Senate Republican Leaders Hold Weekly Press Conference (Nov. 10)

We've got to finish up this year, and this year there are a number of things on our agenda that we want to get done, including a number of judicial nominations that we want to get. Judges confirmed here in the Senate. We have a number of executive branch nominations that we want to get through the process as well. And then we've got to fund the government, obviously. There are a number of other issues that we want to address and the prospect. Perhaps of some really consequential legislation coming across the floor. So we're going to make the most of the time that we've got. Our conference is committed to being here to do whatever it takes to get as much done as we can across the finish line. And that means extending the calendar here, the number of days we're here, the number of hours we're here, the number of votes we may end up taking. But we are going to finish this legislative session strong, and then we are in the process of preparing for the 120th. But this is our leadership team, and with the exception of Senator Capito, who couldn't be here, but I'm going to flip it now to the whip, Senator Brasso. Where is he? Okay, to the conference chair. Tom Cotton. He's whipping votes. He's whipping votes. First off. I had my own big election last week, and I want to once again thank the people of Arkansas for their confidence in returning me to represent them in the United States Senate. Second, I want to express my gratitude to my fellow Republican senators for their confidence in continuing as the conference chair and congratulate my fellow elected leaders. As Senator Thune said, we have a lot of work to do over these next two months to confirm many outstanding nominees and pass much needful legislation. Come January, we'll be in the opposition. We will continue to champion conservative principles of limited constitutional government, individual liberty, lower taxes, strong national defense. We'll work together where we can to find common ground with the Democrats. But with the Democrats in charge, I expect many bad ideas will be coming across the Senate floor. And in the spirit of Calvin Coolidge, I will simply say it's more important. But to stop bad bills than it is to pass good laws and we'll take a stand against all those bad ideas that I unfortunately expect to see come January. Senator Barrasso. I've been reelected to serve as the whip of the Republican Party in the United States Senate, and with regard to the lame duck, we have a very bold agenda going forward, and we will waste no time. We're going to make every second count, and that means all these judicial appointments, we're going to do everything we can to get every single one of them confirmed. Remember, these are lifetime appointments. We will leave no vacancy behind. With regard to the new Senate, we are going to move forward. Working first to regain the trust of the American people, to let them know we heard clearly what they said in the election. And in the minority, we're going to stand strong, united, and energized as we tell people what we stand for, what we will work for, and what we will fight against. And we're going to draw clear lines of demarcation with bills and with votes against what I believe is going to be a radicalized Democrat party. Bipartisanship is important if it serves the national interest. We will never apologize for our conservative convictions. And so our first step is to make sure the American people know that we heard what they said and that the American people's priorities are going to be our priorities. That's the way we regain their trust. So it's an honor to be elected by our conference to be the vice chair of our conference, but we have a great deal of work to do the next 54 days, and we are committed to actually doing that work the next 54 days, not only in judicial nominations, but with the work that has to be done on economic issues, on the permitting bill, we have farm bill, we have so many things that are sitting out there that need to be done that we are committed to actually getting done. And making the last two months of this year as productive as we possibly can for the American people. Grateful to be able to have those two months of time because we know what's coming starting in January. We've already heard that loud and clear. Now the American people have spoken loud and clear across the country. We respect the decision of the voters all around the country. But I don't think that they voted en masse for the fraud, for open borders, for losing their health care options, for so many things that have already been discussed by my Democrat colleagues. So we're going to be very, very clear. We believe the American people want freedom. They want economic opportunity. They don't want high gas prices. They don't want the prices of all products going up. They want to be able to see prices come down. They want to be able to see opportunities go up. But they don't want government in every part of their life. And so we're going to make it very clear that we want the American people to come first. We want the cost of living to be able to come down, but we also want their freedom to continue to go up. We're going to stand for the national security that needs to be done and for the economic opportunity that so many Americans are looking for. So we have a lot of work to do in the next two months, but we'll continue that work in January as well to make it clear what our American values and principles really are. Well, first of all, thank you to my colleagues for giving me the honor to represent them as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. In terms of what we're looking at in 2028 is we're going to be extraordinarily disciplined. With a total and complete focus on phenomenal data that we can rely on, we're going to make certain that we defend our incumbents and our seats, and we're going to go after every single race that we think that we have a clear victory with a candidate that matches their state, and we're going to make certain that we win a lot of the races that maybe others may not think we can win. And the last thing I would say is I represent the great state of Ohio, And to my colleague, Who won re-election? Make sure you rent, do not buy. You mentioned that there are, you know, you've heard the voters loud and clear. What exactly did you hear, and specifically on the Iran war, cost of gas? I've heard Senator Moreno just said, you know, kinetic action is over, but the Strait of Hormuz is still technically closed, and the cost of gas is really high. What do you say to the voters and what you learned? Well, I mean, I think that this election was largely about. It was about the war in Iran and the economy. Inflation, most specifically fuel prices, and so obviously that is an issue that the administration is going to be clear-eyed about and focused on, but I think as we've always said here at home, our goal has been to get more money in the American people's pockets, to keep our streets safe, to keep our borders secure, and to give American families new opportunities to get ahead, and I think that a lot of what we did in this last session of Congress is going to achieve those objectives. Some already have been achieved, but if you look at what happened in the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation, Thank you. the Trump newborn accounts, school choice, you'll write down child care tax credits, all the stuff that we did on the tax front from no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security benefits, and those are all things that I think hopefully we have an opportunity to make permanent, and we're going to be pursuing those In the next session of the Congress, I think the Democrats are going to have to decide whether they want to work with us on some things that I think the American people are speaking to when it comes to the issue of affordability or whether they want to pursue the socialist, the DSA fantasies that some of their candidates were espousing on the campaign trail. So we're going to find out soon enough. I mean, this is a group, as you've heard, that is committed to limited but effective government, personal freedom coupled with individual responsibility, economic freedom. free enterprise, free markets, and that you achieve peace through strength and that all life is sacred. Those are the core values that we're going to be bringing to the debate starting next year. And where we can, we'll work with Democrats. And where we can't, we will clearly fight for those principles. Senator Thune. Senator. Cornyn thought that President Trump's unpopularity was a big reason why Republicans lost Texas, a red state, also thought corruption was a problem in Texas in the Senate race. Do you think that was a factor in Texas and other battlegrounds that you guys lost last week? Well, I think clearly the Democrats tried to make that an issue in a lot of states. There were a lot of ads run on those issues. And they were cookie-cutter ads, many of which were totally unrelated to our candidates. But it was a theme the Democrats adopted, and yeah, it had some resonance out there, which is, again, why I think it's important that as we move forward, we're looking for ways to differentiate and distinguish what we're for when it comes to issues like, for example, the Stock Act and ban on insider trading. Those are issues that I think you'll hear our members talking a lot about. Hopefully, if the Democrats want to work with us getting votes on. If they don't, we'll force those amendment votes on them and draw a contrast. Mr. Leader, some of your colleagues were concerned after the election results that a change of leadership was necessary. They asked for a delay in the vote today. What was your message to them today, and what would you say to those critics that say after those election results, a different person should be in charge? Right. Well, I mean, I think in the end it comes down to, and I've always said this, I serve at the pleasure of the Republican conference. And if the conference wanted to go in a different direction, I would be prepared to accept that. But I fortunately didn't have an opponent. There was a lot of interest in delaying this. I'm not sure, again, necessarily what that achieves. I think what I want to see us do is come out of this knowing full well that we took a big electoral defeat, but come out swinging. And realize that we've got a lot of work to be done to get back into the majority and to do the types of things that will achieve that goal. So as I think about the future and obviously the conversations that we had with our colleagues in there, there's some really good issues that were raised. And we obviously are very committed to finishing strong here this year, as I said, which was an issue that was for a lot of our colleagues. And then next year... ensuring that we've got a clear agenda and plan in place. Now, we're not going to be running this place next year. The Democrats are. But you can be assured that we will be very, very active in asserting conservative priorities in all of the legislating and lawmaking process that goes on here. Senator, a lot of the policies that voters were... Well, I think every election, it's never any one thing. I think it was a combination of things, and most importantly, it was the cost of living for the American people. I think most elections come down to, you know, bread and butter issues, kitchen table issues, pocketbook issues, whatever you want to call them, but it's that economic cluster of issues. And, you know, specifically, people really honed in on the price for fuel in this country, and my part of the country was diesel, and I think that had a big impact on our candidates. So as we do this assessment, and we are and we will, we started that today. Today we had a lot of really Good, candid, frank discussions and conversations about things that we can do differently and better. And as Senator Barrasso said, I mean, this is a, as we move forward, we are going to have a, we are going to be listening intently to what the American people are saying. And I think right now the issue that matters the most to them, like I said, is the cost of living. And just quickly, do you have confidence in ? Well, I mean, I think it's up to the President. He serves the pleasure of the President. The President has confidence in him. Yes. Thank you. Thanks all. You said you could just stretch the camera a bit.