On Monday’s Mark Levin Show, there’s a full-scale effort by President Biden and his surrogates to suggest that Biden has the power to use the 14th Amendment to lift the debt ceiling. This is as dictatorial and totalitarian as it gets. If Biden thought he had this power, why didn’t he use it months ago? The left wraps themselves in the Constitution while they violate the Constitution. Rep Chip Roy calls in with an update on the debt ceiling talks. Also, Sen Tim Scott announces his run for President and is quickly attacked by the ladies of The View. Later, former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman revealed shocking information about Biden’s first U.S. attorney who was forced out. He was removed because he wouldn’t go along with the Biden administration who wanted to throw a very wide net and track down people from January 6 with no serious crimes.
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Rough transcription of Hour 1
Segment 1
Hello, America. Mark Levin here. Our number 87738138118773813811. Later in the program, my buddy Chip Roy will be on the program. We’ve been best friends for a very long time, actually. And I want to get his take on the budget issue, but I want to spend a little time with you on this, because there is now a full scale effort by Biden, by surrogates and the media, the Democrat Party, to make the suggestion that Joe Biden has the power to violate separation of powers to seize from Congress its core function. That is the House of Representatives. To borrow, spend and tax. Then they wrap themselves in the Constitution while they’re violating the Constitution. I’ve told you many times that’s how they work. They wrap themselves on liberty while they’re promoting tyranny as well. And so I’m going to break it down again. I did, as you know, on Life, Liberty and Levin during my opening statement. People say, what do you call an opening statement and not a monologue, actually. Most people don’t. Just a few eggheads. I said because I don’t like the word monologue. It is a statement that I am making, you know, an assertion, an argument, and people can accept it or not. But I went through it in fairly significant detail. Obviously, people come and go on radio. They come and go on TV. Maybe they’re not watching. Who knows? Doesn’t matter. I just want to make sure I get the case up because we’re getting down to the nitty gritty now. First, let’s begin. Would the offender, Joe Biden. And I want you to think about something if Donald Trump. A Ronald Reagan. Or either Bush said, I have the unilateral power. To issue bonds. I have the unilateral power. To lift the debt ceiling. In other words, I had the power. And my party had the power to pass a budget that was wildly out of control. And now I have the power on my own. To force the American people to pay for it. Now, ladies and gentlemen, that is as dictatorial and totalitarian as it gets. And I don’t care about Laurence Tribe and the other old buffoons who are out there twisting the Constitution to accommodate their needs. We don’t put up with that crap here. Period. But here’s Biden in Hiroshima, Japan. And his question yesterday by by the dose. Peter Doocy Cut to go and Mr. president, on that you said, all right, I’m gonna do my part. Do you think that there is a reason? No reason for me. Of course. No blaming. I know you won’t. You’ll be saying Biden did a wonderful job. I know you would you be blameless on the merits based on what I’ve offered. I would be blameless on the politics of it. No reply, Ms.. And by the way, that’s one of the that’s one of the things that some are contemplating. I actually had well, I got to be careful here. I think there are say you can tell that he’s losing with. It’s painful, isn’t it? Most of it is. Anyway, he says. I think there are some MAGA Republicans. Go ahead. MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy. You know, this is really frustrating and outrageous. He acts like MAGA Republicans, that is Republicans who have and do support Donald Trump in the house. And by the way. 75 million of you that somehow you’re the kamikazes. Speaking of Hiroshima that year, the kamikaze. That you’re the ones who want to take down the economy. He’s spending like a drunken Marxist. He’s demanding that Republicans raise the debt ceiling for his spending and McConnell spending. They’re saying, no, we’ve got to start to trim this budget, trim the sales, and they’re not even talking about a massive amount of money. And so now there’s MAGA Republicans who want to take down the economy. This guy is, as I’ve told you before, a lousy, nasty street politician. And as I’ve said over and over, he’s just a serial liar. That’s all he is. Go ahead. Because I am president and president is responsible for everything by who is to blame. And that’s the one way to make sure Biden’s not re-elected. Aren’t you? BIDEN What do you hope? Biden? Biden You don’t know. You’re not even in the United States when you’re making these comments. You’re in Hiroshima, Japan. And as McCarthy has said repeatedly, for 97 days. By my calculation, that’s over three months. He couldn’t get a phone call or a meeting with Biden. Now, here’s why. Because Biden and the Democrats figured they could play chicken and the Republicans would buckle. They figured the House Republicans wouldn’t stay united. They were wrong and they figured they be chop the pieces by the Senate Republicans. There are some. But Mike Lee took the leadership in the Senate and got 43 of them to sign a letter in support of what the House Republicans did. And I’ll keep something in mind when you’re debating with your family and friends and neighbors. The Republicans already raise the debt ceiling. But they want some cuts. But they already voted to raise it in the House. Schumer won’t bring it up for a vote. Because they want all spending covered no matter what. No matter what. And spending is so completely out of control. Now, what about this 14th Amendment that we’ve discussed at length? We started discussing this months ago. I remember discussing it years ago. The 14th Amendment. What about the 14th Amendment? Does that empower the president to unilaterally borrow money? Does that even sound right to any of you? Has anybody ever done that before? No. So why now? If it’s in the 14th Amendment, why even negotiate with the Republicans in Congress? If it’s in the 14th Amendment? Why even waste your time with Congress at all? If it’s in the 14th Amendment? Just do it. You don’t have to wait till the break if you think you have that power. You could have done it five months ago. Frightening, isn’t it? We fought a revolution to. A representative government is fantastic constitution to get away from a monarchy. And now we have this guy. Here he is. Cut three. Go. I’m looking at the 14th Amendment as to whether or not we have the authority. I think we have the authority. The question is, could it be done and invoked in time that it could not would not be appealed. And as a consequence, past the date in question and still the form of that, that’s a question that I think is unresolved. Well, listen to what he said at the beginning, though. We have the authority. He said, I quote unquote. I think we have the authority. He believes he is the authority with his own magic wand. To issue bonds. Other Treasury instruments. On his own. Even though Article one specifically provides. That Congress has these powers. The 14th Amendment does not count or that doesn’t alter it at all. Passed in 1868 has nothing to do with this. Had everything to do with. Paying the debt after this civil war. What debt would be honored, what dead would not be. Has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on today, which is why Laurence Tribe says it does, because that’s what he does. He spews stupid. Even Obama understood this in 2011. Cut for I go now. The gentleman asked about the 14th Amendment. There is there there’s a provision in our Constitution that speaks to making sure that the United States meets its obligations. And there have been some suggestions that a president could use that language to basically ignore this debt ceiling rule, which is a statutory rule. It’s not a constitutional rule. I have talked to my lawyers. They don’t. They do not. They are not persuaded that that is a winning argument. So the challenge for me is to make sure that it’s a very convoluted way of saying, no, I don’t I don’t have that power. Now. I’ve told you why. Michael McConnell. Also, though, as a Stanford law professor, he was a federal appellate judge. He was a top lawyer for quite some time. But OMB in the Reagan administration, you know, the old Reagan administration that never did anything. We should forget about Reagan and think about someone else, I guess. He recently wrote in The New York Times. President Biden is playing a dangerous game. The federal government’s deficit spending is about to exceed the amount Congress has authorized it to borrow, and their treasuries run out of what are known as extraordinary measures to stave off disaster. Congress and the president must negotiate a compromise resolution or the nation faces the prospects of a default. The House of Representatives has already passed a bill that would raise the nation’s debt limit by 1.5 trillion. By 1.5 trillion. That’s not funny money. That’s a lot of money. Coupled, however, with proposed spending cuts. And its Republican leaders have signaled a willingness to negotiate. Mr. Biden instead has demanded that Congress raise the debt ceiling without conditions. The House Republicans insistence on negotiations, a compromise. It’s not hostage taking, quote unquote. It is the ordinary stuff of politics. Two sides can posture all they want, but in the end, Congress and the president have to reach an agreement. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing The Constitution does not permit a unilateral solution on either side. Begin with the constitutional basics. Article one, Section eight lists the powers of Congress. The first clause of Section eight provides Congress may lay and collect taxes. The second clause provides that Congress has the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States. These clauses are absolute. The executive branch cannot impose taxes or borrow funds on its own authority. Together with the power over spending, these powers are known as the power of the purse, which belongs entirely to the legislative branch. These provisions have pride of place among Congress powers for a reason. Before the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the English Civil War, the Stuart Monarchs asserted the power to tax and borrow without parliamentary approval, which effectively meant the power to rule without Parliament, which I just mentioned, without Congress. The result was not just autocratic rule at home, but also periodic defaults on the royal debt, astronomical interest rates for government borrowing and ultimately civil war. While our framers didn’t wish to recreate the Stuart Monarchy and the first two clauses of Section eight reflect that aversion, the power of the purse may be the most fundamental element in our system of checks and balances and all that. And Joe Biden wants to seize them from the House of Representatives. I just am appalled and disgusted by the way this is reported. The debt limit is nothing more than an authorization from Congress to borrow a certain amount up to the certain limit. A certain limit. The debt ceiling is not a restriction on what would otherwise be the president’s ability to borrow. It’s an authorization for the executive branch to borrow up to that ceiling. Above that, the president may not go. Nonetheless, Biden’s advisers reportedly are contemplating violating the congressional debt limit based on a far fetched interpretation of Section four of the 14th Amendment propounded by some academics. Previous administrations have flirted with this idea, but all rejected it. Mr. Biden should do the same. It would twist the words of the 14th Amendment, ignore its history and send the markets into turmoil. Now I want to dig into this more deeply as he discusses it, as I have discussed it many times in the past. But I want to make it clear that Biden just asserted. Yesterday in Japan. But he has this authority. So I hope you understand. The Biden just asserted. That he has dictatorial powers. That no president since the 14th Amendment has ever asserted ever. Now there’s more to this. I’ll be right back.
Segment 2
It’s not complicated ladies and gentlemen. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were passed after the Civil War by the Republicans. The Republican states. They dealt with the aftermath of the Civil War. The 14th Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with the financing of the country and who has what power. Some. What is it now? Let’s see. Most 120 years later ended in 1865. Well, more than that, my math here is not great. 160 years almost. But that said, it would never. States would never have ratified an amendment that would give the power to raise money to pay off debt to the president of the United States. Ever. And they didn’t. And neither does the language of the 14th Amendment. We’re going to get into this now, as we must. Unfortunately, I feel like we’re in this endless position of having to defend the Constitution line by line, almost word by word every damn week. But that’s what we’ll do if we have to. I’ll be right back.
Segment 3
I challenge Laurence Tribe. I challenge any advocate of the view that the 14th Amendment provides Biden with the power to unilaterally raise the debt. I challenged them to point to a single member of Congress. In 1868 who said such a thing. I challenged them to point to a single. Single. State representative or state senator. During the ratification process of the 14th Amendment, who said such a thing just won? I challenge them to find one speech. Many of these members. That said, what they today say is meant by the language in the 14th Amendment. There is nothing, not one of any of the above. Nothing. And I enjoy good debate. I really do. Ladies and gentlemen, as will become clear in the days ahead. That said. There’s nothing. Let’s go on with. Former judge law professor Michael McConnell not to be confused with Mitch McConnell. Section four, the 14th Amendment, enacted in the wake of the Civil War, says the validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, shall not be questioned. The media purpose was to prevent future Congresses, if controlled by pro Confederate Democrats, from repudiating pension obligations and other debts incurred to win the Civil War. No doubt it applies beyond those narrow circumstances, but by its terms, it does not authorize the President to borrow more money in violation of Article one, Section eight, clause two, which is. The article section in clause that explicitly folks me speaking now empowers Congress to do these things. Congress. The by its terms. It does not authorize the president to borrow more, more money. In violation. Of that section of the Constitution, nor does it authorize the president to impose taxes in violation of Article one, Section eight, clause one, which gives again, the power to Congress. By its terms. It does not augment the president’s powers one iota. Nor does Section four of anything to do with payment of the national debt. It does not make it unconstitutional for the United States to run out of money. Nice idea, but impossible. Section four prevents the only institution or the government that could deny the quote unquote validity of the debt, namely Congress, from doing so. For the United States to fail to pay interest or principal on its debt, he writes, would be financially catastrophic, but it would not affect the, quote, validity, unquote, of the debt when borrowers fail to make payments on lawful incurred debt. This does not, quote, question unquestioned unquote the validity of those debts. Their debts are just as valid as before. It’s just that the borrowers are in default. More on that in a minute. Moreover, even if the president were to issue new bonds without congressional authorization. Again, which he has no authority to do. The text of section for him explained that these bonds would not be constitutionally binding. Only public that quote, authorized by law, unquote, meaning by statute, has that status where President Biden issue bonds on his unilateral authority, the bond market would know that those bonds were not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, Biden has no more authority to issue bonds than I do. He is none. Sensible investors would not purchase such bonds or would demand such a high risk premium as to make them uneconomical anyway. Some people assume that the president’s party issue, new debt, would be resolved legally by the Supreme Court, but in fact, it would be resolved for practical purposes by the bond markets before the courts could even act. And the resolution would not be a happy one. And this is what Biden is worried about when he mumbles on. I don’t think I can invoke an app in time. President Biden has only one real choice if he wishes to ever avoid the default, says Michael McConnell, who has to negotiate with Congress. The branch of the government with the authority over borrowing and spending. If that means agreeing to spending reductions, that’s hardly a disaster. That’s hardly a disaster, especially with a fat, bloated Marxist budget like this. Excuse me. Those are my words that it was previous presidents have done. Indeed, as Vice president, Mr. Biden negotiate just such a deal with Obama in Congress. The idea that the 14th Amendment gives the President unilateral power to borrow is dangerous. Nonsense. Dangerous nonsense. And yet Biden says he does have that power. What do you make of that, America? But this is where the Democrats are. Stephen Cohen, who is a reprobate low IQ buffoon out of Tennessee. Remember that jerk during testimony and what was eating a sandwich or something in front of the microphone, Mr. Produce to prove some point chicken? Why was he doing that again? Nobody remembers other than the fact that he’s in Annie Hall. Cut five. Go. So I think it’s an ace in the hole for the president. I think he’d like to negotiate and he’d like to be able to show he could work together with the Republicans. But there you go. You see, ladies, it’s the MAGA Republicans. They want to burn the place down. The MAGA Republicans, not the Marxist Democrats. You know Republicans. Don’t you think it’s time you get into this battle? He had some dirt under your fingernails. Dirty hands, maybe. Don’t you think it’s time you called them the Marxists that they are? While they make up names for you. The boomer generation or they make up other names for you like the MAGA Republicans. And don’t you think it’s time you got real? They call him the Marxist that they are. Janet Yellen, a.k.a. Janet Yellen on Meet the Press. Let’s hear what she has to say. This could be interesting. Of course, they have Chuck Todd there. So nothing’s interesting, though. It’s boring and it’s moronic. Cut sex. Go. Is the 14th Amendment fall under the category of extraordinary measures? Is that a sentence, Mr. Producer? Is the 14th Amendment fall under the category of extraordinary measures. Shouldn’t at least a basic requirement for somebody who has a position like the structure be literacy. And I’m not even saying the King’s English, just basic literacy is the 14th Amendment. Can you repeat that, Mr. MATTHEWS? Is the 14th Amendment fall under the category of extraordinary measures? Is the 14th. So I heard correctly. Wow. Okay. Well, what is her answer? Let’s go. Well, extraordinary measures is used in a different way, but there hasn’t been much discussion of the 14th Amendment. And is President Biden said, I believe this morning, it doesn’t seem like something that could be appropriately used in these circumstances, given the legal uncertainty around it and given the tight time frame we’re on. So let’s stop there. By the way, he can’t wait to speak to this illiterate trucker. He’s angry. Wait, wait. I got to get in there. I’m so smart. First of all, she got it half right and half from. He said. There’s a tight timeframe. In essence, that’s what Biden said. He also said that he has the power to do it. That’s an extraordinary statement from a president of the United States. That he has the power to unilaterally seize the most important function, certainly one of the most important a core function of Congress and specifically in the House of Representatives, unilaterally. And so therefore, according to Joe Biden, he has the power to propose budgets and to fund budgets, and he doesn’t have to negotiate with anybody. So why did you wait till the last minute? As I keep saying, why did you wait till the last minute? Why didn’t he say, This is my budget and either you pass it or I’m going to fund it in three months? Why didn’t he do that? Then it would have been timely. I shouldn’t give them ideas, of course, but the answer is it is so recklessly, so obviously unconstitutional, and yet the Democrats are prepared to do it. Biden is his phony professors, and so they want it. They’re prepared to do it because they want to burn the place down and they want to replace it with some kind of Marxist paradise. Can you imagine they hell they’re going to unleash. They have no respect for these institutions, not the Supreme Court, not the United States Senate. If they can at. Tack it directly. They attack it surreptitiously. Look what they’ve done with the FBI and the intelligence agencies. Look what they’ve done at the border. This is a wrecking crew. That’s what it is. Go ahead. Our hope is that Congress will raise the debt ceiling. They did raise the debt ceiling. But they didn’t raise it as much as the Democrats want. Now, what’s this guy? Conner’s name. What is his name from California? Ro Khanna or something? I saw him on TV lying. That’s right, Ro. You can call in if you like. I’ve had it. My teeth are sharp. I’m ready to take on anybody at this point. Roy, Ro, whatever. Come on. The show. You said something on TV that was an extraordinary. Deception to the American people. You said this budget already passed. True. This money has already been spent. That’s false. All the money is not spent until the end of the fiscal year. The end of the fiscal year is September 30th, not May 30th. And that budget was passed. As fast as possible. By the Democrats in Congress. You voted for that. Well. As well as the Democrats in the Senate and the McConnell team. The. McConnell lights. They’re not really Republicans. I don’t know what they are. All I know is I don’t like them. But anyway. They rushed that through and now they’re saying, you guys got to pay for this. And by the way they voted on a late. They’re supposed to pass a budget. By October 1st. That’s when the weird fiscal year the federal government began. But they waited till after the election. How does that work? They pass all these little continuing resolutions. Perot voted for this stuff. He says while the next badger will know, they want to look at this budget. They want to look at this budget. Chuck Todd is on with Byron Donalds. Byron’s on CNN. He’s on Meet the Press. Then we invited him on the other week and he canceled. He couldn’t make it. He was on CNN. I remember when we brought Byron on this show and on TV, I think I was the first one to do it. Well, easy come, easy go. Let’s continue. Listen to this is. Byron’s a sharp dude. Cut seven. Go. Former President Trump said about the debt ceiling in 2019. Take a listen. I can’t imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wage. Why don’t you agree with him on this? Well, first of all, stop, stop, stop, stop using the debt ceiling as a negotiating tool. The Republicans are trying under McCarthy and the conservatives, my guy, to save the country. If Joe Biden gets his way in ten years. The on budget, national debt will be almost $51 trillion. It’s 32.5 or seven, depending on how you count it trillion today. Is that good for America? America? And we won’t be able to undo that. Here, we finally have fiscally, relatively responsible members in the House doing everything they can with a tiny little majority. Up against Washington. Up against Biden. Up against the Senate Democrats. And, quite frankly, the McConnell ites. Up against the media. With a tiny, tiny majority. They’re the David against Goliath, and they’re doing exactly what they ought to do. And we get Chuck Todd now. Chuck Todd, my wife as a Democrat operative, Chuck Todd’s wife, gets paid to advise Democratic candidates on how to be Republicans. So Chuck tape’s Donald Trump in 2019. But what did Donald Trump say? Let’s start from the top again and I will explain. Go. Former President Trump said about the debt ceiling in 2019. Take a listen. I can’t imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wage. So what he’s saying, there is a negotiating wedge, not for something. That’s. Has nothing to do with the budget or something. What he’s saying there is. Don’t use it to negotiate for this, for that or the other. What the Republicans are saying is, look, we got to cut spending. We’re not looking for a negotiation wedge. The only measure we have to cut spending. Now, Trump wasn’t spending more than the Democrats, probably more than we should, but he wasn’t the one pushing the budget was the Democrats again. As bad as the Republicans are and they’re bad, the Democrats are ten times worse. I got to go. I’ll be right back.
Segment 4
We will have our buddy Chip Roy on Not a Rising Star, one of the stars of the House of Representatives, to discuss the budget. And now’s when it counts to get into these battles with the Biden administration, the left and the media. And this is what we should be doing and this is what we must be doing. So don’t leave us. I shall return.