>> A terrifying week in global warfare brings
cautious relief. Days later, by way of a two week
ceasefire in Iran, citizens on the sidelines may wonder
where their congressional representatives stand and
how they are responding to the war. Tonight, we turn
to second District Democratic Congressman Mark
Pocan. We should note we reached out to Republicans
in several districts without reply. Congressman,
thanks very much for being here.
>> Sure. >> Thank you. So on Tuesday
this week, the world was on tenterhooks waiting
president Trump's threat that a whole civilization
will die tonight unless Iran opened the Strait of
Hormuz and then the announcement of a cease
fire. The white House says it was a tactic that worked.
What do you say? >> You know, this is chaos
piled on top of chaos, piled on top of uncertainty,
right. I don't think Donald Trump, from day one really
had a plan on how to deal with what he was doing
going into Iran. And we're seeing that all unfold
right now. And that rhetoric just has been
unseen by any world leader previously. And and even
now, the cease fire is still has all kinds of
uncertainty. We not exactly sure what all the standards
were. Donald Trump said he knows the ten. He'll tell
you if they're met. That's ridiculous. And Iran just I
saw today said two conditions aren't met yet.
The stopping of the bombing in Lebanon and releasing
some funds to them, which that was the first time I
actually had kind of heard that part of whatever was
negotiated. So this is just a complete mess. Our gas
prices are going up, our respect across the world is
going down. And it was a war of choice. There was no
imminent threat to the United States. And that's
the only time the president could initiate this without
Congress. So, you know, to call it chaotic is probably
an insult to the word chaos. >> You and others have
called to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Donald
Trump from office. Now, that would take the vice
president and the majority of the cabinet to declare
the president unfit. So is is this really a rhetorical
demand on your and others parts?
>> Yeah, I think this is a signal to the world that
don't hate America. There are normal people here
because what Donald Trump is doing is hurting our
place across the globe right now. You know, some
of our best trading partners in Japan and South
Korea rely on like 70% of their energy coming through
the Straits of Hormuz. The fact that now they're
paying the price of Donald Trump's bad decision, the
fact that our best allies were not informed going
into this. So now they're not participating, which I
totally understand. But Donald Trump doesn't. We
have to express that as a nation. This we understand
this is a bad decision. What he did in a couple of
those those social media posts this week were beyond
a bad decision. And I seriously and many others
question whether or not he's able to do this job.
But we want others to understand that many of us
do question his capability. >> Wisconsin polling shows
that 61% of voters oppose this war, many of them
probably in your district. But what levers of power do
you and others in Congress have over this? Will Dems
continue to push for a war powers resolution?
>> Yeah, we'll push for War powers resolution next week
when we're back in Washington. And I'll tell
you, this is one where, you know, we need some of the
Republicans from Wisconsin across the country to reach
around their backs and feel if they have a bone down
the middle called a spine, because it's necessary for
Congress to stand up and stop Donald Trump from this
chaotic behavior, it is up to Congress to initiate war.
That's according to the Constitution. And I've
heard a few Republicans say they're waiting 90 days and
all this other stuff. The Constitution doesn't say
the Constitution gives the power to Congress on this.
So we have to act and take the responsible role in
this. And if we don't, then unfortunately, we continue
to pay higher prices at the gas pumps. We continue to
hurt ourselves with other countries across the world.
So there's a lot riding on this. And we need Wisconsin
Republicans and others in Congress to stand up and
and grow a spine. >> Why should Wisconsinites
care about a conflict happening half a world away?
>> A lot of reasons. I mean, you're seeing it right now
in gas prices. They're up. What about $1.20 a gallon
right now because of what's going on? This is going to
continue for months. If this ended today, Frederica,
we will see gas prices in those increases for months
to come yet. So this was a terrible decision that was
done by the white House. But you should care because
also our trade around the world is chaotic as Donald
Trump's tariffs have been. It's important that we have
partners across the globe that buy American products
that create American jobs. And when we're hurting
ourselves like we are with this right now, we
jeopardize our role in being able to do that. So
it's about jobs. It's about your pay. It's about what
you're paying for goods because we're paying too
much for everything from groceries and everyday
goods because of tariffs to health care and utilities,
because of the big ugly law. And now we're paying too
much for gas because of this. There's a lot of
reasons we should pay attention and care.
>> As to rising inflation. I see that consumer
sentiment just ranked at the lowest on record in in
the US. And meanwhile, Trump's budget calls for
$1.5 trillion in defense spending. This would not be,
I trust, a priority of yours.
>> No. In fact, I think what the president said is
we don't have money for things like child care
because he wants to put it into the national the
Pentagon's budget, essentially, because he's
wasting so many weapons right now while he's doing
this war of choice in Iran. And, you know, I think if
you talk to the average person, certainly the
care is far more important than what he's doing right
now. So the fact that he doesn't understand, let's
face it, he's the Epstein class, right? He's a really,
really rich guy who is out of touch with what it is to
actually live paycheck to paycheck, to pay a mortgage,
to make sure you have health care for your family.
Can you budget for a vacation? This guy hangs
out at Mar a Lago and has 20 Roaring 20s style
parties. That person doesn't understand what
Americans are going through, and we see it because we're
paying for the increase in prices. So, you know,
November, people can see a change. They can change out
some of the faces in the House and the Senate, and
then we can finally have the ability to stand up and
do proper oversight. But right now, you know, it's
tough times. And we get the calls in the office and
people are certainly nervous.
>> How do you think the war in Iran informs voters
coming into the midterms? >> Well, I think it just
shows another bad decision, right? The tariffs are a
bad decision. We know that. And we're all paying more
for groceries and everyday goods. That big, ugly law
where they gave a giant tax break to Elon Musk and
people who belong to Mar a Lago that took away health
care from people and more in November. By the way,
all the Medicaid cuts take place at that point. So 15
million people lose health care and we're all paying
more for it. Plus, it made utility rates go up, and
now we're paying more for gas because of the war. So
you look at all of this, and I think people are just
kind of exhausted from the winning that Donald Trump
keeps telling us. I think, you know, most of us have a
different definition of winning. It's being able to,
you know, have that little luxury of a snowmobile or a
boat or whatever it might be. But it's not just
paying more for goods so that rich people get tax
breaks. what's your reaction to
Liberal Supreme Court point victory this week?
>> Well, she was an extraordinarily good
candidate. I think they fielded an extraordinarily
poor candidate by Supreme Court standards. But people
also are very frustrated with what's happening
nationally. And I think you saw that translate. I mean,
you saw mayors flip from conservative to more
progressive across parts of the state that aren't
exactly blue, maybe not even purple, but people are
just frustrated with what's going on. So I think you
saw a lot of that. But you know, Chris Taylor is going
to be a great Supreme Court justice. She's very smart,
very savvy. I've worked with her since my time in
the state legislature. She's going to help that
court. We need that court to probably get a kick in
the butt, maybe to get a few more things done. And I