October 10, 2025 • 12 mins
Bo and Beth welcome Congressman Mark Harris to discuss the continuing Government shutdown and how he feels they can work to a resolution in Washington.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Good Morning BT.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
On WBT day number ten of the government shutdown in Washington,
d C. Yesterday, the House leaders speaking about where we
are with all of this.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It doesn't get better for the country. Right now, half
our civilian federal employees are on furlough. Real vital, critical
services that American citizens in all categories rely upon are halted.
And when we talk specifically about our military, right now,
service members, military personnel at home and abroad, as well
as border patrol agents, TSA, air traffic controllers, they're all
(00:44):
working without paid.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
House and Senate Democrats have repeatedly made clear that we
will sit down with anyone, anytime, any place to negotiate
a bipartisan agreement that reopens the government and that addresses
the Republican healthcare crisis. We've also made clear that we
will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues
(01:10):
to gut the healthcare of the American people, because we're
dealing with a Republican created healthcare crisis that must be
addressed with the fierce urgency of now.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So you heard from Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, and
of course that was Hakeem Jeffries, just a moment ago,
and we go to the hotline and welcome one of
their colleagues who joins us every Friday at this time.
He is Congressman Mark Harris. Good morning to you, sir.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Good morning, Bo and Beth. How are you this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Always good to talk to you. So we are now
in the thick of this. We wondered how long this
would go. And I'm curious as we talk on this
Friday morning, do you see an end insight for this shutdown?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Well, you know, that's a great question. I really I
wish I could say that I do. But until there's
until Chuck Humor, and until the Democrats and the Senate
determined that they're ready to reopen the government, we're going
to continue in this same place that we are because
there's just there's nothing else to be done at this point.
(02:16):
And that's the point that I keep trying to point
out the folks. I mean, they say, well, we need
to go back in and we need to vote on this,
and vote on that. We've already voted to keep the
government open. That's what we did on September nineteenth, when
we voted to make sure that we kept the government
open and that the bottom line was that we just
(02:39):
wanted to make sure that we didn't get in this
situation by putting the date to November twenty first to
allow us to get the appropriation bills through. So, you know,
I wish I could say that I see an end
what they're doing. You know, a lot of folks ask,
do you think they'll go ahead and just and do
something this week, because we've had a critical moment here
(03:01):
because votes that are paid every two weeks are now
about to hit the fifteenth of the month, and when
those paychecks are going to come for our military and
for other folks, then it becomes a far more serious situation.
And just yesterday Chuck Humer deemed a state there was
something to quote I saw from him that, you know,
(03:21):
this was something that was working great and every day
got better and better for them in this I don't
understand their reasoning. I think the American people are just
absolutely refuddled by how the Democrats are thinking through this.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
You know, yesterday, I believe it was yesterday or day before,
Speaker Mike Johnson was on c SPAN and you know,
on those shows they take live calls, and a lot
of folks are just to your point, concerned about the
fifteenth of the month, particularly particularly the military, concerned about
(03:58):
what kind of pay they can expect. They were concerned
the FAA that the air traffic controllers some calling in
sick and being concerned about pay. And now there's discussion
about whether or not and you can tell us more
about what this means. President Trump floated the idea of
not thinking about the back pay or not acknowledging back
(04:20):
pay for some of the workers and potentially firing some
of the folks who are calling in sick right now.
Is there truth to all of that and where do
we go from here?
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, Beth, that's a great point you made. I think
what President Trump was speaking of is there would be
some federal employees that are not only furloughed, but are
let go because again, we only have the amount of
dollars that we have. And when russ Vote and the
Office of Management and Budget are trying to navigate through this,
(04:57):
they have to set parities of what's going to be
essential and what's not. And there will may very well
be we've talked about shrinking the size of government, there
may be a number of federal employees that may fall
in the category of waste, fraud, and abuse or waste
at least, and that those those positions could be eliminated
(05:19):
and therefore fired and they would not get back paid.
But most of the federal employees that are just purely furloughed,
they will get back paid. Uncertain of that and will
be continued to be taken care of. But I think
that's what the President was speaking of. There may be
those that do not fall within the priority of the
(05:39):
administration and what we're trying to do, and those folks
those jobs may be eliminated in this situation. So I
don't know that that part of it is I think
where he was saying they are and speaking to it.
But I think the federal employees that are out, they
do get back paid when the government shutdown is over
(06:02):
and they're back end.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is Good Morning BT seven thirty seven on WBT Friday,
October tenth. Bowen Beth here in the historic Tyboid studio
talking to Congressman Mark Harris, who joins us once a
week here on the Great Colossus.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
And I got to tell you, Congressman Harris, our listeners
love the conversation that we're having with you, and they're
chiming in on the text line, Lance texted us with
the question, he wanted me to ask you what are
the three to five issues that are holding the budget
up from approval.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Well, again, this is really not budget approval that we're
waiting on the Senate to vote on. We're waiting on
the Senate to basically just approve the CR, which is
nothing but a date. I mean, November twenty first is
what was in the CR. As the clean of CR.
You can imagine that just basicly, we said we've got
(07:00):
appropriation bills that we've got to move, and there's twelve
of those. We passed three of them. The Senate has
passed three. They don't exactly linked up, so they're going
to conference committee. But then there are more appropriation bills
than the Hopper that have been passed out of the committee.
The Houses moved all twelve out of committee. They've just
got to get to the floor and they've got to
(07:22):
be voted on. So that's going to be the actual
budget and trying to get those appropriation bills completed. So
that's not what holding it up. The Senate is simply
just not voting. They're being held up by other Dems.
That are not willing to simply pass the cr that
gives us till November twenty. First, that's what the hold
(07:45):
up is right now. So it's not an actual budget
at this particular point that's holding it up.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Congresslet me switch switch gears to what has been a
huge story this week. And you know, President Trump has
been able apparently to pull something off here that if
you thought could happen, and it apparently apparently we have
a peace deal in the Middle East. Of course, we're
still waiting to see how this all gets hammered out.
And as he said a few nights ago, this is
(08:14):
in various phases, but phase one is the apparent agreement
to end the conflict there in Gaza. What are your
thoughts on where we are with this?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Well, I got to tell you both of you, you've
been very gracious and have been with me ever since
I got the Congress on January third of this year.
If you had asked me on January third if we
would be at a peace deal in the Middle East
by October, I would have said, you know, I believe
this is going to be a transformational government. I believe
(08:46):
that we're going to see some amazing things happen with
President Trump in the White House. To be honest, I
don't know that any of us ever dreamed that we
would be sitting where we are with this kind of
potential broad deal. And obviously the cease fire is now
coming underway and the hostages are set to be released
(09:08):
within I think the next seventy two hours. The President
is going to Israel and is going to address the
knesse It. From what I understand, the imitation has been
given and formally and he is accepted. And if you
would have asked me that at the beginning of this year,
I would have said, Wow, I don't know that that
would be on my bingo card that we would be
(09:30):
at this point. But to God be the glory, this
is something we've been praying for. I looked at a
list last night of the twenty living hostages that they
think are living that are going to be released, and
the three young men that I met their families in
February that came to my office in Canon, my office
(09:51):
building in Washington, All three of those young men that
we have been praying for are on this list. So
I get pretty excited a little emotional, and I think
about the fact that these three may very well have survived.
And one of them was just over a month or
so ago, when he was used in a propaganda video
(10:11):
Bahamas being forced to dig his own grave. He looked
like he was starving. Evatar Dave, I'm very anxious to
see that he comes out along with these others.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
You can definitely hear the emotion in your voice, Congressman.
You know, on Fridays, we always, and we're about to
do this at seven point fifty, we offer people the
chance to tell us something good because there are so
many negative headlines, so many headlines that make people feel
divided or scared in their communities, and we offer people
(10:45):
a chance to tell us something good that's happening in
their lives, to remind us of all of the things
that unite us. So as we let you go on
this Friday, although you did just tell us something really good,
tell us something, tell us something good coming out of
Washington that people can feel hopeful about.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Well, I believe this has to be it, Beth. I
mean to me, this is the most exciting thing that
we've seen in some time. I mean, I can tell
you Nimrod Cohen Colon is one of the guys and
Avatar Nadi that I mentioned in Guy Gilboa dash Delau.
(11:24):
Those are the three guys whose posters are outside my
office that we've been praying for. And the fact that
I see their names on the lists of the twenty
that are expected or thought to be alive that are
going to be released, we hope that to me is
incredible and I'm holding out hope and excited about the
(11:45):
possibilities within the next forty eight to seventy two dollars
of seeing those hostages come home.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Congressman, we really appreciate you joining us as always part
of our week here on Good Morning BT, and we'll
talk to you again soon. Hope you have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Thank you. I hope you'll do as well.
This is Good Morning BT.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
On WBT day number ten of the government shutdown in Washington,
d C. Yesterday, the House leaders speaking about where we
are with all of this.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It doesn't get better for the country. Right now, half
our civilian federal employees are on furlough. Real vital, critical
services that American citizens in all categories rely upon are halted.
And when we talk specifically about our military, right now,
service members, military personnel at home and abroad, as well
as border patrol agents, TSA, air traffic controllers, they're all
(00:44):
working without paid.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
House and Senate Democrats have repeatedly made clear that we
will sit down with anyone, anytime, any place to negotiate
a bipartisan agreement that reopens the government and that addresses
the Republican healthcare crisis. We've also made clear that we
will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues
(01:10):
to gut the healthcare of the American people, because we're
dealing with a Republican created healthcare crisis that must be
addressed with the fierce urgency of now.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
So you heard from Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, and
of course that was Hakeem Jeffries, just a moment ago,
and we go to the hotline and welcome one of
their colleagues who joins us every Friday at this time.
He is Congressman Mark Harris. Good morning to you, sir.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Good morning, Bo and Beth. How are you this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Always good to talk to you. So we are now
in the thick of this. We wondered how long this
would go. And I'm curious as we talk on this
Friday morning, do you see an end insight for this shutdown?
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Well, you know, that's a great question. I really I
wish I could say that I do. But until there's
until Chuck Humor, and until the Democrats and the Senate
determined that they're ready to reopen the government, we're going
to continue in this same place that we are because
there's just there's nothing else to be done at this point.
(02:16):
And that's the point that I keep trying to point
out the folks. I mean, they say, well, we need
to go back in and we need to vote on this,
and vote on that. We've already voted to keep the
government open. That's what we did on September nineteenth, when
we voted to make sure that we kept the government
open and that the bottom line was that we just
(02:39):
wanted to make sure that we didn't get in this
situation by putting the date to November twenty first to
allow us to get the appropriation bills through. So, you know,
I wish I could say that I see an end
what they're doing. You know, a lot of folks ask,
do you think they'll go ahead and just and do
something this week, because we've had a critical moment here
(03:01):
because votes that are paid every two weeks are now
about to hit the fifteenth of the month, and when
those paychecks are going to come for our military and
for other folks, then it becomes a far more serious situation.
And just yesterday Chuck Humer deemed a state there was
something to quote I saw from him that, you know,
(03:21):
this was something that was working great and every day
got better and better for them in this I don't
understand their reasoning. I think the American people are just
absolutely refuddled by how the Democrats are thinking through this.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
You know, yesterday, I believe it was yesterday or day before,
Speaker Mike Johnson was on c SPAN and you know,
on those shows they take live calls, and a lot
of folks are just to your point, concerned about the
fifteenth of the month, particularly particularly the military, concerned about
(03:58):
what kind of pay they can expect. They were concerned
the FAA that the air traffic controllers some calling in
sick and being concerned about pay. And now there's discussion
about whether or not and you can tell us more
about what this means. President Trump floated the idea of
not thinking about the back pay or not acknowledging back
(04:20):
pay for some of the workers and potentially firing some
of the folks who are calling in sick right now.
Is there truth to all of that and where do
we go from here?
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, Beth, that's a great point you made. I think
what President Trump was speaking of is there would be
some federal employees that are not only furloughed, but are
let go because again, we only have the amount of
dollars that we have. And when russ Vote and the
Office of Management and Budget are trying to navigate through this,
(04:57):
they have to set parities of what's going to be
essential and what's not. And there will may very well
be we've talked about shrinking the size of government, there
may be a number of federal employees that may fall
in the category of waste, fraud, and abuse or waste
at least, and that those those positions could be eliminated
(05:19):
and therefore fired and they would not get back paid.
But most of the federal employees that are just purely furloughed,
they will get back paid. Uncertain of that and will
be continued to be taken care of. But I think
that's what the President was speaking of. There may be
those that do not fall within the priority of the
(05:39):
administration and what we're trying to do, and those folks
those jobs may be eliminated in this situation. So I
don't know that that part of it is I think
where he was saying they are and speaking to it.
But I think the federal employees that are out, they
do get back paid when the government shutdown is over
(06:02):
and they're back end.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
This is Good Morning BT seven thirty seven on WBT Friday,
October tenth. Bowen Beth here in the historic Tyboid studio
talking to Congressman Mark Harris, who joins us once a
week here on the Great Colossus.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
And I got to tell you, Congressman Harris, our listeners
love the conversation that we're having with you, and they're
chiming in on the text line, Lance texted us with
the question, he wanted me to ask you what are
the three to five issues that are holding the budget
up from approval.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Well, again, this is really not budget approval that we're
waiting on the Senate to vote on. We're waiting on
the Senate to basically just approve the CR, which is
nothing but a date. I mean, November twenty first is
what was in the CR. As the clean of CR.
You can imagine that just basicly, we said we've got
(07:00):
appropriation bills that we've got to move, and there's twelve
of those. We passed three of them. The Senate has
passed three. They don't exactly linked up, so they're going
to conference committee. But then there are more appropriation bills
than the Hopper that have been passed out of the committee.
The Houses moved all twelve out of committee. They've just
got to get to the floor and they've got to
(07:22):
be voted on. So that's going to be the actual
budget and trying to get those appropriation bills completed. So
that's not what holding it up. The Senate is simply
just not voting. They're being held up by other Dems.
That are not willing to simply pass the cr that
gives us till November twenty. First, that's what the hold
(07:45):
up is right now. So it's not an actual budget
at this particular point that's holding it up.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Congresslet me switch switch gears to what has been a
huge story this week. And you know, President Trump has
been able apparently to pull something off here that if
you thought could happen, and it apparently apparently we have
a peace deal in the Middle East. Of course, we're
still waiting to see how this all gets hammered out.
And as he said a few nights ago, this is
(08:14):
in various phases, but phase one is the apparent agreement
to end the conflict there in Gaza. What are your
thoughts on where we are with this?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Well, I got to tell you both of you, you've
been very gracious and have been with me ever since
I got the Congress on January third of this year.
If you had asked me on January third if we
would be at a peace deal in the Middle East
by October, I would have said, you know, I believe
this is going to be a transformational government. I believe
(08:46):
that we're going to see some amazing things happen with
President Trump in the White House. To be honest, I
don't know that any of us ever dreamed that we
would be sitting where we are with this kind of
potential broad deal. And obviously the cease fire is now
coming underway and the hostages are set to be released
(09:08):
within I think the next seventy two hours. The President
is going to Israel and is going to address the
knesse It. From what I understand, the imitation has been
given and formally and he is accepted. And if you
would have asked me that at the beginning of this year,
I would have said, Wow, I don't know that that
would be on my bingo card that we would be
(09:30):
at this point. But to God be the glory, this
is something we've been praying for. I looked at a
list last night of the twenty living hostages that they
think are living that are going to be released, and
the three young men that I met their families in
February that came to my office in Canon, my office
(09:51):
building in Washington, All three of those young men that
we have been praying for are on this list. So
I get pretty excited a little emotional, and I think
about the fact that these three may very well have survived.
And one of them was just over a month or
so ago, when he was used in a propaganda video
(10:11):
Bahamas being forced to dig his own grave. He looked
like he was starving. Evatar Dave, I'm very anxious to
see that he comes out along with these others.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
You can definitely hear the emotion in your voice, Congressman.
You know, on Fridays, we always, and we're about to
do this at seven point fifty, we offer people the
chance to tell us something good because there are so
many negative headlines, so many headlines that make people feel
divided or scared in their communities, and we offer people
(10:45):
a chance to tell us something good that's happening in
their lives, to remind us of all of the things
that unite us. So as we let you go on
this Friday, although you did just tell us something really good,
tell us something, tell us something good coming out of
Washington that people can feel hopeful about.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Well, I believe this has to be it, Beth. I
mean to me, this is the most exciting thing that
we've seen in some time. I mean, I can tell
you Nimrod Cohen Colon is one of the guys and
Avatar Nadi that I mentioned in Guy Gilboa dash Delau.
(11:24):
Those are the three guys whose posters are outside my
office that we've been praying for. And the fact that
I see their names on the lists of the twenty
that are expected or thought to be alive that are
going to be released, we hope that to me is
incredible and I'm holding out hope and excited about the
(11:45):
possibilities within the next forty eight to seventy two dollars
of seeing those hostages come home.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Congressman, we really appreciate you joining us as always part
of our week here on Good Morning BT, and we'll
talk to you again soon. Hope you have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Thank you. I hope you'll do as well.
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