Meet the Press - June 4, 2023

Interview

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Hey, thanks. You worked Joe over pretty hard there.

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The defense issues. Clearly the concern we have is that if -- under certain circumstances, defense would actually go down in terms of the funding, at a time in which we've got major challenges, not only from Russia but from China as well. And the fact that we know that we're going to have to have a supplemental when it comes to Ukraine at some point again in the future. And those were a real challenge. And one of the reasons that you heard Senator Graham and others talk very clearly about the concern was that we're all pretty clear that we're going to have to have an increase in defense spending, not a decrease. And under certain circumstances, if we don't do all 12 appropriation bills under this proposal, then defense would end up with less money than what they do today, or under what the Biden-McCarthy deal originally proposes in their caps.

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That's the reason why --

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There really was not another path forward. Speaker McCarthy is the leader of the majority in the House. We don't control the Senate, we don't control the presidency. Clearly, when Senator McConnell suggested that Speaker McCarthy should take the lead for the Republicans, it basically made a one-on-one then with the president, rather than having not just the minority leader in the House, the majority leader in the Senate, both of whom are Democrats, both participating in it. I think Leader McConnell absolutely hit it on the head. And I think he's probably as responsible as anybody is for actually getting this deal done in this bipartisan way, even though we knew we were taking a risk. And that's one of the reasons why on the floor of the Senate you heard a lot of us going to both leadership camps saying, "We want commitments that we're going to get all 12 appropriation bills on the floor." That's the next major hurdle in terms of the appropriate defense spending after we get the NDAA completed this year.

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Yeah, look it's become a tool to point out the fact that we're spending more than we're taking in every single year. And there is no real other location to go except the appropriations process, which seems to only work part of the time. We really need to overhaul the appropriations process so that we can do all 12 of the appropriation bills on a regular basis. You know, we end up with omnibuses, and we end up with continuing resolutions. That is not good for defense, it's not good for the country. It's really not good for growing the economy in the United States. But this is the one opportunity for folks that look at this to bring it up for everybody to see, that we're just --

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-- simply not meeting our budget needs on a regular basis.

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I don't think so. Not at least until we find another alternative.

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We suspected that it would get crowded. But at the same time, there's a weeding out process that gives the American people a chance to look at all of the alternatives. A lot of us think that it's time for somebody with a positive message. And I go back, and Chuck, you've heard me talk about this before. I really think that if Ronald Reagan was here today, I think Ronald Reagan would win the Republican nomination for the presidency. I think Tim Scott says a lot of the same things, he has the same focus. I think when people hear him speak, they're going to hear that same ability to convince people that there really is a brighter time ahead for our country, and that he can bring people together. And that's the reason why a lot of us are going to end up supporting Tim, and that we believe that he would make a very, very good president. A lot of people at this stage of the game -- and remember, it's really early right now, I think you're going to find that Tim has a really good shot at it. And yes, the front runners are out there, and a lot of people pay attention because they say, "Well, if they're that far ahead, what are you going to do?" But with Tim, once they hear him, and they meet him, and they see him, I think they're going to find out that he is the guy behind door number three.

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Well, right now I'm hoping it's going to be Tim Scott. And if it's not, then I'm going to have to reassess. Because I've always supported the Republican nominee in the past, I hope Tim is the nominee. There are going to be some other good people as well. But I'm going to hold that back until we find out how Tim does. I'm going to support Tim Scott as long as he stays in the game --

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I think he has a good shot.

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Not so much that. I just simply think that there are some very good Republican nominees out there, and I'm going to wait and see which one comes out ahead. But I've supported the Republican nominee in the past. I hope I can support the Republican nominee in the future. If it's Tim Scott, I know I can support the nominee. And I think there's a whole lot of Republicans out there and Independents who would like to see Tim win this as well.

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