Trump Witness Quickly Collapses Under Cross Exam at Hearing!!

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2:59Ben Meiselas:Finally, this is how it's done. Democrats in the House and Senate cross-examining Donald Trump's director from the Office of Management and Budget and the author of Project 2025, Russ Vogt. After Vogt had dodged any congressional hearing since the beginning of Donald Trump's term, he finally came to testify, and he arrived, and he was prepared to just spew his MAGA talking points and say, Donald Trump is the king of affordability. Look how great the American people have it. Prices are going down. Things are amazing. Well, that's his script. But fortunately, the Democrats took him off that script and started doing some incredible cross-examination, really exposing what a despicable human being he is and making him look quite pathetic during his testimony.

3:55Ben Meiselas:So first, I want to show you the talking points that he was trying to spew just for a quick moment. So you see how he started off and then boom, Democrats came in hard. So he says, you know, look, what we've seen is an explosion of affordability. The author and architect of Project 2025 saying right now, as Americans can't afford anything, groceries, gas, rent, People are struggling. Inflation is surging. And here is what the MAGA Architect of Project 2025 said. Play this clip. This particular budget committee has not. They have been successful in conjunction with the President of the United States.

4:34I hope that continues. We're in the midst of passing and we passed the extension of the President's tax cuts. Many of those were aimed at working class individuals. that they're now going through their first season of of of seeing what changes that will make on their bottom line. And I think that's going to lead to an explosion in affordability for the American people.

4:58Ben Meiselas:Then Democratic Congresswoman Ballin went in and she was saying, look, it seems pretty obvious to me that your entire strategy here is to take revenge on blue states and anyone who doesn't vote for Donald Trump. You're using your position as the director of the office and management and budget to punish them and to try to inflict pain. Watch as he tries to squirm and she doesn't let him. Here play this clip. It had$7.6 billion in clean energy grants based on whether the recipient lived in a blue state. Yes or no? I don't recall what that judge said, but we have not made the determinations based on whether the state is.

5:37In fact, Mr. Vote, Quote, on January 12, 2026, U.S. judge Amik Mehta said, quote, defendants, meaning you, Mr. Vote, freely admit that they made grant determination decisions primarily, if not exclusively, based on whether the awardee resided in a state whose citizens voted for President Trump in 2024. Mr. Vogt, yes or no? Federal judges said OMB's freeze of$10 billion in child care and family assistance funding, quote, appeared designed to punish communities that the administration agreed with. Yes or no? Was that something that federal judges said about you and your leadership? I think the judge's characterization is getting at the degree to which we are focused on states that we think are mismanaged.

6:22OK, that is not, in fact, the case. In fact, U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson found the administration broke the law and froze funds as a politically motivated move disguised as fraud prevention. So your characterization actually is false. Other courts have said that withholding congressionally approved funding is, quote, vindictive and unlawful. Courts have found that freezing funds create, quote, irreparable harm against the American people. And the GAO, the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog agency that investigates how federal agencies spend taxpayer dollars, has reported that you broke the law multiple times.

7:03And they have said that you have refused to spend money that was dedicated for Americans. The Constitution gives Congress, Congress the power to spend money and not the president. Mr. Vogt, your actions clearly show that you want to cut federal funds from anyone who didn't vote for Donald Trump. Are you trying to get revenge on states that did not vote for your boss? No, of course not. What's interesting about the question is that Joe Biden withheld federal funding. Oh, for goodness sakes, can we please bring it back to my question? It was a yes or no question. Are you trying to get revenge against blue states because they did not support the president?

7:48Courts have said that, in fact, you did do that. That, in fact, you are being vindictive. In fact, you are punishing because of political persuasions. It's not members of Congress who suffer when you do an end run around Congress. That's not what I'm angry about. It's not about you taking the power from us. It's that it's their money. It's their power of the people, by the people and for the people. The House is closest to the people. So when you do an end run around Congress, you're taking Americans power.

8:22Ben Meiselas:Next, I'll show you Democratic Senator Merkley, who says, why don't you tell us how expensive this war in Iran has been? Do you know the figures? Do you know how much money the United tell us? That's your role. You are literally the director of the Office of Management and budget. How expensive is the war? The American people demand to know. And guess what? Russ vote frozen, did not even know how to answer the I don't know. I can't tell you how much it is. Here, play this clip. Would I be in the ballpark to say we've already spent at least$50 billion? I wouldn't want to make a characterization of that at this point.

8:58Okay. I would say as the most knowledgeable person in the executive branch of the budget, I would expect you to have pretty good numbers on that. So I'm a little disappointed in that answer.

9:09Ben Meiselas:Next up, Democratic Senator Murray. Here's what she had to say. Play this clip. You and President Trump are asking for$450 billion in new defense spending. To be clear, that is the largest increase since World War II, and that does not include money that you reportedly still plan to request for the war on Iran. What is the total dollar amount requested for defense spending in FY27, including annual appropriations and reconciliation funds? $1.5 trillion, Senator, a combination between the appropriations and the mandatory. We are trying to increase the amount that you would fund through the appropriations, but we don't want the full increase to have to be borne in the appropriations process.

9:54So$1.5 trillion. What is the total dollar amount requested for non-defense spending? $660 billion. Okay, and what is the overall cut to non-defense programs that you're proposing? 10%. $70 billion. $70 billion. We look at that as about$81 billion, frankly. So let me just say this. Director Vogt, you count yourself as a spending hawk. And here you are arguing for a gobsmacking$1.5 trillion defense budget. I read that you disagreed with the president on that$1.5 trillion request, warning him that it would explode the deficit. Did you warn the president or administration officials that spending this much on defense would explode the deficit?

10:38Senator, I fully support this budget.

10:41Ben Meiselas:$1.5 trillion, right? These are the people who refer to themselves as, I'm a fiscal hawk. I'm a hawk, right? The hawk. I'm a deficit hawk. No, you're not. You're a bunch of Bernie Madoff frauds on steroids is what you are. $1.5 trillion to the military, a 40 % increase year over year and like a 90 % increase from three years ago. What the hell is even going on here? Longevity is all the rage these days, but with so many supplements making all kinds of promises, it's hard to know who to trust. How about a product that sold over 2 million bottles, over 5 ,000 five-star reviews and powered by Nobel Prize winning science?

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12:06Ben Meiselas:See why over 500 ,000 happy customers trust Juvenon. Head to bloodflow7.com slash Midas and use code Midas for 30 % off your order. Once again, that's bloodflow7.com slash Midas for 30 % off. And make sure you use my promo code Midas so they know that I sent you. Next up, you have Democratic Congress member Coleman. Take a look at what went down. What would you say right now to the mothers of the kids who died because of your dismantling of U.S. aid? Harvard study says there are more than 100 ,000 of them. Can you give me a quick response to what you would say to those mothers? Just don't talk to me about the study.

12:52Talk to me about what you would say to the mothers of the children who died. Congressman, with great respect, I would just contest that the extent to which institutions that benefit from federal large acts put out studies that say that the world has ended, that the world has not in fact ended. Well, it's going there. We only cut USAID spending last year to the tune of about$8 billion. There was far more that we could have done, Congressman.

13:19Ben Meiselas:And you have Democratic Senator Cain going in with some great cross-exam. Let's play it. There's been some discussion about the bill that the DHS funding bill that the Senate passed unanimously now twice. The House, the votes are there. The House to pass it. The leadership will not take it up. You were before the House yesterday. did you encourage the House to finally pass the DHS bill? My interaction, we want the bill passed. My interactions yesterday were to remind one side of the aisle. But you do want the bill passed. We want the bill passed. Did you say that during the hearing yesterday? I wasn't asked it.

13:51Well, you said a lot of things during the hearing. If it was a priority for the administration. In response to Democratic politicians that were saying that we were responsible for the shutdown. Hold on. Our shutdown? Hold on. You had the opportunity to tell the House yesterday to pass a bill that you say you support. that 100 % of the Senate supports and you didn't bring it up. That's fascinating. Senator, you had the opportunity to fund DHS without a month's shutdown.

14:14Ben Meiselas:Congresswoman Jayapal did a great job at this hearing play this clip. Do you know, Mr. Vogt, how many of the largest corporations in America paid absolutely nothing in federal income tax in 2025? Not off the top of my head, but our view is that the tax policy... Well, let me just tell you, Mr. Vogt, reclaiming my time, Let me just tell you the number of corporations, large corporations that paid absolutely zero in federal tax was 88 at least that we know of, including Tesla, which paid zero on almost five point seven billion dollars of income, as well as Coinbase, Citigroup, CVS Health and Palantir.

14:54Ben Meiselas:Now, the Democrat ranking member, meaning the Democrats leader of the budget committee who will become the chair if the Democrats take control of the House, Congress member Boyle, you've seen him on the Midas Touch network a few times. Take a listen to his cross-examination play this clip. Said that single piece of legislation adds more to our deficit and debt than any other piece of legislation passed by Congress in American history. In addition to the over$4 trillion it adds for our national debt, it eliminates health care coverage for more than 15 million Americans, according to the CBO. Although the Kaiser Family Foundation says there's actually more than 17 million Americans who will lose their health care.

15:44Are they really all according to you? Really? You're going to sit here with a straight face and say they're all illegals. They're all defrauding the system. That's actually your position? Yes. With regard to the people that have lost that. That's laugh. That's laughable. I'm sorry. I'll give you a chance to respond. A number of issues with regard to your comments there. Well, wait, let me just. Number one. Sorry, wait, wait, we're reclaiming my time. I just want to be clear. I'm citing, we acknowledge, the CBO figure, that's where I'm getting the 15 million from, and the Kaiser Family Foundation says 17 million.

16:17You're saying none of them are legitimately on this, even though we had one of them actually testify before us. I didn't say all of them are illegals. I said there's also the benefit of people returning to the workforce because they're able-bodied individuals or they should not have been on the system regardless because of the inability to address fraud in the aftermath of. OK, so they're all either illegals or defrauding the system. Well, we certainly that's certainly not a provocative statement that we have fraud all over the country. is it Mr. Ranking? I imagine there are fraud in all sorts of private and public sector areas, but the idea that 15 million Americans are about to lose their health care, the single biggest loss of health care in American history, mind you, not even during the Great Depression, did 15 million Americans lose their health care coverage.

17:07The idea that all of those people who about to lose their health care are defrauding the system or are illegal immigrants that is not supported by any facts whatsoever and now are now working and getting the benefit of a job with employer-sponsored health care coverage look that these these uh assessments by cbo and others are often very static but what's the reason i mean it's right of center groups as well it's well I'll reclaim my time. I only have a few minutes, so excuse me. But it's not just CBO. I mean, right of center groups, left of center groups, nonpartisan groups, you're saying they're all wrong.

17:46I am saying that the budget community typically relies on static thinking, static scoring, current law baselines. And so you don't get an accurate picture of the extent to which the reforms that are being made are going to have a dynamic impact with better programs, more healthcare for instance,$50 billion. Well, let me, before you get to the friends, I only have a couple of minutes.

18:09Ben Meiselas:Right. Isn't that absurd right there? So that is what they're claiming that 15 million people or whatever them are all committing fraud. That's why they had to take away Medicare, Medicaid, and social security from 15 million people because everyone's a fraudster says the fraud criminal war criminal regime. Donald Trump, a literal felon, A literal fraud is the guy who's going to go, well, I think that anybody on Medicare and Medicaid is committing fraud. These are such sick human beings. More from Congresswoman Ballant. Let's play it. Now to wasteful government spending, particularly the three hundred and fifty billion dollars set aside for this.

18:49Yes. War of choice against Iran included in this president's budget. His budget asked for a shocking surge in Pentagon spending up to one point five trillion dollars. We have never in the history of this country seen spending like this paid for by splashing health care, education and housing. Donald Trump has said, as my colleagues have said earlier, we're fighting wars here. We can't take care of daycare. Mr. Vote, yes or no, is$350 billion for the war in Iran lowering costs for Americans? Those Americans who ask us in every single town hall why they can't afford to live in this country. Is the war lowering costs for Americans?

19:30It is certainly not defunding child care. We fully fund child care in this. Is it lowering costs for the American people? But doesn't that get at the premise of your question? You can find money for illegal wars in Iran. You can find money for all the pet projects of this administration. And yet we can't find money to alleviate the costs of food and housing and gas on the home front. But according to you, funded child care, fully funded Head Start, Mr. Mr. Vote, Mr. Vote, with the money that is set aside in this budget, the additional funding for the war around$350 billion, we could fund the ACA tax credits for 10 years, for a decade.

20:15And I can tell you what my constituents want to know. How is it that we can continue to spend money on foreign wars and yet we cannot find a solution to the fact that people can't afford health care. And again, in closing, I just want to say again, we're not so angry because you're taking our power. We're angry because you are taking the people's power. I yield back. The gentlelady's time has expired if the gentleman wants to respond. I would just say this president has been a person who has campaigned and led for peace and against endless wars. So is it peace through war? Is that where we are right now?

20:54Peace through war? Ms. Fallon, I'm giving our witness time to respond to your question, and then I'm going to yield five minutes to Mr. Estes. So finish the response uninterrupted, and then let's go to Mr. Estes. The president has also been equally clear that he is not going to allow a nuclear Iran. He is not going to allow them to have nuclear weapons. He is not going to allow them to have missiles and a navy that impacts our national security. So he is doing what is necessary to keep us safe while at the same time trying to pursue diplomacy so that we can get out of wars and lower those costs over time.

21:25Ben Meiselas:This was a great line of questioning right here about NIH. Let's play it. Under your direction, Mr. Vogt, at the National Institutes of Health, last year, grants for Alzheimer's and aging research were cut almost 50 percent. mental health, 47 percent, new grants for cancer research, 23 percent. And as I read the budget that you're here presenting today, the Trump regime's response is that medical research has not yet been cut sufficiently. Doesn't your budget propose another 12 percent cut at the National Institutes of Health? Most of what you said is untrue. NIH was not cut at all last year. We proposed a series of reforms to lower the cost.

22:06We continue, although not as much, to lower the cost this year.

22:09Ben Meiselas:Reclaiming my time, my question to you is don't you propose to cut the National Institutes of Health by another 12 percent? We propose to have a cut to the National Institute of Health. Thank you, sir. Reclaiming my time. That goes after specific programs. Yes, sir. Thank you. Reclaiming my time. Like the Minority Health Disparity Institute. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman. If the gentleman will please yield, he can filibuster when he's in the Senate. What we do know as far as the truth is that there were fewer grants for new cases last year at NIH than at any time in the last 30 years. Is it your feeling in proposing further cuts at NIH that there are just not enough worthwhile projects out there or that we cannot afford to invest more in doing something about Alzheimer's, cancer, Parkinson's, HIV, other dread concerns?