'Come Back to Work:' Rep. Beth Van Duyne to Texas Dems

Bloomberg

05-08-2025

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00:00Is it correct to assume that these will in fact be five red districts? Will Latino voters make that happen? Well, I mean, that's what it looks like. I mean, if you've seen if you've seen the destruction, you understand that it was looking like it will be a potential five new seats, five new Republican seats in Texas. And I'll guess a lot of that has to do with making sure that the Hispanic voters that came out for Donald Trump in 2024 are still there. And I think they are. I mean, if you think about the amazing amount of work that has been done in the first six months of this presidency, he's doing what he said. He's fixing the economy. He secured the border. I think these are things that Texans really appreciate that they want. They've been very adamant about. I think we're delivering. And as a result, they're going to appreciate that come with the the midterms. But I will tell you to my colleagues, I guess they're not necessarily like my Democrat friends in the Texas Congress. Look, come back to work. You flee this state. This is like the fourth the fifth time that you've done this. All this is doing is extending. You are preventing actual state work from getting done. You are preventing people right now who are considered one of the worst disasters in our in our state's history with the flooding. And you're preventing them from getting aid, you're preventing property tax reform from happening. It's time you get back to work. Well, the congresswoman couldn't the majority just usually decide to separate these issues in special session, address the dire needs of those who are afflicted, affected by those floods without necessarily redrawing the map that is causing issue for Democrats. They need to get back to work. I mean, the fact is that you get work on the House floor right now. They have pledged an oath to their, you know, their constituents that they would be there for a vote. Look, I was in the minority my first two years in Congress. I understand how frustrating that can be. But you have a voice for a reason and you have those votes for a reason. When you were absent, when you were M.I.A. You were doing your constituents no use at all. Hmm. What do you think, Congresswoman? If Gavin Newsom makes good on his threat to do the very same thing If Texas moves. California moves. Now we've got another status quo. Then another state happens, and we just keep rewriting the maps to infinity. I think California has already done this. If you look at the fact that statewide Californians, they vote 40% statewide Republican, and yet they only have nine nine out of 52 congressional seats. California has already done this. New York has already done this. Illinois has already done this. Massachusetts already done this. Maryland already done this. What was frustrating to Democrats is that Republicans are now doing this. But the fact is that President Bush, if he does not win the midterms, will not be able to complete his agenda to the American people that they supported, you know, two years ago. On top of that, what my Democratic colleagues had promised is that they were going to defund it and they're going to spend the last two years of this presidency on impeachment. I don't think that moves forward are agenda at all. I don't think that helps relieve the tax burdens of Americans. I don't think that makes our our businesses any more competitive. I don't think that secures our border. I just think that leads to two years of frustration. So, look, Democrats have been doing this for decades. Republicans in Texas are now just doing this. This is completely within their constitutional rights to do it. And I support it. Well, of course, Republicans in Texas have also done this before. This is not the first time, Congresswoman, But as we consider as you talk about how important the midterms will be to enacting the rest of President Trump's agenda. And we consider the reception some of your colleagues are getting now that you're in recess and in your home districts at town halls, it might not spell necessarily great things for 2026. This is something we spoke about with Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. This is what he had to tell us and we'll have you respond. People are saying, well, these town halls are not representative. They don't really mean anything. Democrats are showing up in large numbers. Aha. They have the energy to do it. And the Republicans are not showing a comparable energy to match them or what matters in midterm elections with lower turnout. Energy matters. Congresswoman, are you concerned by the reception you see some of your Republican colleagues getting at home? No. I think if you actually start paying attention to who's coming to those events to find out that they're getting paid to come there, that then you have a few people who actually live in the district. But these are these are staged events. This is political theater. I know when I go home and I have roundtables, when I'm talking to people, what they're concerned about is they are happy that this president, this administration, has taken our security at the border seriously and has done something about it. They are happy that we just passed one of the best tax bills that we've ever seen. I just had a town hall yesterday. I had out a small business roundtable with small business owners with around the district. They are thrilled that we were able to pass that one big beautiful bill by 4th of July, which is what the promise the president had promised. Those are actually actions that mean something. They are going after right now trade, trade of fairness with countries that have treated us considerably unfairly over the last few years. These are all things that will benefit the American people. They recognize that. And I think the rest is political theater and get to the bottom line. Who is paying for it? Why are they paying for it? It's 100% to be able to keep on to power and influence. Well, what can you tell us about that? Because that's a pretty serious allegation. We had over 700 people in line to see Mike Flood in two evenings ago in Nebraska. So they're all paid actors. Who whose payroll are they on? Look, what I would suggest is that when you start seeing people show up, that all have the same talking points and they all have the same signs. Somebody should have the same T-shirt. There's an organization behind that when they're getting bussed in. There's an organization behind that. And look, I am all for town halls. I've been doing it my entire political career. We've actually done them online because you don't get the haters there. You have people who are attending who do not agree with you, but you can at least listen to their questions. It's respectful for the people to attend. And we ended up having over 10,000 people participate in our town hall. We'd no way we'd be able to find a venue that would hold that many people for a town hall in our district. So I think, you know, there's a way to be able to do it, to answer people's questions, to be held accountable, to hear what your constituents have to say. But, you know, this political theater, I think, is very destructive. I think it's very dangerous. I think some of them have an opportunity to turn violent. And I would hate to put our police officers or the people who are going there to actually ask questions and get answers in jeopardy. Well, obviously, Congresswoman, none of us want to see violence. If I could return to a point you were making a few minutes ago, the idea that Texas Democratic lawmakers need to get back to Texas to do their legislative work. It is worth noting that the House actually recessed early for the month of August. The speaker let you all go home ahead of schedule to avoid a vote on the Epstein Files. So when you get back to Washington and back to work, what are you expecting to happen on that front? What do you want to see? What's to come? I've got a couple of questions. The way that question was asked. First of all, we didn't adjourn early for that. And the fact that if people had really wanted that out a vote, they could have done it within due order. We were going to we were going to recess. It had we stayed in for for the remainder of the week. It would not have promoted that that agenda going on the floor. And the people who put that forward knew the timing of that. They did it a day late. However, I take exception to the fact that we are not working when we are not in D.C. In fact, I do a lot more work when I'm not in D.C.. In fact, tomorrow I'm told. That's understood. Congresswoman, I understand the constituent work is important. That was not my suggestion. I just wonder when you return to legislative session. Yeah. Yeah, well, we just. What you're expecting with the files and part of the one day beautiful bill was it was requiring, you know, job requirements, you know, for people who are on Medicaid. In my district, we're having a job fair on Thursday. Last year, we had between 25 and 30,000 people attend that. We had over 500 businesses. We're doing the work of our constituents when we are home, back in the district, not all of us are, you know, hanging out at the pool or hanging out at the gym, but we're actually working. So when we go back in the fall, September 1st or second, right after Labor Day, we're going to be working on a reconciliation bill. We're going to be working on resistance packages. They're going to be coming from the White House. We're going to be working on our preparations and some way to fund the government. These are all things that we're doing. But while I'm home, I'm doing roundtables, we're doing business tours. And like I said, we're happy. Well, we're helping pragmatically with the largest independent job fair in the country. Well, and I appreciate all of that. Congresswoman. Again, my suggestion was not about the work you're doing at home. My question was purely about the work ahead of you when you return to Washington. I understand your focus on appropriations, but does that mean you would not like to see a vote to put this Epstein issue to bed? Well, I've already said I'm for full transparency. I think everything needs to be put out there that can legally put out there that has not been prevented by courts from being disclosed. That would not harm any continuing investigation and that did not harm victims. I think all the information needs to go out there.