Share This Podcast

• Check out Daniella’s reporting – www.notus.org/daniella-diaz
• Call Congress – 202-224-3121
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast

Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/

TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Monday, September 15th, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, the show saluting Pudge the Cat, the unofficial mascot of Bowling Green’s college football team. The three-year-old Persian Shorthair hangs out in the locker room and even visits the sideline on occasion. According to Bowling Green player George Carlson, Pudge’s owner, Pudge is pretty into the whole thing, since it usually comes with lots of pets. [music break] On today’s show, new details emerge about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. And President Donald Trump sets his sights on Memphis, saying it’s the National Guard’s next stop. But let’s start with the potential for a government shutdown. Yes, again. Federal government funding will run out on September 30th, and without legislation to keep the lights on, the government will shut down on October 1st. Now you might be thinking, didn’t we do this, like a few months ago? And yeah, we did. Back in March, the Senate approved a short-term spending bill with the help of 10 Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. And if Republicans want to keep the government open, their tiny majority in both chambers of Congress ensures that they’ll need Democrats to sign onto a deal. But Democrats aren’t so inclined to avoid a shutdown this time. And if they’re going to agree to a short term spending bill, they want something in return. Namely, the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are due to expire at the end of this year. Without an extension, the nonpartisan research group KFF estimates that the cost of premiums for folks enrolled in an ACA health care plan, an estimated 25 million people, could rise 75%. Republicans, on the other hand, don’t seem inclined to reach across the aisle, even if it means the government goes dark, particularly since Senate Minority Leader Schumer balked on a shutdown last time. Here’s Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt on Fox News Sunday. 

[clip of Senator Katie Britt] Unfortunately, what we’ve seen from Senator Schumer is that he is incapable of putting what is best for America first. He literally has been no show Schumer as we worked through different things last week. He was holed up in his office because he is afraid of his own shadow and afraid of who might actually challenge him coming forward. 

Jane Coaston: Sounds like someone doesn’t take Chuck Schumer very seriously. So to talk more about the potential for a shutdown and why this time might be different for Democrats, I spoke to Daniella Diaz. She’s a congressional reporter for Notice, a nonprofit DC journalism organization. Daniella, welcome to What a Day. 

Daniella Diaz: Thanks for having me. 

So you report that lawmakers are working on a plan that would keep the government funded past the September deadline. What’s the plan and where does it actually stand? 

Daniella Diaz: Jane, if you talk to Republicans, they’re saying that they want to try to have some sort of stopgap measure, which would essentially fund the government at its current levels, at least through November. But if you talked to Democrats, they are saying there’s just no way that they’re going to get behind what we call a clean CR, clean continuing resolution at its current levels unless they can negotiate with Republicans over extending those affordable care act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. If you remember, Jane, earlier this year, we saw some Senate Democrats vote with Republicans to pass a continuing resolution. 

Jane Coaston: Right. 

Daniella Diaz: That would lead us to where we are right now. So it’s unclear whether they will, quote unquote, as some House Democrats say, “fold again” to fund the government at its current levels. It seems like Democrats are willing to put up more of a fight this time around. 

Jane Coaston: It seems to me that to your point about what Republicans want and what Democrats want being so different, like that that obviously puts the chances of an agreement pretty low, but what’s going on among Republicans right now? Because are we seeing the same sorts of differences between kind of the freedom caucus side and the non-freedom caucus side that we saw a couple of months ago? 

Daniella Diaz: If you talk to the majority of Republicans, which I do every day here on Capitol Hill, most of them want actual appropriations bills, so actual bills that set the funding levels of what you know different–

Jane Coaston: You mean not just having stopgap measures for the rest of our lives? 

Daniella Diaz: Not just having a stopgaps measures at the same levels that have been happening for the last couple of months. They actually want to see an appropriations process, which is essentially what Congress is supposed to do is set the government funding levels each year. But if you talk to those really conservative members, the Freedom Caucus guys, the guys that really love President Donald Trump and are very MAGA, they’re gonna say, what’s the point of raising funding levels to any department? We should just keep the government funded at its current levels, maybe try to help the Department of Defense and raise that funding. But other than that, why do we need to raise spending? We wanna cut spending. So even within the Republican Party, Jane, those discussions are happening too, but it’s not new. This happens every time that there is government funding talks on Capitol Hill. It’s like Groundhog Day every couple of months when these conversations begin and end once they pass a package. 

Jane Coaston: I mean, I think that that’s the weirdest thing about this, is that we did this like a couple of months ago. We were both here, like I was alive, I remember all of this, but it does feel different right now to me. Does it feel different to you? Does the vibe feel different? And if so, why? 

Daniella Diaz: I think there are a lot of factors for why it’s different right now than it is in March. First of all, Elon Musk is not playing a role in all of this because he’s not part of DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. And he was the one, you know, really in Donald Trump’s ear saying, we need to cut spending in all the departments, keep the appropriations bills low. This time around, it seems like Republicans and Republican leadership do want to set top-line funding numbers and work with Democrats on that because they can’t do it alone. I think that’s something the average American who’s just tuning in to government spending every couple of months when it’s in the headlines may not understand is that Republicans, even though they control the House and the Senate and the White House, they can’t pass bills, even a CR, a stopgap measure, without Democratic help. So even if they want to say they want do all of these things, they kind of have to work with Democrats and Democrats seem like they’re willing to fight. 

Jane Coaston: Now, the White House reportedly sent along the President’s anomalies list. Can you tell me what that is and how that might impact negotiations? 

Daniella Diaz: Right, I got a copy of those anomalies. They sent them yesterday. It basically addresses all of the things that the White House wants included, if they’re able to pass something to continue funding the government past September 30th. Now, hidden in that anomalies list was a suggestion that the Republicans try to pass a continuing resolution through January 2026 or January 31st of next year. We had known that the White House’s position was a longer CR, but they put it in writing in an anomalies list that they sent to the Republican leaders that included a bunch of other provisions from different departments of things that they wanted. So whether or not Republicans move forward and do their own plan or listen to the White house, which is typically what Republicans on Capitol Hill do, if the White House tells them to do something, they do it, remains to be seen. So far, I talked to top appropriations leaders, including Tom Cole, who’s the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, who said, look, we’re flexible, we’ll see what time the stopgap measure happens. They say they would prefer something that goes through Thanksgiving or the holidays, the Christmas holidays, uh December holidays, because it adds more pressure, and then they can scramble and try to pass the rest of the appropriations bills before the end of the year so that they at least get something done sooner. So we’ll see if they actually are able to achieve that because a lot can change between now and September 30th. 

Jane Coaston: Yeah. Is it common to try and get a CR that would go until next, like, January 31st, 2026? That seems to be kicking the can way down the road. 

Daniella Diaz: I mean if you know Congress the way I do, Jane. That’s a lot of what they do around here, is uh kick the can down the road. 

Jane Coaston: I feel like they’ve been kicking the can for like eight years. 

Daniella Diaz: Oh my goodness. I’ve lost track of how many government funding fights I’ve covered in the, you know, on and off eight years I’ve covered Congress. Um. It’s pretty standard to hear them talk about just figuring out a temporary solution to buy more time. It’s interesting to me because they knew this deadline was coming up. This is always the question that we ask lawmakers on both sides. You knew that September 30th was coming up, why is it now a scramble when you saw this deadline coming? But again, as I said earlier, Congress doesn’t tend to do much until they’re faced with a major deadline and that’s really when you see them move quickly. 

Jane Coaston: Look, that was me in college. I get it. I totally understand. 

Daniella Diaz: We all procrastinate. 

Jane Coaston: As you mentioned, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for both parties to come to the table to work out a bipartisan funding deal. But a lot of Democrats, like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy, seem to be saying, you know what, fuck it. Let’s do a shutdown. Do you care to read some tea leaves here as to how this might play out over the next three weeks? As you keep saying, like no one really knows what will happen until we get to basically like the end of September, but what are you seeing and what are you thinking right now? 

Daniella Diaz: I will say, Jane. This is also similar to a question you asked earlier. It feels very different this time around than March because let’s flash back for a second. Do you remember what happened in March when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sided with Republicans with a handful of Democrats that were able to get that CR across the finish line? And then that next week, he couldn’t even do a press tour for his book. 

Jane Coaston: Nope. 

Daniella Diaz: Because he was getting so much hate from Democrats. 

Jane Coaston: Everybody was very mad. 

Daniella Diaz: Because he helped Republicans pass a CR with nothing in exchange for it, quote unquote, what his own party said about him. He feels that pressure this time around. And of course, it doesn’t help that progressive Democrats have called for him to step aside as leader because of that decision in March, that a lot of House Democrats were doing that in town halls when that happened in March too. So I don’t think Schumer, if I could read his mind, he has not told me this directly, but based on what my knowledge in sourcing is eager for that kind of drama again. And he listens to voters. And there’s a lot of voters, democratic voters, that say it’s time for Democrats to fight for us and put something on the table with Republicans about what needs to be happening in exchange for whatever Republicans are gonna do to fund the government. So it does feel different in that sense. And to be clear, uh House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is already saying publicly, you know, Democrats on the House side are aligned. We are going to stick together in this. We have a lot of things that we’re asking Republicans for, including extending ACA subsidies, which they find to be a priority and addressing before the end of the year. So that’s why there’s a lot more pressure on Schumer to do something about this because he kind of has more weight and power in these negotiations with Republicans on this. 

Jane Coaston: Now I used to live in D.C. I remember having a couple of government shutdowns because all of my friends who worked for the federal government suddenly were at the bar. But can you remind us what actually happens if the government shuts down? 

Daniella Diaz: Yeah. A lot of departments stop functioning the way you’re used to, you know, you might need to call someone about your student loans and someone’s not going to be on the other line to pick up that call. You might need you might have an issue with your taxes and need to address, you know, the IRS, there might not be someone on that other line. But another thing to note is there will be people working in these departments who are not going to get paid. And I’m not sure how many people want people in the military serving without a paycheck coming to them. Uh. Because that’s what’s gonna happen. I mean, it’s going to have a massive effect on the economy across the country. People are not getting their paychecks for their government jobs, which by the way, are not just in DC, but in every state.  

Jane Coaston: Daniella Diz, thank you so much for joining me. 

Daniella Diaz: Thank you for having me. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Daniella Diaz a congressional reporter for Notice. We’ll link to her work on our show notes We’ll get to more of the news in a moment But if you like the show make sure to subscribe leave a five-star review on Apple podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today. 

[sung] Headlines.

[clip of Spencer Cox] There was kind of that deep, dark internet, uh the Reddit culture and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep. 

Jane Coaston: That’s Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, giving new details about the suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk. A 22-year-old Utah man was taken into custody on Thursday. As of Sunday night, the suspect hasn’t been cooperating with authorities, and investigators haven’t established an official motive. But Governor Cox says the suspect held, quote, “leftist ideology,” and that friends and family have provided information. Cox says one source has been the suspect’s roommate, who is also his romantic partner. Authorities have indicated the partner has provided private messages that incriminate the suspect. Investigators are also looking into a note left behind by the alleged shooter. In the New York Times reports, the suspect even joked in a group chat that his doppelganger was the killer. Formal charges are expected Tuesday. In that same interview with Meet the Press on Sunday, Governor Cox made his umpteenth attempt to get people to curb political polarization. 

[clip of Spencer Cox] The most powerful companies in the history of the world have figured out how to hack our brains, get us addicted to outrage, which is the same type of dopamine, the same chemical that you get from taking fentanyl, get us to addicted to outrage and get us to hate each other. I’m seeing it in real time since the tragic death of Charlie Kirk. 

Jane Coaston: He has his work cut out for him. President Trump said that Kirk’s backers should respond without violence, but he also blamed people on the left for the killings, saying they’re, quote, “vicious and they’re horrible.” And Trump’s senior advisor, Stephen Miller, echoed this sentiment on Fox News on Friday. 

[clip of Stephen Miller] There is a domestic terrorism movement in this country. When you see these organized doxxing campaigns, where the left calls people enemies of the republic, calls them fascists, says they’re Nazis, says they are evil, says that they have to be removed, and then prints their addresses, what do you think they’re trying to do? They are trying to inspire someone to murder them. 

Jane Coaston: MAGA’s troll-in-chief, Laura Loomer, agreed. On Twitter, she wrote that folks on the right should fear assassination attempts against them. She went on to say that she’d ruin the career of anyone who reveled in Kirk’s death. Apparently, there’s now a website to help her with that. It aims to ID and shame anyone who celebrated Kirk’s murder or even people referencing Kirk’s actual statements. The internet is terrible right now, so of course some people have actually already lost their jobs. And some people listed on the site are reporting death threats against them! There are signs that Charlie Kirk’s own social media empire will return to the fray. Widow Erika Kirk spoke on her late husband’s YouTube channel Friday. 

[clip of Erika Kirk] The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry. To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die. 

Jane Coaston: Social media accounts run by Charlie Kirk and his organization, Turning Point USA, have attracted millions of new followers since his death. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] We’re going to Memphis. Memphis is–

[clip of unnamed person] That’s the next city? 

[clip of President Donald Trump] –deeply troubled. And the mayor is happy. He’s a Democrat mayor. The mayor is happy and the governor of Tennessee. The governor is happy. 

Jane Coaston: President Trump announced Friday that he set his sights on Memphis, Tennessee, for a National Guard deployment. Memphis is the third city thus far in his crime cracked down spectacular after Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Trump also floated that the deployment could include the military if necessary. Tennessee Republicans, including Senator Marcia Blackburn and Governor Bill Lee, predictably applauded the news. But as for the president’s claim that Memphis’ Democratic mayor is happy about it? Mayor Paul Young told CNN Saturday: 

[clip of Paul Young] Well, I’m certainly not happy about the National Guard. 

Jane Coaston: Trump initially had his sights on Chicago, but after a unified opposition from state and local Democrats, he backed down. In the latest deportation news, because yes, deportations are still happening, a federal judge said over the weekend it appeared the Trump administration was flouting US court orders that prohibited five African immigrants from being deported to their home countries. How? By sending them to Ghana, only to have Ghana, not the US, send the deportees to countries where they could face torture or even death. According to an ACLU lawyer, one of the plaintiffs has already been sent from Ghana to his native Gambia, even though a US court found he could not be sent there. Sound familiar? U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the government during an emergency hearing Saturday to detail its plans for the immigrants in Ghana. She said, quote, “I have not been shy about saying that I think this is a very suspicious scheme.” Agreed. A Department of Justice lawyer told Chukan in court that Ghana promised it wouldn’t deport those immigrants, and that Chutkan had no power to control how another country treats deportees anyway. Again, sound familiar? What an empathetic administration. And that’s the news. 

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, wish Qing Bao the Giant Panda a happy fourth birthday, and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just about Qing Bao, who lives at the National Zoo in D.C. and had a fruitcicle cake to celebrate with hundreds of Panda fans like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston, and after 30 minutes of eating fruit and opening presents, including a new ball, Qing Bao climbed into a tree and took a nap, a model for all of us. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Emily Fohr. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Megan Larsen, Gina Pollack, and Jonah Eatman. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our senior vice president of news and politics is Adriene Hill. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [music break]

[AD BREAK]