Just off her third win for U.S. Senate, Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin says she has not yet
received a call from her Republican challenger, Eric Hovde. Hovde did formally concede this
week, but it came two weeks after the election, and he continued to cast doubt on the razor-type
results. Senator Baldwin is back in Washington and joins us now, and thanks very much for
being here.
It's my pleasure to join you.
So congratulations on your win.
Thank you.
What is your reaction to Eric Hovde continuing to cast doubt, though, on the election process?
Look, it was a free and fair election, and the results are in.
I stand by what the Wisconsin voters have done in terms of placing their trust in me for another
term, but also electing Donald Trump as their presidential candidate.
And I think it's incumbent upon all candidates to stand by the results of a free and fair
election.
What allowed you to narrowly win while Kamala Harris fell short?
You know, my M.O. as a senator, but also as a candidate for reelection, is to travel
the state extensively, show up matters, showing up matters, I listen deeply to people, and
then I deliver results.
And I've done this now for years.
I don't just go to blue parts of the state.
I go to deeply red parts of the state, rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas.
And I think showing up really does matter.
And I think that it takes time to build trust and to build relationships, and that's what
I've invested in.
Clearly, out of the new Trump administration, we're looking at some seismic policy shifts
with Republicans taking both chambers and the presidency.
What can you and others in the minority meaningfully accomplish?
Look, I'm going to approach this session the same way I have all the time.
I'm fighting for Wisconsin, and there are things that I can do in a bipartisan basis
to fight for the people of the state.
As I have in the past, I've served in both the minority and the majority party in the
United States Senate.
And when there are things that this administration offers that are not in the interests of the
people of Wisconsin, I will stand up to them.
And that's always what I've done, regardless of who is president or regardless of which
party is in control of the Senate.
As to President-elect Trump's cabinet picks, what is your reaction to some of those nominated
and I'll just name them, Matt Gaetz for AG, Tulsi Gabbard for National Intelligence,
Pete Hegseth for Defense, and RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services?
Well, there's obviously a lot of work ahead of us, and the Senate plays a role of advise
and consent.
And I demand that we're going to do that because there's obviously been some discussion
of President-elect Trump trying to make some recess appointments.
We don't want that to happen.
We want to make sure that, can I stop right now?
I'm sorry, this is a life to take.
There's somebody making a lot of construction noise outside the door.
Can we just get them to stop and is it very—I'm sorry, somebody's drilling or hammering.
I apologize.
No, that's fine.
It must have—
It's a life to take thing before my own.
It must be distracting, but we couldn't hear it at all, which is really interesting.
That's really great.
Yeah.
That's really great.
Yeah.
Anyways.
Hopefully—
Well, we can make sure—
I think we have to stop for a while.
Okay.
We're set.
I apologize for that.
I'm very distracted.
We even if you couldn't hear it.
No, we couldn't.
Can you take that from the top?
Great.
Yeah.
I'll just jump in on the last question that I asked you.
Yeah.
Okay.
So, as to President-elect Trump's cabinet picks, what is your reaction to some of those
nominated?
And I will name them Matt Gaetz for AG, Tulsi Gabbard for National Intelligence, Pete Hegseth
for Defense and RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services?
Well, the Senate plays a very important role of advise and consent, and we want to make
sure we stick to that, by the way, because there's been some threats of the incoming
administration to do recess appointments, which I think would be entirely unacceptable
given the very solemn role that we play in terms of advise and consent.
I am really going to be looking at these candidates with an eye on how the agencies
that they will oversee and how this will impact the people of Wisconsin.
And so, I expect that these candidates will be vetted first, and then we will have hearings.
I'm already thinking about the type of questions I would want to ask somebody like the nominee
to head Health and Human Services.
I mean, Wisconsinites rely upon vaccines to prevent things like measles and mumps.
We rely upon the National Institutes for Health to be doing cutting-edge research to try to
create better treatments for cancer and cures for disease.
We rely on the Centers for Disease Prevention for Preventive Measures, and I want to have
a clear understanding of how these nominees would steward these agencies.
And so, I expect that the process of advise and consent will take place, and I will fight
for that, and I will scrutinize these nominees very carefully.
Former Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy was selected for Transportation Secretary.
How might that benefit Wisconsin?
Well, we have passed the bipartisan infrastructure law, and we have a number of really vital projects
that are going on in the state, among them efforts to build out broadband so that every
resident in Wisconsin has access to high-speed internet.
We have a bridge project in northern Wisconsin connecting the city of Superior with the city
of Duluth in Minnesota, the Blotnik Bridge Replacement Project.
There's a billion dollars of federal funding going into that project.
We have amazing things happening throughout the state, including major investments in
public transit, and I think having a Wisconsin candidate filling that position is something
that would be very helpful in terms of advocacy for completion of those projects.
We have also in the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
This is outside of the transportation sector, but very ambitious projects to replace all
the lead drinking water utilities, the lead laterals that exist in our drinking water
systems, and so making sure that we see these projects through is really vital.
But on the transportation sector, when we're talking about roads and bridges, air travel
and rail, I think having a Wisconsin advocate would be helpful to our state.
What real concerns do you have that the Affordable Care Act, which you were so involved in,
will be scratched, and what would be the implications of that?
Well, I certainly worry, as I have heard, you know, within the last year, President-elect
Trump talk about repealing the Affordable Care Act.
It would have devastating results.
There are tens of millions of Americans who have health care because of the Affordable
Care Act.
The fact that we have told the powerful insurance companies that you can no longer discriminate
against people based on a preexisting health condition or existing health condition has
meant that so many can now get health care who couldn't in the years before the Affordable
Care Act.
But I think we also have to build upon it, and so we have to fight against any efforts
to repeal.
But we also have to make it even more accessible and affordable for Americans.
You just voted present on three resolutions to block arms sales to Israel.
Why?
You know, the measures that were before the Senate did not achieve the goals that I have
articulated time and time again.
So first of all, Israel has the right to defend itself.
The attacks on October 7th by Hamas terrorists were horrific, killing 1,200, resulting in
hostages being taken, including some American hostages.
But the conduct of the Netanyahu government in executing its war in Gaza has caused the
lives of too many innocent Palestinians to be lost.
And I have called for a ceasefire for nearly a year now.
That has to happen.
The hostages must be released.
We must surge humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Those are the goals that I have.
And the vote options before me yesterday did not achieve those goals.
What will be your sharp focus now that you're back in Washington?
My short focus or sharp focus?
Sharp.
Alright, so it's definitely fighting for Wisconsin, and it's the kitchen table issues
that I've been hearing about throughout this campaign and throughout recent years.
You know, the affordability of things that people need, groceries, their health care,
their prescription medications, housing, child care, those things are vital.
But also, I'm going to continue to be a champion for the restoration of rights and freedoms
that have been lost, particularly the restoration of Roe v. Wade.
And that's going to be a long battle.
At this point in time, I want to make sure that the threats that we have heard for a
national abortion ban are, I'm going to make sure that we fight against that fiercely.
And a champion for a plan to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.
What is your message to Wisconsin?
So narrowly split politically.
So purple.
Look, I still think we have a lot more in common than we do that separates us.
And I know a lot of people are still in disbelief that Wisconsinites place their trust
in me, but also opted to elect Donald Trump, both by narrow margins.
But I think it is about, you know, that we have much more in common.
And I think the things that you just asked me about in terms of my sharp focus in the
future are those things that we have to fight for making things more affordable to Wisconsin
families, more accessible to Wisconsin families, that we have to make sure that people have
access and opportunity for great jobs with family supporting wages and that we need
to fight to restore rights and freedoms that have been lost.
Senator Tammy Baldwin, thank you very much.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
That happened to you with the construction.
But again, we didn't hear it.
I'm so glad.
All right, thank you.