The Charlie Kirk Show - The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, it's on the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:00:01.000 It is January Madness as the confirmations continue.

00:00:04.000 We cover them live and analyze Scott Besant and his debate against Bernie Sanders, or his confirmation here against Bernie Sanders, and so much more.

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00:00:37.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:00:38.000 Here we go.

00:00:39.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:41.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

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00:01:37.000 Honored to be with you guys.

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00:01:41.000 Look at that amazing four-up that we have right there.

00:01:44.000 That is Doug Burgum, your next Secretary of Interior.

00:01:48.000 That is Chuck Grassley.

00:01:50.000 I'm not sure what hearing that is.

00:01:53.000 I can't actually see what that is.

00:01:56.000 And then we have...

00:01:58.000 A lot of back and forth going on right now.

00:02:00.000 Let's listen live in.

00:02:01.000 But before we do, I want to welcome you guys to this broadcast.

00:02:04.000 We will be going live for the next two hours as we cover all of the confirmation news live and in real time.

00:02:12.000 President Trump's cabinet is continuing under the advise and consent of the U.S. Senate as the team is being assembled.

00:02:21.000 One of the most important appointments for an incoming president is Treasury Secretary.

00:02:26.000 The person who's going to help manage the economy and all of the headwinds.

00:02:30.000 Let's listen to Scott Besant as he is taking questions right now.

00:02:34.000 Let's go to Scott Besant for Treasury Secretary.

00:02:37.000 They actually extend current tax policy costs.

00:02:40.000 Excuse me, that you agree that extending current tax policy actually costs money.

00:02:48.000 Again, I... I think I don't understand the nuance of that question, but I will get back to you on it.

00:02:54.000 Okay, I appreciate that.

00:02:56.000 You have been supportive of many of President Trump's tariff plans.

00:03:02.000 And I have heard the conversation there.

00:03:05.000 So I am not going to go into that, and we've talked a little bit about it in my office.

00:03:08.000 But let me jump back to these credits that were imposed that some of my colleagues are against.

00:03:15.000 But they have benefited Nevada, and I want to talk to you a little bit about it.

00:03:19.000 The 45X Manufacturing Tax Credit supports thousands of jobs in the Reno area.

00:03:25.000 And billions in investment across my state.

00:03:28.000 It also is key to reducing dependence on China for the critical minerals we need for our military and supports mining jobs in Nevada.

00:03:38.000 We are a mining state.

00:03:39.000 We are mining critical minerals.

00:03:41.000 And so would you commit to opposing any effort to repeal or reduce the 45x tax credit, which is not just a benefit in Nevada.

00:03:50.000 It's a benefit in other states as well, including Alaska.

00:03:53.000 So again, Senator, I am unfamiliar with that exact provision, but I do believe that it is important for us to mine, accumulate, and move to domestic production for rare earths and other vital minerals.

00:04:13.000 So I will get back to you on that exact, my thoughts on that exact program, but on an atmospheric meta basis.

00:04:22.000 I agree with the direction of travel.

00:04:25.000 Thank you.

00:04:26.000 Let me ask you this.

00:04:27.000 We also talked about this.

00:04:28.000 President Trump has stated that he thinks that the president should have influence over the decisions of the Federal Reserve.

00:04:36.000 And we discussed this in my office, and I appreciate that opportunity.

00:04:43.000 Does it continue to be your view that the Federal Reserve should be independent of the president?

00:04:51.000 Of course, and I actually believe that the notion that President Trump believes he should have influence, there was, I believe, a highly inaccurate Wall Street Journal article saying that he believed something to the effect that he should be in the room.

00:05:09.000 President Trump is going to make his views known, as many senators did.

00:05:15.000 Three senators, including two on this committee, called for, there was a jumbo rate cut in September, 50 basis points.

00:05:23.000 Two of the senators on this committee called for 70. 0.66

00:05:27.000 I get the politics on their sides.

00:05:28.000 I'm asking you.

00:05:29.000 But let me just say, you don't deviate from our conversation that you think that there should be independence.

00:05:35.000 I think on monetary policy decisions, the FOMC Should be independent.

00:05:41.000 Thank you.

00:05:42.000 I appreciate that.

00:05:43.000 And then for the benefit of our colleagues, what you're referring to earlier, in our meeting I asked you if there were any regulations, Treasury regulations, that currently exist that you disagree with.

00:05:56.000 And in response, and continuing in response right now, you're saying you're going to look into it and get back to me.

00:06:01.000 Is that right?

00:06:01.000 Well, look, I believe as we saw...

00:06:06.000 I don't know if it's a regulation, but it's a policy.

00:06:09.000 As we saw from the December 8th hack by some Chinese entities into the Treasury, which is very serious, that that was through a work-from-home software app.

00:06:23.000 So one of the policies that I support, I intend to be in the building every day that I am in Washington, and I support a return to the office, which is against the current Treasury policy.

00:06:36.000 Right.

00:06:37.000 And I appreciate that.

00:06:38.000 If there are any others that you oppose and you can share with me.

00:06:41.000 It doesn't have to be right now.

00:06:42.000 Get back to me.

00:06:43.000 I appreciate that.

00:06:44.000 Of course.

00:06:44.000 I'm happy to provide that in writing.

00:06:47.000 All right.

00:06:47.000 Thank you.

00:06:48.000 Thank you so much.

00:06:48.000 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:06:49.000 Thank you.

00:06:50.000 Senator Young.

00:06:53.000 Mr. Bessent, good to see you.

00:06:55.000 Congratulations again on your nomination to this important position.

00:06:59.000 And thank you for your...

00:07:01.000 Okay.

00:07:01.000 So that is Scott Bessent right now receiving questions.

00:07:04.000 I want to listen in on the EPA right now, the Environmental Protection Agency.

00:07:09.000 This is like March Madness where you've got four games going on at once.

00:07:12.000 You've got the round of 64. Very contentious.

00:07:16.000 Let's go to Lee Zeldin on the EPA. I'm not sure the name of the committee.

00:07:20.000 Let's listen live.

00:07:21.000 Oil and gas leases and explore for additional production of oil and gas.

00:07:26.000 The EPA has written, one size fits all solutions.

00:07:30.000 We are not the majors.

00:07:32.000 And we are stripper well producers. 1.00

00:07:35.000 And I just want your commitment to work with the industry, these small producers, to find right-sized regulations for the circumstances that they're in.

00:07:44.000 Senator, I would welcome an opportunity to travel to your state to meet with them, whether it's at your office or elsewhere.

00:07:55.000 I want to know about all of your priorities, including this one.

00:07:59.000 But also to make sure that anyone who could provide any type of insight that can make me better informed, to make better decisions, that I welcome any of those opportunities for conversations and collaboration.

00:08:10.000 I think that's a wonderful offer on your part, and I'm very grateful for it.

00:08:13.000 I sometimes am reluctant to ask every nominee that comes before me, would you please come visit Kansas?

00:08:18.000 And you volunteered.

00:08:20.000 So I'm appreciative of that.

00:08:22.000 And I would tell you, I can't imagine the...

00:08:27.000 The excitement, the opportunity that people in that industry would see to have the capability of talking to somebody like you directly in a state like Kansas.

00:08:38.000 So thank you.

00:08:39.000 And we'll get on your schedule, although you have to say once confirmed.

00:08:44.000 So I look forward to that.

00:08:47.000 In a different vein of energy production, Created with my colleague, Senator Bozeman and others, a sustainable aviation fuel caucus.

00:09:00.000 Kansas and Wichita in particular is the air capital of the world.

00:09:03.000 We produce many more general aviation aircraft than anybody.

00:09:07.000 We manufacture with thousands of employees working in aviation and aerospace.

00:09:12.000 And I want to bring together the opportunity to bring the agricultural aspects of Kansas together with the aviation aspects and pursue the development of SAF, Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

00:09:26.000 I wanted to know, I guess the question would be, we need your help in pursuing opportunities.

00:09:32.000 Okay, let's go back.

00:09:33.000 I was told it was really contentious.

00:09:35.000 Maybe the Democrats are.

00:09:37.000 The Republicans seem to just kind of be going through established order there.

00:09:41.000 So we have Scott Besant.

00:09:43.000 We have Dick Durbin doing something.

00:09:44.000 That looks like Mr. Risch from Idaho.

00:09:48.000 And then we have Senator Moran from Kansas.

00:09:53.000 Basically, talking about how he wants people to visit Kansas.

00:09:57.000 Email us, as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:10:01.000 And as always, subscribe to the Charlie Kirk Show podcast.

00:10:04.000 We have January Madness that is underway right now.

00:10:08.000 Not sure what nominee Dick Durbin is grilling.

00:10:11.000 Maybe it's a representative.

00:10:13.000 Is this a Pam Bondy thing?

00:10:15.000 Not exactly sure what's going on there right now.

00:10:18.000 That's Lee Zeldin taking questions.

00:10:20.000 Scott Besant taking questions.

00:10:22.000 Pam was not there, so she had someone sit on our behalf.

00:10:25.000 How does that work exactly?

00:10:27.000 I don't understand.

00:10:28.000 So they take questions on behalf of Pam?

00:10:30.000 I didn't even know you could do that.

00:10:34.000 January is here.

00:10:35.000 Can you believe it?

00:10:35.000 How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions?

00:10:38.000 Mine was pretty easy.

00:10:39.000 Focus on my well-being.

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00:11:32.000 Okay, let's go right in.

00:11:34.000 This is good stuff.

00:11:35.000 Bernie Sanders and Scott Besson.

00:11:36.000 This is really good TV. Let's watch.

00:11:38.000 ...people owning more wealth from the bottom half of American society when these people have enormous influence over the media, when they spend huge amounts of money in both political parties to elect candidates.

00:11:50.000 What Biden said last night is we're moving toward an oligarchy.

00:11:53.000 I'm asking you that question.

00:11:54.000 Do you think?

00:11:55.000 Forget how they made their money.

00:11:57.000 Do you think that when so few people have so much wealth and so much economic and political power, that that is an oligarchic form of society?

00:12:05.000 Well, I would note that President Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two people who I think would qualify for his oligarchs.

00:12:17.000 This is not a condemnation of any one individual.

00:12:21.000 I'm just asking you, would so few people have so much wealth and power?

00:12:27.000 Do you think that that is an oligarchic form of society?

00:12:31.000 Senator, I think it depends on the ability to move up and down the...

00:12:39.000 No, that's not really the answer.

00:12:40.000 I mean, even if you had that mobility, no matter who those individuals might be.

00:12:44.000 All right, but let me ask you another question.

00:12:47.000 Right now in America, we have over 22 million workers.

00:12:53.000 We're making less than $15 an hour and nearly 40 million people in our country earning less than $17 an hour.

00:13:03.000 Shamefully, the federal minimum wage, despite the efforts of myself and other people here, have not been raised since 2009 and remains an unbelievable $7.25 an hour.

00:13:16.000 Will you work with those of us who want to raise the federal minimum wage To a living wage to take millions of Americans out of poverty.

00:13:27.000 Senator, I believe that the minimum wage is more of a statewide and regional issue.

00:13:33.000 So you don't think we should change the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour?

00:13:37.000 No, sir.

00:13:38.000 Okay.

00:13:39.000 Mr. Besson, millions of working class Americans who are struggling to keep their heads above water are paying outrageously high interest rates on their credit cards.

00:13:51.000 Over half the American people who take out new credit cards are being charged interest rates of over 24%.

00:13:58.000 During his campaign, President-elect Trump promised that he was going to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

00:14:06.000 I happen to think that that is a very good idea, and I will soon be introducing legislation to do just that.

00:14:14.000 Will you, as if you are confirmed, Be supportive of what President-elect Trump said and what I want to see happen, and that is to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

00:14:27.000 Senator, I think we can both agree that many credit card companies have been bad actors throughout history.

00:14:36.000 And I will get back to you once more.

00:14:39.000 A very simple question.

00:14:41.000 Trump said he wants to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.

00:14:44.000 I agree with him.

00:14:46.000 Will you be supportive of what Trump and I would like to do?

00:14:49.000 When President Trump takes office and if I am confirmed, I will follow what President Trump wants to do.

00:14:55.000 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:14:57.000 Thank you very much.

00:14:58.000 Next is Senator Smith.

00:15:01.000 Thank you very much.

00:15:03.000 Okay, let's come back here for just a second here, guys, as we are split into those three.

00:15:08.000 I think we have four screens now.

00:15:10.000 So what's going on in the Pam Bondi hearing is that people are testifying pro and con on her behalf.

00:15:16.000 We have the Lee Zeldin situation going on at Shelley Moore Capito.

00:15:19.000 We have the Governor Burgum situation.

00:15:22.000 And let me just tell you the difference of worldview between Bernie Sanders and Scott Besson.

00:15:27.000 Bernie Sanders is correct.

00:15:28.000 We are getting closer and closer to an oligarchy.

00:15:31.000 We've been saying that on this program for quite some time, but it's not the type of oligarchy that he thinks.

00:15:36.000 It's an oligarchy of people that have centralized government-type control with corporate-friendly power on the outside.

00:15:44.000 And we see this kind of inside-out relationship.

00:15:47.000 And the difference between Bernie Sanders and Scott Besson is Bernie Sanders believes in a fixed pie theory, that just because somebody gets rich, he thinks somebody gets poor.

00:15:56.000 And Bernie Sanders is grilling Scott Besson saying, should we not be able to take this wealth away?

00:16:01.000 But you could always make the pie bigger.

00:16:03.000 The thing about a market is markets work in that people get richer simultaneously through voluntary transaction, through the price system, through the profit motive.

00:16:12.000 The ability to make and take risks in a market economy.

00:16:16.000 We know what the horrors of socialism have done for so many people.

00:16:20.000 Email us, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:16:22.000 And I will add to one more thing.

00:16:24.000 We are going to kind of go through Joe Biden's farewell address last evening that he gave.

00:16:30.000 Where very interestingly, if Joe Biden and the Democrats would have actually mentioned this rising fixture and consolidation of wealth, it would have been a much easier political strategy for them than whatever they ran on.

00:16:41.000 This last year.

00:16:43.000 But Scott Besson, I thought, handled that beautifully and masterfully against Mr. Bernie Sanders, who he does not care about the poor.

00:16:52.000 He hates the rich.

00:16:53.000 And those are two very, very different things.

00:16:55.000 We've had lots of stops and starts over the last...

00:16:58.000 Probably two to three years on this very issue.

00:17:02.000 And it's holding up construction of critical energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, transportation, doesn't matter what kind of energy, renewable energy, pipelines, whatever.

00:17:11.000 So we need to make it easier to build in America.

00:17:14.000 I believe that's President Trump's vision as well by modernizing and streamlining our environmental review and permitting processes.

00:17:21.000 Congressman Zeldin, what opportunities do you see for EPA to be able to establish more efficient and predictable permitting processes in addition to working with all the other agencies that play a part in this vital?

00:17:36.000 And Chairman Capito, that last part of your question is key for different agencies to be able to work with each other, collaborating with each other, and also for agencies to be able to collaborate with Congress on any opportunities to Congresses to pursue permitting reform as well.

00:17:52.000 As far as EPA jurisdiction goes, we see a role of the EPA, for example, as it relates to environmental impact statements.

00:18:04.000 Different issues where there will be opportunities for the EPA to follow its obligations under the law.

00:18:11.000 There's a possibility that Congress might choose to make changes to the law on items that are under EPA jurisdiction.

00:18:19.000 I would look forward to doing my part to make sure that the EPA is not holding up.

00:18:24.000 Any opportunities to be able to pursue sound applications that otherwise would be and should be approved?

00:18:31.000 I think a lot of times in the public domain, permitting reform means to certain people skirting the rules or breezing through environmental reviews without really taking them seriously or actually having them science-based, as we've talked a lot about today.

00:18:49.000 That's not what permitting reform means.

00:18:52.000 Permitting reform means make these environmental clean air, clean water rules and others and other agencies work together and work so that we are getting the right result of clean air, clean water, but we're able to move forward.

00:19:05.000 And so I look forward to that.

00:19:07.000 Here's another West Virginia issue very quickly, and it's the Muddy Creek Restoration Project.

00:19:13.000 It's 19 miles of waterways that has acid mine drainage.

00:19:18.000 And West Virginia went about, in coordination with the It was the past Trump administration and it was initially championed by the Biden administration to deliver real results in cleaning up this area of our state.

00:19:34.000 It was a true win-win.

00:19:35.000 The Biden administration, for some reason, which we can't figure out, flip-flopped on this.

00:19:40.000 And they started putting more burdensome, costly, and a much, much slower cleanup process.

00:19:46.000 So you're still having your acid mine drainage while we're getting hung up here.

00:19:50.000 It threatens projects like Muddy Creek and discourages other communities from pursuing similar efforts to achieve real environmental remediation and benefits.

00:20:00.000 Will you commit to me, working with me in the state, to try to reverse these counterproductive changes and cut the red tape and restore this for more cost-effective, but also better environmental results?

00:20:11.000 Yes, Chairman Capito, I know how much of a priority this is.

00:20:14.000 You've been outspoken on this issue.

00:20:16.000 It's my commitment to work with you as soon as, if confirmed, as soon as I'm in that position, I'd welcome that opportunity.

00:20:24.000 Senator Whitehouse.

00:20:26.000 Thank you again, Chairman.

00:20:27.000 Mr. Zeldin, I have something of a life experience PhD in fossil fuel pressure politics, and they'll be coming after you hard, and they'll be feeling very entitled based on their political spending toward a Trump victory.

00:20:49.000 I have two questions.

00:20:51.000 When you're faced with that.

00:20:53.000 The first is that prominent voices in Trump world have been saying that it is important to traumatize EPA's workforce to drive them out.

00:21:05.000 They've been saying that it's important to cut EPA's workforce by two-thirds or more, not just Washington, but the field, the entire organization.

00:21:15.000 And they've been saying that it's important to destroy The professional civil service protections of EPA's workforce.

00:21:26.000 How do you respond to those three threats?

00:21:29.000 Senator Whitehouse, as I've stated earlier, My desire, if confirmed as EPA Administrator, is to increase productivity of the EPA. I want to be able to help lead this agency in a way that all of you on both sides of the aisle can be proud of for us to be accountable and transparent.

00:21:50.000 I want maximum collaboration, not just with Congress, but internally within the EPA. I've been hugely impressed with the level of talent stepping up to serve at EPA. And that is the pressure that I am feeling at this moment is to bring out the best of EPA to make sure that we are fulfilling our mission of protecting public health and the environment.

00:22:13.000 Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here.

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00:23:15.000 I have a lot to add here.

00:23:17.000 Let's go to Senator Wyden, who I think is asking Besson a question.

00:23:21.000 Let's listen in to Senator Wyden from Oregon.

00:23:28.000 The one I like the best, though, is if we use President Trump's...

00:23:32.000 Let's actually go to Sheldon Whitehouse asking Lee Zeldon questions.

00:23:41.000 A very significant player in the fossil fuel funded climate denial armada.

00:23:51.000 Successor to that Texas Public Policy Foundation CEO and a third individual called the Chief of Intelligence and Research at that same, in my view, climate denial front group.

00:24:09.000 In your political work, you've taken nearly $300,000 from the oil and gas industry back to 2007. You've had large campaign support from Koch Incorporated.

00:24:21.000 Which gave a total of about $60,000 when you count up all the contributions to your PACs and campaign funds.

00:24:28.000 David Koch himself maxed out to you.

00:24:31.000 And Koch PAC gave $20,000 to your Lee PAC. In the wake of being so surrounded with so much corporate and fossil fuel influence, I want to give you two opportunities.

00:24:47.000 One is to answer to me now, how is it?

00:24:51.000 That you'll be able to separate yourself from the influence of these people and these interests when they come demanding things that they think they've earned politically.

00:25:02.000 And I'll also turn that into a QFR so that you can...

00:25:06.000 With a little bit more basis for reflection, make a more complete answer.

00:25:10.000 So with that, over to you for your response, sir.

00:25:13.000 Senator, I don't need any extra time for reflection on that one.

00:25:16.000 There is no person who has ever provided any level of support to me or anyone else who has any special influence with me.

00:25:26.000 When I was in the Army, I wore around my dog tags, the seven Army values.

00:25:29.000 The acronym is leadership, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.

00:25:35.000 It is important for me to have always been able to approach this position with a clear conscience to make decisions that I can live with for my entire life.

00:25:44.000 There is no dollar, large or small, that can influence the decisions that I make, who has access to me, and how I am ruling in my obligations under the law.

00:25:55.000 Senator, I'm happy to enthusiastically answer that question on any day on the spot, and I would never need any extra amount of time of reflection.

00:26:03.000 Well, good luck standing up to these guys because they're going to come at you.

00:26:07.000 Thank you.

00:26:08.000 I understand that a five-minute break would be in our best interest.

00:26:13.000 Would you like to do that now or do you want to keep going?

00:26:16.000 I'll take five, I guess.

00:26:18.000 Thank you, sir.

00:26:18.000 Thank you, Chairman.

00:26:19.000 Let's throw back here as the great Lee Zeldin takes a five-minute break.

00:26:24.000 Scott Besson is continuing as we are here with January Madness as the cabinet is being assembled.

00:26:34.000 Interviewing to become the EPA chief, which is the Employment Prevention Agency.

00:26:39.000 I'm kidding.

00:26:40.000 Environmental Protection Agency.

00:26:41.000 There are more nonsensical regulations that come from EPA than almost any other agency.

00:26:48.000 You would think you have Doug Burgum there for Interior.

00:26:51.000 Yesterday was Chris Wright.

00:26:52.000 You would think that Chris Wright being in charge of energy actually has the most with oil, natural gas, and fossil fuel production.

00:26:59.000 It's not.

00:26:59.000 It's actually Interior and EPA. EPA especially that oversees that the most.

00:27:05.000 Let's go to Scott Besson here, who is currently being asked a question from a senator I do not know the name of.

00:27:12.000 Scott Besson, who is going to be managing the economy and whatever comes next.

00:27:16.000 Let's listen to that.

00:27:17.000 Let's listen in.

00:27:17.000 Dollars worth of goods out of our state versus importing $1 billion, but this is a big part of it.

00:27:23.000 And so...

00:27:24.000 In the aviation sector, I think I sent you an article about the fact that we think increasing our manufacturing innovation to continue to have markets and sell to those markets is a good economic strategy.

00:27:40.000 Senator Cantwell, as I discussed in your office, that in my hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, Boeing is also the largest employer.

00:27:48.000 So I view aviation as very important.

00:27:53.000 Great.

00:27:54.000 Now I want to, this is, and believe me, I would have the same conversation with Joe Biden or Barack Obama or whoever.

00:28:04.000 So I want to focus on innovation, not the tariffs.

00:28:10.000 I'm worried that the tariffs are going to increase supply chain products.

00:28:16.000 They're going to increase prices on our farmers. 0.88

00:28:18.000 They're going to increase prices on Americans.

00:28:21.000 And so I want to ask you, don't you think we are in an environment where exporting products and growing markets outside the United States is a big economic opportunity?

00:28:35.000 And what are you going to do to build coalitions to help us be able to achieve opening up those markets as opposed to...

00:28:44.000 Just the retaliatory tariff environment, which may raise costs on Americans and not resolve these issues.

00:28:50.000 Senator Campbell, thank you for that.

00:28:52.000 And after our discussion in your office, I actually went back and looked at some older data.

00:28:59.000 In 2000, in terms of the labor share of aggregate income in the U.S., 69% accrued to labor.

00:29:11.000 Today, that number is 60, and you could see a sharp drop after what is called the China shock.

00:29:18.000 So I agree with you that opening markets is good, but the free trade must be...

00:29:31.000 They also balanced against fair trade.

00:29:33.000 And clearly what has happened is the trade has not been fair.

00:29:37.000 That has fallen on the American workers.

00:29:40.000 And we cannot allow, as I think I mentioned to you, China is the most imbalanced, unbalanced economy in the history of the world. 1.00

00:29:49.000 They are in a severe recession slash depression.

00:29:54.000 They may have minus 4% disinflation.

00:30:01.000 And they are attempting to export their way out of that as opposed to doing the much-needed internal rebalance.

00:30:09.000 So I am with you on the need to open markets, but we cannot allow a player like this to flood our markets or to flood the world.

00:30:21.000 Well, but I'm saying I believe in coalitions.

00:30:24.000 We just took us to technology, NATO. I think you thought that was a good idea.

00:30:28.000 The notion, though, I mean, I can get upset with my colleagues on the other aisle all the time and object, but that doesn't move me forward.

00:30:35.000 And so I hope that you will look at what we're going to do to build allies.

00:30:41.000 I mean, these numbers that basically are talking about just the tariff and what it would do to the price of gasoline given Canada.

00:30:50.000 Is concerning.

00:30:51.000 And so I want to know that the Trump administration is going to focus as much on innovating our way to success as we are on the tariffs.

00:31:02.000 Because I do think we're going to see retaliatory tariffs.

00:31:05.000 We saw them in our state.

00:31:07.000 It hurt us in our agriculture.

00:31:10.000 That is Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington asking about tariffs.

00:31:15.000 Let me tell you, does she really care about tariffs? 0.97

00:31:17.000 No, no, no.

00:31:17.000 She is a proxy for Boeing.

00:31:19.000 One of the biggest, most inefficient companies in America that has not made a good airplane for 20 years, by the way.

00:31:25.000 Of course, Boeing is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

00:31:28.000 Used to actually have its corporate headquarters in Chicago, or at least a very big office in Chicago.

00:31:33.000 I'm not exactly sure where they're headquartered.

00:31:35.000 It doesn't matter.

00:31:36.000 The point is their biggest base of operation is in Seattle, Washington.

00:31:39.000 And she is a proxy for Boeing. 0.77

00:31:41.000 She is very worried that Boeing is no longer going to be able to get cheap Chinese parts to be able to build their 787 Maxes that fall out of the sky.

00:31:49.000 And can't land correctly.

00:31:50.000 So that's why she's asking that question.

00:31:53.000 Let's now go to Governor Burgum, who wants to become Secretary of Interior.

00:31:56.000 He'd do a great job at this.

00:31:57.000 By the way, of all the jobs in the federal government, that is one of the few that I would love.

00:32:02.000 I would love to be the Secretary of Interior.

00:32:05.000 I love nature.

00:32:07.000 I love the national parks.

00:32:09.000 All right, let's go to Governor Burgum.

00:32:11.000 Let's listen in.

00:32:12.000 Our nation's progress.

00:32:14.000 And so I agree with you clearly.

00:32:16.000 And you mentioned the New York Times.

00:32:17.000 If that article was someplace else, but the fact that the New York Times wrote that article, I found to also be remarkable admission of at least one case where there was the abuse of the Endangered Species Act relative to its intended use.

00:32:33.000 So yes, you can count.

00:32:34.000 Absolutely.

00:32:35.000 Thank you.

00:32:35.000 I appreciate that.

00:32:36.000 Because also, I think not in light just to this public admission.

00:32:39.000 But also, the West Virginia case and the Loper-Bride case, there could be legal infirmity in a lot of our federal bureaucracy's past decisions.

00:32:48.000 So I appreciate your willingness to take a look at that once you're on the job.

00:32:52.000 Thank you very much.

00:32:54.000 That concludes round one.

00:32:56.000 We're going to do a quick round two with some follow-ups that a few members have asked.

00:33:01.000 I want to talk to you briefly about the fact that public lands represent a massive...

00:33:08.000 Public asset, yet a lack of an accurate valuation is something that we don't have, and that undermines informed decision-making about their use and their management.

00:33:20.000 What steps would you take if confirmed as secretary to improve the transparency in this area and ensure federal land valuations reflect their value to the American people?

00:33:31.000 Well, Well, I would just say on this idea that what I'll call America's balance sheet is something that the Trump administration has quite a bit of enthusiasm in discussions with Treasury nominee Scott Besant, Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick, and even Speaker Mike Johnson called and even Speaker Mike Johnson called me a few weeks ago and said, hey, what's this American balance sheet idea?

00:33:56.000 I mean, I think for our standing in the world, for us to talk nonstop about what our liabilities are...

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00:35:10.000 Hundreds of millions of offshore subsurface out of leasing and then And that's viewed as a costless event.

00:35:19.000 At least we could have the trade-off of say, yes, some people thought it was important to take that off the table.

00:35:25.000 But what did it mean for the American people?

00:35:27.000 Did we just take trillions of dollars of future revenue out of the pockets of our future generations?

00:35:33.000 And so I think, again, creating a financial understanding that is where we can have an honest discussion about some of these executive actions that are happening at the end of this term, for example, would be useful for Thank you.

00:35:48.000 I appreciate that.

00:35:49.000 I've got another question that I was going to ask regarding PILT and the interest of time.

00:35:53.000 I'm going to forego that.

00:35:54.000 I'll just conclude it with a very brief statement.

00:35:56.000 PILT payment in lieu of taxes.

00:35:58.000 The federal government came up with it.

00:35:59.000 Congress came up with it about 50 years ago to help offset the burden states carry, states with a lot of public land, because they don't receive any property tax revenue from it, so it's supposed to offset that.

00:36:10.000 In some parts of the country where there's a lot of public land, this works out okay.

00:36:16.000 It's pennies on the dollar compared to what they would get if they could tax the land even at its lowest valuation and lowest rate.

00:36:22.000 So I would love to talk to you about PILT reforms and making PILT generally a priority because a lot of these communities rely on it for fire, search and rescue, schools, safety, so forth.

00:36:33.000 Senator Heinrich.

00:36:36.000 Governor...

00:36:37.000 Senator Daines mentioned a very specific challenge with the Endangered Species Act, but as governor, you know that one of the best ways to head off those complexes is to prevent species from ever being listed by recovering them through proactive, voluntary conservation at the state level.

00:36:57.000 Senator Tillis and nine of his Republican colleagues and I have a highly bipartisan bill called the Recovering America's Wildlife Act that helps states do exactly that.

00:37:11.000 North Dakota's former Game and Fish director, Terry Steinwand, was one of the architects of that legislation.

00:37:19.000 It's got strong support from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for many of the conservation groups that you mentioned in your exchange with Senator Justice.

00:37:29.000 Does that sound like the kind of approach that you could work with Senator Tillis and I on?

00:37:36.000 Absolutely, Senator Heinrich.

00:37:40.000 Again, super sound principle there, which is to do the work to keep it off of any kind of federal designation, working collaboratively with the states.

00:37:49.000 I had the pleasure of working with our Game and Fish Commissioner, Terry Steinwan, for six of my eight years as governor.

00:37:57.000 He had almost a 40-year career in wildlife management.

00:38:00.000 It's people like that that I know and respect across all the states.

00:38:04.000 I know you've got them in New Mexico.

00:38:05.000 I know we've got them in Utah.

00:38:07.000 I mean, the people that work in Game and Fish at the state level that are working on these things, I just I haven't met somebody from the federal level.

00:38:17.000 The hearings are ongoing.

00:38:19.000 A couple of thoughts I want to make here, the first of which is that the pace at which the Senate is operating here is remarkable.

00:38:26.000 And the Democrats seem to lack a little bit of spunk.

00:38:30.000 I mean, they're going through the motions, but this is not the type of resistance that we saw in 2017. It is very clear that President Trump has a mandate.

00:38:38.000 He won the popular vote.

00:38:39.000 And the resistance is kind of shrugging their shoulders.

00:38:43.000 They look fatigued.

00:38:45.000 They look tired.

00:38:46.000 And it is a confirmation blitzkrieg that is ongoing right now.

00:38:51.000 This is a very powerful indicator, harbinger, a canary in the coal mine for the type of pace that this administration is going to operate with.

00:39:02.000 It is conceivable that we're going to have a Treasury Secretary in a week.

00:39:05.000 We're going to have Pete Hegseth as DOD Secretary in a week.

00:39:08.000 We're going to have an Attorney General in a week.

00:39:09.000 That is way ahead of schedule than what we saw in 2017. Far ahead of where we were.

00:39:15.000 Let's listen live in of Scott Besant, who is answering questions from some Senate Democrat.

00:39:20.000 Let's listen to that.

00:39:22.000 The bad actors, especially Iran. 1.00

00:39:25.000 I think I'm right, maybe not in the exact numbers, but in order of magnitude, I believe Iran was down to 100,000 barrels of oil exports when President Trump left office.

00:39:38.000 I believe that they are now exporting in excess of approximately 1.7 million.

00:39:44.000 So through sanctions policy, I believe that we can, again, as I like to say, make Iran poor again. 0.92

00:39:54.000 Not the Iranian people, the Iranian government.

00:39:59.000 And then at the same time, have our domestic producers push that up with the highest energy standards in the world.

00:40:08.000 We're the best stewards of the land, and I agree.

00:40:12.000 And what we've also seen, as you mentioned, with Iran increasing the sales, we're selling it to China.

00:40:17.000 China is buying at a discount, so they're getting cheap energy.

00:40:22.000 Iran is getting tanker loads of cash back, essentially, and they're using that money for terrorism. 0.79

00:40:28.000 So in terms of our own national security.

00:40:29.000 I have one last question in my time remaining, and this has to do with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that we passed in 2017. If that were to expire, we're talking about a massive tax hike of over $4 trillion.

00:40:42.000 What would that kind of a tax hike mean for small businesses, for job creators, as well as our global competitiveness, if all of a sudden we put the heavy, wet blanket of a $4 trillion tax increase on our nation?

00:40:55.000 Senator, I think it would be devastating, especially for small businesses.

00:41:00.000 One of the things that, as someone who came from a very small town, I lived in New York with a very big town and came back to a small town.

00:41:10.000 I believe Wall Street has done great the past few years and that Main Street has suffered.

00:41:16.000 I think it's Main Street's time.

00:41:18.000 Wall Street can continue to do well, maybe not as well, and it's time to have a Main Street small business-led recovery.

00:41:28.000 Led by small banks, regional banks.

00:41:31.000 Let's cut out here.

00:41:32.000 This is very important what Scott Besson is saying.

00:41:35.000 He's talking about another blue-collar boom.

00:41:37.000 Wall Street has done extraordinarily well.

00:41:39.000 Homeownership is out of grasp for most Americans.

00:41:41.000 The average home went from about $75,000 a year income that you could afford to now over $140,000 a year it requires to own a home in this country.

00:41:50.000 And we have seen it more and more out of grasp in these last couple of years.

00:41:55.000 It is time for a muscular class renaissance for a everyday American golden era. 0.67

00:42:01.000 Look, we've been demoralized for years.

00:42:03.000 This is very similar to watching a football game, and there's like this big interception that just galvanized the team and sparks a change in momentum.

00:42:09.000 You can sense that now.

00:42:11.000 It's the Democrats who are getting demoralized.

00:42:13.000 They've lost their spunk.

00:42:14.000 They've lost their spirit.

00:42:16.000 And we are seeing the momentum build and build.

00:42:19.000 And what Scott Besant was talking about there was incredibly important.

00:42:22.000 That when President Trump...

00:42:23.000 As president, it was the lower income earners that saw their incomes go up most dramatically versus these last four years.

00:42:32.000 Not the people at the top 1%, not the people at the top of the income ladder.

00:42:35.000 It is January madness.

00:42:38.000 And what is the agenda?

00:42:40.000 Day one, it's going to be drill, baby, drill, no tax on tips.

00:42:43.000 It's going to be restart the American economy, protect the American worker, secure the southern border.

00:42:49.000 And all of that starts in three days and 23 hours.

00:42:52.000 We are...

00:42:53.000 Three days and 23 hours out.

00:42:56.000 We are about 95 hours out.

00:42:58.000 You guys can set a clock to it.

00:43:00.000 95 hours.

00:43:02.000 And it is going to be shock and awe.

00:43:03.000 It is going to be thunder time.

00:43:06.000 And hit the ground running in a way that we have never seen before.

00:43:09.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:43:11.000 Email us as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:43:13.000 Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

The Charlie Kirk Show - January 16, 2025

The Confirmation Continuum: Day 3

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