“If they’re going to go nuclear on this, it means they’re going to go nuclear on everything else or anything else.”
View the full interview here.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes to warn of the dangerous precedent set if Senate Republicans overrule the Senate parliamentarian to rollback California’s Clean Air Act waivers. He also discussed the destructive impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on California’s ports and the country and reiterated the dangers and extreme views of Ed Martin, January 6th sympathizer and Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney of the District of Columbia.
Key Excerpts:
On Senate Republicans’ plans to overrule the Senate parliamentarian:
[…] The Republicans hate California because we imposed these clean air and clean water rules. And because we’re such a big and influential state, a lot of other states follow suit as indeed they have our clean air rules. So in a way, California is leading the nation on environmental policy, particularly in years where we have a Republican presidency that is trying to push the country in the opposite direction. So they want to overturn California’s clean air rules, but the parliamentarian says you need 60 votes to do that. And they are poised to overrule the parliamentarian, to basically go nuclear, is what it’s called. […] If they go down that road, that same process will be used against them. I don’t think they want to go down that road, but at this moment, they are so determined to help polluters pollute more. They seem ready to do it.
[…] In a way, because they’re choosing something that, in the bigger scheme of things, is smaller than some of their other priorities. If they’re going to go nuclear on this, it means they’re going to go nuclear on everything else or anything else.
On Trump’s destructive tariffs impacting California’s ports and the economy:
[…] I was at one of California’s ports just a week or so ago, and they were talking about the real declines in traffic they’re seeing into the port, which they can see across the horizon, because you can see when ships leave from overseas, when they’re going to arrive. You can see the fall off in cargo containers. I think they’re expecting within the next couple weeks to see a third of their traffic disappear, and maybe even more, in terms of the number of cargo containers. So, it’s going to have a huge impact on the economy of our state, but it’s going to have a huge impact on the country’s economy.
And I think even if the president reverses course. And Chris, frankly, I think the president is going to cave, probably within the next couple of weeks. He’ll find some face-saving claim of a nonexistent deal to justify it. But even then, the damage in the near term is irreversible, and I think a lot of the damage he’s done is irreversible in the long term. He’s already caused the economy to contract. And we need to be doing everything we can to improve the economy. Doing things that are counterproductive, like these tariffs and like other body blows to the economy, I think are pushing the country towards a recession, which would be tragic, and Donald Trump will own it. It will be the Trump recession if it happens. And some of these, I think body blows are going to be hard to recover from.
On Ed Martin’s disqualifications as nominee:
[…] This is one of, if not the worst nominations Trump has made. And as you also said, it’s a pretty low bar, but this guy clears it. And this particular U.S. Attorney’s Office is very important. They all are, but this one handles not only federal crimes, but because it’s in the District of Columbia, a lot of serious state crimes as well. So, it’s really double duty in that office. The last thing you want is someone who has no prosecutorial experience, and Martin has none. The last thing you want is someone whose only relevant experience is defending people who violently attacked the Capitol. Who he believes should be restored whatever fines and restitution they paid and deserve reparations that is the perpetrators of that crime. Someone who dismissed the case against his own client — a plain ethical violation. Someone who has touted this Nazi sympathizer, this Hitler mustache-wearing sympathizer. This is a partial list, but the decision by Thom Tillis is significant. I put a hold on his nomination. Dick Durbin has called for a hearing in the Judiciary Committee. All of this has allowed us to get out more information to the Committee and the public about how dangerous a nominee he is.
[…] I wish I could say I’m confident it’s a done deal, but we have seen how the president, armed with this MAGA, very vocal wing around the country, can put incredible pressure on senators to confirm even the most unfit people. If Thom Tillis sticks with his position, it means that Ed Martin won’t get through our committee, but they may try to do an end run around the committee or find some other way to install him notwithstanding the expiration of his temporary appointment. So, I don’t think we’re out of the woods completely, but it is a positive sign that Republican senators are recognizing and starting to speak out about his patent unfitness for office.
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