Latest news with #EyeOnPolitics
CBS News
29-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Sen. Ted Cruz pushes for low tariffs on call with President Trump, he says
When it comes to controversial tariffs, Sen. Ted Cruz said President Donald Trump could go down two very different paths. "I think we face a fork in the road," Cruz said. Striking deals on tariffs In an interview on CBS News Texas Eye On Politics, Cruz said he prefers the first path: striking deals with countries on tariffs, a tax paid for by companies importing goods from outside the U.S., that experts say are passed onto the consumer. "President Trump, if he negotiates lower tariff rates with all our trading partners, that will be a historic win for Texas and the whole country," Cruz said. "So I am urging him to energetically go down that road and that would be a massive economic victory President Trump could deliver." Tariff rates as a long-term policy The second path Mr. Trump could go down, Cruz said, would be keeping tariffs at high rates as a long-term policy. "That outcome, that path, would be a disaster. That would be bad for Texas, bad for America," said Cruz. "So, what I'm urging the president is go down path number one, don't go down path number two." Cruz said that several weeks ago, he and five other Senators were on a late-night phone call with the president that went on for more than an hour and past midnight. "I got to say, it was a pretty chippy call," Cruz said. "He was arguing back. When you have a policy disagreement with the president, he swings back at you. At the end of the call, we weren't sure how it went." The next day, he said the president announced a pause on his retaliatory tariffs for three months, prompting the financial markets to take off, after experiencing steep declines. "My hope is 30-60-90 days from now, global tariff levels across the world are dramatically lower," said Cruz. Rep. Johnson critical of Trump's tariff policy U.S. Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, criticized the president's tariff policy. "It's just reckless and irresponsible. It's erratic and unpredictable," said Johnson. In an interview with CBS News Texas Eye On Politics, Johnson said that as a result, the tariffs have caused widespread uncertainty among business owners in North Texas and across the country. "That's why we've seen so many companies threatening to lay off folks, halting orders, shopping," said Johnson. :We've seen a tank in the stock market, the unpredictability and the recklessness by which Trump is proceeding down. This tariff plan is really causing havoc on the markets." Johnson said that she believes Congress should take a more active role in tariff policy so that the president doesn't have all the power. Congress gave up that authority to the president decades ago. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump warned lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he would veto a Senate resolution that ends his emergency declaration on tariffs. Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming
CBS News
27-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Julie Johnson weigh in on President Trump's tariffs
As President Trump's tariffs continue to cause uncertainty in the financial markets and broader economy, two Texas lawmakers spoke with Jack Fink for "Eye On Politics" about the issue. Rep. Julie Johnson, a Democrat representing part of Dallas County, said the tariffs are reckless and irresponsible because the stated goal of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. will take a long time to implement. She also said Congress should use its authority to check the president's power. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz told Jack that he supports Mr. Trump using the tariffs as leverage to strike trade deals around the world. However, he warned that maintaining high tariffs and inviting retaliation from other countries will lead to disastrous consequences for the economy. Rep. Johnson and Sen. Cruz's conversations below are lightly edited for clarity. U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson on tariffs Jack Fink: Let's talk about tariffs. What do you make of the current situation there? And the president said that his goal is to bring manufacturing back to the United States. So talk to me about his thought there, and how it's being executed. Rep. Julie Johnson: Well, it's just reckless and irresponsible. It's erratic and unpredictable, and businesses can't plan on that. The other thing is, it's not reasonable to expect manufacturing to be able to be happened overnight. We can't just, 60 days from now, produce goods and services that companies have relied on. You know people import a lot of things from overseas. You know, Texas is the 9th largest economy in the world. Because of that we have a significant trading partner with Mexico and abroad as well, and, you know, a lot of times what will happen is you might manufacture something here, but you order component parts, and you order pieces from other countries to help manufacture that ultimate product. And you can't just turn that switch on. And so if we're not able to import, or we're not able to plan, then people are not able to fulfill their businesses, and that's why we've seen so many companies threatening to lay off folks, halting orders, stopping. We've seen a tank in the stock market. The unpredictability and the recklessness by which Trump is proceeding down, this tariff plan, is really causing havoc on the markets. Fink: There has been some discussion by members of Congress, members of the Senate, about passing a check of sorts on the executive branch as it relates to tariffs. Is that something you agree with? I've also seen some say it needs to be brought back to Congress from the executive branch where it started. Johnson: I agree. I think Congress should exercise its oversight, and this is an area of foreign policy that Congress has a check and balance on, and Congress needs to do that. Republicans in Congress so far have abdicated their oversight responsibility to the executive branch. They're giving away all of their power, they're not exercising the constitutional power that they have and it's really disappointing and unfortunate. Hopefully, in 2026, the Democrats will take back both chambers, and we can start exercising our power again. Watch the full interview with Congresswoman Johnson here: Sen. Ted Cruz on tariffs Jack Fink: You've expressed concerns about [tariffs] recently saying that they could result in, quote, a bad recession and even, quote, a bloodbath. Pretty strong words. So talk to me about that. Sen. Ted Cruz: Well, Jack, I think we face a fork in the road, and there are two different paths we can go down, one of which is very, very good and one of which is very, very bad. The good path. I think President Trump has a moment where he's got extraordinary leverage, leverage because of the tariffs that he's announced, to negotiate and secure much lower tariffs from our trading partners around the world. There are over 130 nations who have come to the White House now saying, we want to negotiate a deal, we want to lower our tariffs. And President Trump, if he negotiates lower tariff rates with all our trading partners, that will be an historic win for Texas and for the whole country. And so I am urging him energetically, go down that road. And that would be a massive economic victory President Trump could deliver. There's another path. And the other path, and there are some in the administration who advocate this, the other path is high tariffs forever in perpetuity. High American tariffs and high retaliatory tariffs from our trading partners. That outcome, that path would be a disaster. That would be bad for Texas, bad for America. So what I'm urging the president is go down path number one. Don't go down path number two. Fink: And how do you think he's leaning? Because lately he's, even yesterday, it seems like he's going to retreat even on the China tariffs. So what do you see is happening here? Because he has that divergence in the White House of people telling him one thing, people telling him another thing. So where does he end up on this? Cruz: So, you know, I as you know, I do a podcast every week called "Verdict with Ted Cruz." I've done several podcasts that are deep dives on the tariffs. And there was one where I described that President Trump on this issue of tariffs, he has angels and demons on his shoulders pulling him in both directions because there are prominent voices in his administration on both sides. So Elon Musk is one of the angels. Elon has been arguing for lower tariffs, use this to open up markets because American companies, American producers, can win all over the world if we open up markets. I'm urging the president, listen to the angels. And I'll tell you, two weeks ago, I spent over an hour on the phone with President Trump. There were five other senators on the phone with me. And it was late at night and we were urging him, go down path number one. And in particular, what I urged him, I said, look, pick a country, pick any country and negotiate a deal. Announce a deal where they slash their tariffs, we slash our tariffs. And I argued to him, look, that will, number one, calm the markets, and number two, give people confidence that we're going down path number one and not path number two. Now that call lasted past midnight on Tuesday night two weeks ago. And I got to say it was a pretty chippy call. He was he was arguing back, it was, when you have a policy disagreement with the president, he swings back at you. I spend a lot of time with President Trump talking about this and other issues. At the end of the call, we weren't sure how it went. But 12 hours later, at noon on Wednesday, President Trump announced the pause where he halted the tariffs on every country except for China. That was a massive victory. I saw President Trump the next night, I saw him on Thursday for a bill signing. He was signing into law legislation that I had authored, legislation benefiting cryptocurrency and bitcoin. The Biden administration had put in place IRS rules attacking cryptocurrency, and I authored legislation repealing that. So I was in the Oval Office for the bill signing, and the president was in a fabulous mood. And I told him, I said, Mr. President, you just produced the single greatest one-day increase in the stock market in the history of the country. When he announced the pause, the stock market took off. So I'm going to do everything I can to continue to encourage him, use the leverage you have. And to be clear, look, the president is absolutely right. There are countries all over the world that have unfair trading agreements with us. They put big tariffs on American goods and we don't tariff their goods. That's not right and that's not fair. Because President Trump has started with these tariffs, you know his negotiating style, he basically whacks you in the head with a two-by-four and then negotiates from there. And that can be very effective. The result is the president's got leverage right now we've never seen a president have on tariffs. And so my hope is 30, 60, 90 days from now, global tariff levels across the world are dramatically lower. And if that happens, that will truly be an historic economic victory. Fink: And will that erase all of the uncertainty that we've seen and all the the market volatility, because people have lost a lot of money. Cruz: I don't know if the uncertainty will be resolved. I have spent the last several weeks talking to a lot of business leaders in Texas, a lot of CEOs, a lot of small business leaders. And they're concerned, the uncertainty is a very real concern. I understand that. I'm also urging the administration, look, markets like certainty. Certainty gives those with capital a willingness to invest in capital, to build a new factory, to hire new workers. If there's uncertainty, a lot of people sit on their cash because they don't know what's going to happen. What I will say is, I think the battle between the two sides on tariffs, I expect that battle within the administration to play out for some time. And so we may not have absolute clear certainty any time soon, but I'm going to keep engaging day after day after day to say let's go down the path to lower tariffs, lower barriers and opening up markets around the world. Because, look, Texas, Texas farmers, ranchers, small businesses, manufacturers, we can compete and beat anyone in the world if we have a fair and level playing field. And I think President Trump has a huge opportunity to produce that fair and level playing field. Watch the full interview with Senator Cruz here:
CBS News
21-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Texas Senate could give final approval this week to bill giving students taxpayer money to attend private school
The Texas Senate will likely pass the controversial school choice bill this week. It was approved nearly one week ago by the House in a historic vote . While it was the first time the House gave the green light to a bill that will give taxpayer money to students to attend private school, the Senate has approved similar legislation multiple times, including earlier this year by a margin of 19-12 . One Republican joined all the Democrats to oppose the measure. The Senate will now likely have the same outcome when they vote again as early as Wednesday. On Friday, Lt. Patrick and Senate Education Committee Chairman Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, announced they are recommending to Senators that they pass the bill again as is, without making any additional changes. This keeps the legislation from being returned to the House and on a quick path to the Governor's desk. Democrats, including Senator Royce West of Dallas, said there's nothing they can do now to block Republicans in the Senate from passing it. "It pretty much is a done deal. The fact is, the Governor was able to get his votes," State Senator Royce West, D-Dallas, a member of the Senate K-16 Education Committee, told CBS News Texas Monday. "I would say to those who have bemoaned this bill, they should have voted, and we wouldn't be here. But we're here now. The question is, what do we do now with this new sort of choice that we have in the State of Texas?" Republicans have been celebrating the House vote. "I think it's a very positive thing," State Senator Brent Hagenbuch, R-Denton, said. "I think it looks like we're going to pass school of choice. Finally, after many years, I think of the effort of a lot of people. I think it's what the people of my district want, and the people of Texas want. So, I think it's a wonderful thing." Republicans said the bill prioritizes low-income students and those with disabilities. Democrats said they believe at the end of the day, most of the students who take part in the program will be wealthier students who attend private school now. As part of the $1 billion bill, most students who attend an accredited private school will receive $10,000 per year. Students with disabilities will receive up to $30,000 per year, and home-schooled students will get $2,000 a year. Last week, the Texas House also passed a school funding bill , which, when paired with other measures, will infuse $9 billion in new money for public schools. Both Senators Hagenbuch and West praise the bills. The Senate has already passed school funding bills, but will also soon consider the legislation passed by the House. Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming
CBS News
14-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
After Trump weigh-in, will a third Republican join Cornyn and Paxton in Texas Senate primary?
Aboard Air Force One over the weekend, President Donald Trump was asked if he'll make an endorsement in the already hotly contested GOP primary battle between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The president said, "They're both friends of mine, they're both good men. We'll make a determination at the right time." Longtime GOP Consultant Vinny Minchillo said there is no need for the president to pick sides this early. "We still have a long way to go," said Minchillo. "I do think the president will endorse in this race and I don't think it's going to come until the very end." When asked if that would be after the first of the year Vinchillo said, Yes." Paxton is close to the president, but Minchillo said Mr. Trump needs Cornyn's help in the Senate to pass his tax and spending cuts. "He's helped him out in the Senate, and he will continue to help him out in the Senate and get the president's agenda over the line," said Minchillo. The president also said he didn't know if another candidate would get into the Republican primary. One person who may be testing the waters is conservative Congressman Wesley Hunt of the Houston area. A group supporting Hunt called Standing For Texas, has been running ads in the Lone Star State, including the Dallas-Fort Worth TV market and in West Palm Beach, Florida, home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. At a White House event last week, the president complimented Hunt about the ad, saying, "Wesley, I love your commercial." That comment came just hours before Paxton announced his campaign on Fox News Channel. Minchillo said if Hunt does enter the race, it would change the dynamic. "I think he's looking at this race hard," said Minchillo. "Number one, he'd push it into a runoff, and number two, he would bring a whole new set of messages." When asked why Congressman Hunt would enter the race when two political titans are already in Minchillo said, "It's a high-risk move for Wesley Hunt. I think in a lot of ways, he and Ken Paxton would be splitting the anti-Cornyn vote, so he would hope to get in a runoff probably against Cornyn." There is still plenty of time. Candidates will have to start filing their campaign paperwork in November for the March primary. Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming
CBS News
13-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Texas lawmakers in Congress weigh in on Trump's paused tariffs
It was another wild week in the financial markets regarding President Trump's tariffs. Last week, the President suddenly pressed the pause button . The markets jumped, then retreated Thursday, only to bounce back Friday. Currently, three main tariffs are in place: A 145% tariff on all products made in China, a 25% tariff on imported autos, aluminum, steel, and products from Mexico and Canada not included in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trump's decision to pause many of his tariffs and trade policies in general has sparked a lot of comments and controversy. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, praised the President's actions. "He's got everybody's attention, and all these countries are coming to the table to negotiate. Ultimately, I think the goal should be zero tariffs, especially between friends and allies," Cornyn said. "I think the enhanced tariffs against China were entirely warranted. I am glad there will be a 90-day pause so those can be worked out." Rep. Jasmine Crockett , a Dallas Democrat, spoke with CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Major Garrett on CBS News 24/7 America Decides, criticizing the President's trade policy. "We are clearly on a rollercoaster, and it's not just those of us in the United States. It's our friends and enemies, and obviously, it is also the markets. I can't keep up with which way he is going when it comes to his strategy for the tariffs," Crockett said. "I hope we can get things on track. I hope that in a bipartisan way we can rein in this rogue wanna-be king." Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 a.m. Sunday on CBS News Texas on air and streaming on PlutoTV and the CBS News app. Follow Jack on X: @cbs11jack
