency Act numero two, like MAGA Republican Congress member Ralph Norman, he signed. So there was 217 votes for Epstein Transparency Act II. So of course, Mag and Mike's going to shut down Congress one day before they would likely get all of the signatures. Watch what Ralph Norman has to say, play this clip. Congressman, you were the 217th vote on the second Epstein Transparency Discharge Petition. Why was it important for you to sign that? I'm tired of the Epstein files being delayed, delayed, delayed.

5:11And he should have gone through the committee. I didn't sign it before because with the discharge petition, as you all know, it avoids all the committees. But I'm not so sure at this point what needs to be known, it needs to come out. So I had no problem signing that. And I think we'll get the last, there's one more Republican we used to come.

5:30Ben Meiselas:Now, if you're wondering, Ben, what's Epstein Transparency Act 2? Well, the first Epstein Transparency Act didn't have in it a provision that said the survivors are entitled to bring their own private cause of action. It was basically implied in it. But the Trump regime's DOJ took the position that survivors or anybody else don't have standing. The only people who have standing to enforce the Epstein Transparency Act is Trump and Trump's DOJ. And they're not going to enforce it because they're lying and saying, we've released all of the files where we know there's at least five to 20 million files, perhaps even more, that are still being concealed.

6:06Ben Meiselas:So the point of this next discharge petition was going to allow the survivors to expressly have the ability to sue Todd Blanche. But of course, Maga, Mike, and Donald Trump want to continue to cover up child sex trafficking while they cause our diesel prices to surge to record highs, while they cause gas prices to surge to record highs. Oh, we tried to catch up with Maga Republican Congresswoman Spars in the halls of Congress. And here's what she had to say. Here, play this clip. Congresswoman, real quick, Donald Trump has said that we're entering a golden age, that we're in a golden age. Do you agree?

6:40Nothing.

6:44Ben Meiselas:Oh, I guess she didn't want to talk to us. Okay. Very interesting. What about, I do appreciate this though. Republican Congress member Thomas Massey, he was spilling the tea knowing that this would be the last time he'd be able to speak on the House floor. Of course, he lost his position because the Trump regime and Mag and Mike and all the Republicans attacked him because he wanted to help survivors of sex trafficking and sex assault victims. And that was a bridge too far for MAGA Republicans. You can speak out in favor of survivors and in favor of transparency around Epstein. Donald Trump says that's going to hurt him and his friends.

7:19Ben Meiselas:So they got rid of MAGA. They got rid of Massey. The MAGAs got rid of Massey. And here's what Massey had to say. He goes, didn't three weeks ago MAGA Mike Johnson said that I'm stupid for saying that we were going to shut down the House early. Here he is shutting down the House early. Here play this clip. Roughly three weeks ago, the Speaker of the House said, let me tell you how stupid Thomas Massey's comment is. There's an article said that Johnson says Republicans are here to work and will remain in Washington throughout September, according to the House calendar. He goes on to say that is a nonsensical statement by someone who is not participating as a full member of the Congress.

8:01And it's really sad that he doesn't. Unquote. Well, I'm here today to let you know that I'm a full participating member of the House of Representatives. In fact, when other people want to go home, I'm here to work. I'm here to get justice for the Epstein victims, the survivors. I am here to get the price of food and fuel down for our constituents. We've got solutions. We just refuse to pass them.

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10:34Ben Meiselas:We control all the branches. What What are you talking about? What's rigged here? You're whining that you can't pass certain laws like you control the branches. What are you talking about? Watch what he says. Play this clip. We're in the majority. Why are we whining about the SAVE Act? I voted for the SAVE Act two or three times, as many times as you want to put it on the floor. Senate's not going to pass it, but we won the elections. Why are we saying the elections were stolen if we won them all? We have a conservative majority in the Supreme Court. We have a Republican in the White House. We have a Republican majority here, a Republican majority in the Senate.

11:09We're complaining that the elections were stolen. And we are calling off Congress, calling off Congress, and we're in the majority. I would implore my Republican colleagues to take that up with our leadership. But I would implore all of us to take it up with the leadership. Why are we going to be denied a debate on whether this should be an impeachment or not?

11:34Ben Meiselas:He then says also that MAGA and Congress is complicit in the genocide in Palestine. Here, play this clip. But I've drawn attention to that. I've drawn attention to a war in the Middle East where 75 ,000 people have been killed, 50 ,000 civilians, girls, boys, just want to live their life. I think it's a genocide. I call it a genocide. but I've also called attention to it. And I've worked across the aisle on war power. Or from Thomas Massey over here who says, and now you're trying to act like you're helping our ranchers by bringing in mystery meat from foreign countries that don't go through the process that our ranchers deal with here.

12:21Ben Meiselas:And you're undercutting our ranchers. Watch what he says. Play this clip. What am I doing now to right now? That was in 2014. Have you heard about this beef product, ground beef product that's going to come from a foreign country at 75 % of market price. How do you get something at 75 % of market price? Well, I can tell you what, it ain't grade A prime if it's 75 % of market price. Somebody else didn't want to buy it. And that's what they're talking about, bringing 300 ,000 metric tons. They tell you in tons, so you don't realize that's 600 million pounds. That's a billion, that's 2 billion quarter pounders, folks.

12:59That's how much they're going to bring here to this country. Is that going to help farmers? No, it's not going to help farmers. It was never intended to help farmers. It's not even going to help consumers because what it's going to do is going to run more farmers out of business in this country. And when we run out of the 300 metric boatloads or whatever it is of ground beef product, they won't have our own farmers here.

13:21Ben Meiselas:They won't survive through these manipulations of them. So I guess you can see why Maga Mike wanted to shut down the house, right? And he did, he shut it down. Before he did it, Massey also said, Let me explain to you how Congress rigs committees. Let's play it. But the day I got here and realized that this game was rigged, I said, I'm not playing this game. I am going to tell people what is going on up here. I'm going to tell people how they sell committee seats. Yes, it's actually kind of a misnomer. I shouldn't tell you the committee seats are for sale. They're for rent. If they were for sale, maybe I could collect enough equity and get on to Ways and Means.

14:01but I don't want to pay the rent on ways and means. That's what they tell you when you get here. Don't get on this AA committee. By the way, why is the veterans committee a C committee? I never, well, I know why they call it a C committee up here because the veterans don't have money falling out of their pockets here in Washington, D.C. when they come to visit. They're asking for better health care. They're asking for the people who are in the military to be treated right. So that's the way it is. People get up here, the game's rigged. I decided

14:34Ben Meiselas:not to play the game. And then he says, you know, it's fascinating to me also, we're running against socialism in the Republican Party, but we're like the most socialists there are. Here, play this clip. I believe what I say. And so when I go out there and talk to reporters, they ask me questions that nobody else will answer. Sir, where's the five? Why don't you do the$5 ,000 before the election by the way isn't that interesting we are the republicans are running against socialism in november and what are we promising if we win socialism everybody's equal we're going to take from the people that have more and give to the people who have less actually we're going to give everybody money time is and i would say that i am a fully participating member in spite of what the speaker said.

15:26This is just a few of the things that I've done since I've been in time. Thank you. And God bless. I yield back.

15:32Ben Meiselas:Then state regime media tries to bring on a guy who will spin the rising interest rates and the horrible economy and the markets crashing. White House senior deputy press secretary. He goes on and he's like, we all know the main reason that prices are really bad right now and aren't record highs. It's Zelensky's fault. It's Ukraine's fault. Watch what he says. Play this clip. And it's going to raise mortgage rates for everyday Americans. It's going to punish businesses who are trying to expand and grow. And again, none of that gets at the core of the issue here, which are energy prices. Well, let me follow up on that because you were talking about energy prices.

16:06And Kevin Warsh did say that this came as a result of uncertainty that remains elevated, owing in part to geopolitical developments. And we've been watching gas prices. We'll put it up on the screen here. The current average for regular is at 437 a gallon right now. Diesel, I believe, is pretty up there, too, around six bucks a gallon, Kush. There is the thought that diesel prices, especially energy prices, do drive up inflation. Are you disputing that? Well, the thing here is that, again, energy prices, you mentioned diesel, for instance, and that really has to do with what's going on between Russia and Ukraine.

16:45As the president has noted, Ukraine has attacked Russia's ability to refine diesel, and Russia has accordingly put on an export ban on diesel. That's driven up diesel prices proportionally higher than energy price, than oil and gas prices. And so the point here is that raising interest rates does not change oil prices, does not affect energy prices. All we're doing right now is making it more expensive to buy a home, more expensive for businesses to grow and to add employees and to manufacture and invest here in the United States. And none of this gets at the root of the problem here, which are oil prices.

17:16The president has been very focused on energy abundance. The United States is the largest oil and gas exporter and producer in the world because of this president. He's worked with our allies, whether it be getting the U.K. to drill in the South Sea, will be working with our partners in Venezuela to increase global supply. He met with refiners here at the White House a couple of weeks ago to get more refining capabilities in the United States. And so this has been an ongoing effort by the president, by the administration. And higher interest rates really have nothing to do with it. It will not really change the calculus whatsoever.

17:42Ben Meiselas:And finally, we had a reporter asking the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh. So I know you're saying that you think that you can get inflation under control short term, but based on everything that Donald Trump has done, the earliest we'll get inflation back to 2 % right now is 2029. That's if everything now reverses course from what is happening. So how do you justify that? Warsh, your play this clip is because today you say today's policy action will support a timelier return to the committee's 2 % target. And yet in the summary of economic projections, the median pushes the 2 % target achievement out to 2029, another two years.

18:22And I'm wondering how you can square those two things. One easy way to square that, Mike, is those aren't my forecasts. Those are the forecasts of my 18 colleagues, and I've tried to represent them dutifully to you. My business is to not give forward guidance, but my commitment in June was to reaffirm to the American people, to anyone listening, that we will deliver price stability. My commitment in July was to say, we want to buy a little bit of time. We want to evaluate what's happening across a range of dimensions. And what I said in Jackson Hole in August is we're committed to a discipline, not to a decision.

19:04Today's action starts to show we're serious about this and we will deliver on the price stability objective. And as the statement said, we'll do it on a timelier basis. That's our decision. And when we continue our discussions over the course of the next several weeks and months, we'll have more to say about it. But I'm ill prepared to

19:29Ben Meiselas:prejudge those future actions yeah he doesn't justify it as all so that's where we are right now let me know what you think hit subscribe let's get to 7 million subscribers thanks everybody for watching before you go our book wtf america is available for pre-order now it's the story of how we got here and how we fight our way back to pre-order scan the qr code or click the link in the description. Let's do this.