Senator Chris Murphy

Yeah, listen, so that CR transferred a bunch of money out of programs that help regular people, right? There was money cut from housing programs and job training programs. That's bad for this country. It gave the president new authorities that he didn't have before the CR was passed. What are the new authorities?

So, for instance, one of them is that the president under the CR can start new military programs in the country that have not been authorized independently by Congress. And, of course... But before we...

So, for instance, one of them is that the president under the CR can start new military programs in the country that have not been authorized independently by Congress. And, of course... But before we...

Well, we don't normally give that kind of open-ended authorization to the president, certainly not at a time when the president is regularly, hourly abusing his statutory and constitutional authority. It seems like a pretty bad time to give him additional.

Well, we don't normally give that kind of open-ended authorization to the president, certainly not at a time when the president is regularly, hourly abusing his statutory and constitutional authority. It seems like a pretty bad time to give him additional.

So this is the first time since I've been in Congress that we have not had a bipartisan full-year spending bill, right, that was negotiated with Republicans and Democrats. And that's what we wanted. We wanted to have a seat at the table. Listen, this was not going to be a perfect bill.

So this is the first time since I've been in Congress that we have not had a bipartisan full-year spending bill, right, that was negotiated with Republicans and Democrats. And that's what we wanted. We wanted to have a seat at the table. Listen, this was not going to be a perfect bill.

But you want it. But you don't want a full year spending bill passed without having some of your priorities in that bill. And that's not what ended up happening here. I get it. The specter of the shutdown was real. You never know who's going to win a fight over a shutdown. But this seems to be a moment where our party should be taking some risks. It didn't seem like they even tried. Yeah.

But you want it. But you don't want a full year spending bill passed without having some of your priorities in that bill. And that's not what ended up happening here. I get it. The specter of the shutdown was real. You never know who's going to win a fight over a shutdown. But this seems to be a moment where our party should be taking some risks. It didn't seem like they even tried. Yeah.

Yeah, John. I mean, and again, I don't think you can ask the people of this country to do these exceptional things that are going to be necessary to save our democracy if we aren't willing to take risks. not just what happened over the CR, right? I mean, we have the opportunity to just say no to all legislation that's coming before the Senate unless it fixes the constitutional crisis.

Yeah, John. I mean, and again, I don't think you can ask the people of this country to do these exceptional things that are going to be necessary to save our democracy if we aren't willing to take risks. not just what happened over the CR, right? I mean, we have the opportunity to just say no to all legislation that's coming before the Senate unless it fixes the constitutional crisis.

We didn't all have to show up to the State of the Union speech. We could have decided to do something extraordinary, like boycott it en masse.

We didn't all have to show up to the State of the Union speech. We could have decided to do something extraordinary, like boycott it en masse.

Yeah, I mean, listen, ultimately, we need to be a party that stands for everybody in this country having access to happiness and success, not just the billionaires. We need to be a party that attacks corporate power, right, so that people are in control of their lives. And listen, we do not hold the levers of power right now. Right.

Yeah, I mean, listen, ultimately, we need to be a party that stands for everybody in this country having access to happiness and success, not just the billionaires. We need to be a party that attacks corporate power, right, so that people are in control of their lives. And listen, we do not hold the levers of power right now. Right.

So we need to be clear with people that the things that are being broken right now are being broken by Republicans who asked to be in charge of the House and the Senate and the White House. And you are seeing. But the public doesn't view them as breaking it.

So we need to be clear with people that the things that are being broken right now are being broken by Republicans who asked to be in charge of the House and the Senate and the White House. And you are seeing. But the public doesn't view them as breaking it.

It shouldn't take 10 years to build a bridge, right? It shouldn't take five years to get a subdivision permitted. Government is not working for people right now. And when I first got into politics, the Democratic Party every single day talked about reforming government, talked about reforming democracy, talked about getting big money out of politics, talked about

It shouldn't take 10 years to build a bridge, right? It shouldn't take five years to get a subdivision permitted. Government is not working for people right now. And when I first got into politics, the Democratic Party every single day talked about reforming government, talked about reforming democracy, talked about getting big money out of politics, talked about

STRICT ETHICS REFORM, AND SOMEWHERE WE LOST OUR WAY. AT SOME POINT, THAT WENT FROM A TOP THREE ISSUE TO LIKE A TOP 20 ISSUE, AND THAT ALLOWED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO BECOME THE PARTY THAT WAS ACTUALLY AGGRESSIVE ABOUT REFORM AND GOVERNMENT. IF WE WANT TO BE CREDIBLE ANTI-CORRUPTION MESSENGERS, AND BY THE WAY, THIS IS THE MOST CORRUPT WHITE HOUSE, THE MOST CORRUPT GOVERNMENT WE'VE EVER SEEN.