Johnson & GOP leaders speak ahead of Trump's State of the Union

Well good morning everybody, so good to see you all. I want to first start by congratulating all of our Olympians. It was a phenomenal weekend, was a phenomenal period of time to see people represent the United States of America. And I think if you watched any part of the hockey game, men's or women's, you really saw true Americans. And what I want to say is thank you for the American athletes who represented America and gave their best. And just compare and contrast to some of those athletes, and I won't even dignify them by giving them a name, that train in America, that live in America, that were born in America, who have enjoyed the freedoms that America has given them. And then they don't even have the respect for the country in which has given them so much to represent that country. I wonder why. I can think of about 20 million reasons why. But I noticed at the end that person didn't get on a plane and go back to that communist country. They came back to the free country, the U.S. of A., who is the best country in the world to give them that opportunity. And just compare and contrast with what we saw with the men's hockey team. They are proud to be an American, and they showed it, and they left everything on the ice. So congratulations to all the American athletes who trained here and have pride in their country. And with that, I'm going to switch gears and talk a little bit about the State of the Union tonight. You know, President Trump is going to tell the truth that the media won't tell. The State of our Union is strong, and it is getting stronger. Let's be clear about what we walked into. When President Trump began his second term, he didn't inherit a smooth runway. He inherited a complete disaster. But he's delivering results. Under Democratic rule, reckless spending lit inflation to a 40-year high. Under President Trump and Republicans, inflation has fallen to 2.4 percent, a 70 percent drop from its peak. That's not luck, ladies and gentlemen. That's leadership. Under Democrats, 20 million illegal immigrants poured through our open borders. And thanks to President Trump and Republicans, Remain in Mexico is back, Catch and Release is dead, and we've had nine straight months of zero releases. The border is safe and secure, and that's not luck. That's leadership. Under Democrats, radical overregulation sent gas prices through the roof. Under President Trump and Republicans, gas prices are at a four-year low, and America's energy is roaring back. That's not luck. That's leadership. The bottom line is this. Republican leadership is working. Maybe not for the Washington bureaucrats, but it is working for the American people. And today, I want to introduce you to one of them. Standing next to me is Ben Hockenberry, a constituent of mine from Lake Orion, a West Point grad, father and small business owner. At Artemis Search Group, Ben helps American manufacturers grow and veterans find meaningful careers when they come home. Because of working families tax cuts, Ben gets a small business deduction where he can reinvest, use to hire, and actually grow his business here in America. And as a father of three, he keeps more of his paycheck thanks to the expanded child care tax credit. And all three of his kids are eligible for the new Trump's savings account, jump-starting their own American dream. And Ben isn't the only one. Last week, it was reported tax refunds are up 11% this year. That's real money back in your pockets. But again, you don't need to hear it from me. Ben is right here. So I'm going to yield the floor to him to share what these policies mean for him and his family. Ben, here, let me move this for you. Good morning, everyone. As the Congresswoman said, my name is Ben Hockenberry, and I am a proud small business owner from Lake Orion, Michigan and a constituent of Congresswoman Lisa McClain. I own Artemis Search Group. We are an executive search firm that places veterans getting out of the military into jobs specifically into the manufacturing segment. Like so many other business owners, the last few years have been working harder and harder just to stay even. And thanks to the working families tax cuts, my business finally has some breathing room. The 23% small business deduction will allow me to reinvest back into my company, support my employees and plan for growth instead of uncertainty. In addition to my small business, this is also going to help grow other small businesses that will be a good landing spot for the vets I work with. But it isn't just about my business. It's also about my family. I have three young Children. The expanded child tax credit means more stability for parents like me who are raising kids and trying to build a better future. And with the new Trump accounts, my Children will have a real financial foundation to build on as they grow up, something every parent hopes to provide for their Children. Policy championed by President Trump and leaders like Congress leaders like Congresswoman McClain are making a real difference for my business, for my kids and for families like mine across Michigan. These policies mean opportunity, security and real hope for the future. Thank you. I'll hand it over to whip top emmer. Thanks, Ben. The state of the union is only as strong as the state of its people. And under President Trump and Republican majorities in Congress, the American people are stronger than ever. Stronger because President Trump and Republicans have secured the border, restored safety to our communities, slashed wasteful government spending and held fraudsters accountable and delivered historic tax relief to hardworking Americans through the working families tax cut. As the 2026 tax season begins to unfold, we're hearing more and more about how this once in a generation piece of legislation is benefiting Americans from every walk of life. Families are keeping more of their hard earned money in their pockets. We're talking refunds increased by $1000 or more on average, according to financial experts to highlight just how impactful these tax cuts are. I'm honored to be welcoming two Minnesotans to the capital today for President Trump's state of the union address. I want to thank Blaine Police Chief Brian Padani for joining us here this morning, standing behind me for Chief Padani and the police force he oversees. No tax on overtime is a game changer. Not only will this provide this provision allow our men and women in blue to keep more of their hard earned dollars in their pockets, it's also going to help Chief Padani with recruitment and retention, making our communities stronger and safer. Blaine Brothers Board Chairman Dean Daly will also be joining us later today to highlight how provisions like the 100% immediate full expensing are allowing small family owned businesses like Blaine Brothers to grow. The benefits of this once in a generation tax bill reach far and wide. While monumental in its impact, tax relief is only part of President Trump's successful economic agenda. The president inherited inherited an utterly broken economy and has spent the past 13 months putting the train back on the tracks. Inflation continues to cool. As is Lisa talked about. Wages are up. Prices at the gas pump are down to record lows. By nearly every measure, Republicans economic agenda has delivered real financial freedom for the American people. Freedom to buy a home, freedom to start a business, freedom to grow your family, freedom to pursue the happiness our nation's founders recognized as a God given right. And it's only been 13 months. Thanks to President Trump, the state of the union is strong and getting even stronger again. I want to thank Chief Badani and Mr Mr Daly for making the trek to Washington, even in what some would call inclement weather. Not really for us from Minnesota or Michigan. By the way, these two leaders from the largest city in my district represent the best of Minnesota and put on full display how real Americans are benefiting from Republican leadership here in Washington. With that speaking of leadership, I turn it over to our majority leader, Steve Scalise. Big hockey. Thank you. Whip. We were all hockey fans this this time of year with with that, that exciting finish to the Olympics and what a great Olympics it was. And especially, you know, my wife and I, we don't watch a lot of hockey like like the whip might, but we were watching and when that went into overtime and then the Americans won the gold medal, it was just euphoria. We were jumping up and down celebrating and and then to watch those hockey players talk about their patriotism and their love for America after it was over, I think was inspiring to to so many Americans who who can easily get jaded when you think about how this town works, how about how some people just want to talk down America every single day and want to pit people against each other all the time. The Olympics was a great opportunity to remind us that we're all Americans and when we come together, we can achieve great things and that hockey team did achieve great things and we're going to see them and we're going to celebrate them tonight. We're gonna be celebrating a lot of other great things tonight as President Trump talks about the 250th birthday of America, how we got here, what we've done so well, what we still need to do to keep making this a more perfect union. And look, the state of the union is getting stronger. But make no mistake, when President Trump took office, this economy was on its knees after years of Democrat control, bringing record inflation, record interest rates. You saw energy prices through the roof, more than $5 a gallon in most places. Today, families are paying in most states about $2.50 a gallon. That's half of what they were paying. And for a working family, just lower gas prices alone from President Trump's policies means about $600 more in the pockets of hardworking families. Doesn't mean that we're finished. There's a lot more work to do. But I think what you're gonna hear tonight from President Trump is a reminder of how great this country is, what that greatness has done to improve the lives of people and what work we still have to do to continue getting this country back on track. We're not where we want it to be. But for anybody who wants to take us back to where we were just a year and a half ago to three years ago, let's remind them of where Democrats take us when they get full power. You don't have to go to California or New York to know how bad things can get because they were that beard bad here in D. C. Before Donald Trump became president, we had a wide open porous border with millions of people coming across every single month. You would see record numbers coming in and there were violent criminals coming into our country. Drug cartels, the Mexican drug cartels and operational control of our southern border. And for people that don't remember how bad it was. Just look at what's going on right now in Guadalajara. Just look at what's happening in that country is they their leadership finally starts to confront the cartels. But they were running our southern border and bringing bad people and poisonous drugs into our country every single day. And Donald Trump ran for president saying, I'm going to do something about it. And he worked with this Republican Congress to fix that mess. And we started focusing on other problems, too. We're starting to get this economy back on track. Wage growth is finally up. It's not where we needed to be. Families lost $3000 of buying power during Biden's four years in office. $3000. They made up 1200 of it so far. But that means there's more to go. And so we're going to be laying out an agenda. You're going to see us continuing to move more good bills like we've already been moving. And you're going to see the president laying out policy ideas tonight that this Congress will move. Sadly, Democrats have voted no on just about every major policy that have fixed the mess that they made. And that's okay, because we're going to do the job anyway. And some of those people that are benefiting from those policies are going to be in the balcony tonight. You're going to see some of those stories. And Chair McClain talked about some of them. You saw Whip Emmer talk about some of them. I'm going to highlight two of them right here. It would be two of my guests that I'm very proud of. We've got Heath Sykes, who's a server, one of the best restaurants in New Orleans. We're known for our food. We love our food. Drago's Restaurant is where they invented the charbroiled oysters. He gets to serve charbroiled oysters every day and so many other great meals from a true American dream success story. The Satanovich family is a second generation family that fled communism to come seek the American dream, and they now have it in the Drago's restaurants. And he serves there and no longer has to pay tax on tips. And he gets to celebrate what that means for having more money in his pocket, being able to do more for his family. And then the other guest I have is Anthony Bettoni, who's a deputy sheriff in Jefferson Parish, where I live. Thank you for your service. We all celebrate our men and women in law enforcement, but so often our men and women in law enforcement are working extra hours to make ends meet to provide for their family. And when they work overtime, a lot of times they were paying so much more in overtime, it didn't make it worthwhile. And we said, working with President Trump, why should people have to pay taxes on overtime? And now, because of that, uh, Deputy Bettoni's gonna be able to have more money in his pocket to provide for his family. And by the way, his family is growing. He is now a girl dad like me. He's got a one year old daughter, and he's gonna have more money in his pocket to provide for his daughter and families all across the country are benefiting from what we did. Republicans are working with President Trump to make life more affordable for working families in America. And that's what we've been focused on since Donald Trump became president. And I think that's what you're gonna hear the president talk about tonight and leading the effort to get those bills signed into law to help bring that prosperity back and keep that work going as our speaker, Mike Johnson. Thank you, Mr Leader. Welcome, everybody. When President Trump said he was gonna we were gonna usher in a new golden era for America, he meant it figuratively and literally. And we do want to thank all of our Olympic athletes who worked so hard and represented us so well in the Olympics and in the gold medal matches were really something to see. And you've heard a lot said about the hockey teams, the men's and women's gold. It was incredible. Both of you couldn't have scripted it better. Overtime games and the excitement and euphoria that happened afterwards. Millions of people watched those games across the world. What a great moment it was for America. And it reminded us that we're all on the same team, and we hope that everyone will keep that in mind tonight because we are. The president called me Sunday night, and he said, Mike, we gotta make some changes. We need some more guests. Okay, well, you know, the State of the Union is a very well attended event, and the gallery is already full, and we have waiting list of people that want to be there. I said, Mr President, how many people you talking about? I think the whole team. Okay, well, so we're gonna work out logistics and somehow some way will will squeeze in the hockey players tonight, and it'll be a great moment for America. And it really is a symbol to all of us that we all play for America's team. And I hope everybody will remember that tonight, even as we stand in the midst of yet another painful and unnecessary Democrat shutdown of the government. I mean, it's almost unbelievable to us. Not one, not two, but now three government shutdowns in just the last 100 days. What in the world are they thinking? This time they've taken hostage. As you know, the Department of Homeland Security, the department that is literally in its name. It's very indicative of its of its duties. It keeps Americans safe and so funding for the agencies that protect our borders and mitigate disasters and help keep all of us, um, able to walk down the streets without fear. That's the agency they've chosen to hold hostage. Well, before the funding deadline, Republicans, as you know, worked in good faith to pass a year long, full year funding for DHS. And we did that through a bipartisan committee process. Democrats in both the House and the Senate negotiated on that. And now Democrats in both chambers have reneged on that bipartisan deal. Just one week, just one weekend of this. The consequences of Democrat shutdown are already painfully clear. Look at FEMA. Their operations are really important right now. If they haven't noticed, we have an historic season of winter storms slamming the East Coast, even as we speak in the northern parts. TSA is having to make difficult resource decisions as you've seen an agent's working another week without pay. Some of those are high stress positions. It's not right. It's not fair. The Secret Service, as you know, is charged among its other duties of protecting the president. And yet another armed attempt was made on his life just this weekend. This is not a game. I don't need to remind anybody. 2026 is an historic year for our country, and it'll be a great year of celebration. It'll be part of the big golden era, the 250th celebration, our birthday. But you're gonna have during the year tens of millions of guests. We're hosting the FIFA World Cup in 11 cities around America. We have festivals and tournaments and so many highly attended high profile events around the country. Obviously, obviously, we need the protection of a fully funded Department of Homeland Security. We shouldn't even have to say that this this gambit that the Democrats are involved in is as foolish as it is dangerous. They cannot hold up that critical funding any longer. There is planning that's required for these events. There's all sorts of logistics involved and personnel as well. And it's time for Democrats to do their job before they risk the literal lives of the American people any further. Now, tonight, the president will deliver his State of the Union, and he said, as a preview, it may be a little long because there's a lot to talk about. There's a lot of wins to town, and he's excited to do that. I'm honored to have with me one of my several guests, Trotter Hunt, who's standing here next to me. He's from Ruston, Louisiana, in my district. His business, like so many American businesses and some of the others represented here this morning, is already benefiting from our historic big, beautiful Working Families Tax Cut. And certainty that he gets from this is what our pro-business tax cuts and incentives have delivered. And that's very helpful for everybody. We're grateful to Trotter for making the trip, and I'm honored to host him in the chamber tonight. So thank you for being here and bringing your beautiful wife and representing our district so well. This evening, the entire country will hear an update on the full scope of President Trump's transformational and historic first year back in office. The results speak for themselves. Why does he have so much to talk about? Because inflation is down, wages are up, investment is booming, the GDP is exceeding every expectation. Democrats, meanwhile, are going to host, count them, five separate counter events, rallies of some sort, they call them, in lieu of tonight's address. For all of these theatrics, it doesn't matter how many little gatherings they have or where they stand or how high the volume is on the microphones. They have nothing to offer, nothing but their TDS agenda, the Trump derangement syndrome, and it's on full display. All they can say, all they can tell you about is how they oppose President Trump and thwart his agenda and shut down the government and protest everything, from the president's joint address to basic immigration enforcement. And they obstruct any meaningful progress for the sake of obstruction. It's the same tired playbook that they've run for a decade now. It's shameful that they would boycott an address. We don't do that. Republicans don't do that. It doesn't matter if there's a president from the opposing party. We don't skip out. Our constituents want and need us to be here. Every member of this house represents over 750,000 people. They're disenfranchised if you're not sitting in the seat to be a part of the role and the responsibility of Congress. I think it's shameful. Republicans have a far simpler and far superior message for Americans watching at home. We're putting more money back in your pockets. We're restoring peace through strength. We're defending our border and deporting criminal illegal aliens. We're standing up for American industry and manufacturing, and we're making American workers, not foreign countries, the clear winners in this American economy. Those are not talking points. That is what we have delivered. It's called Republican results, and we're proud to run on that message in this fateful midterm election year. So tonight, President Trump will demonstrate that Republicans are the only team working seriously to bring common sense back to our broken system. It's promises made promises kept, and he's working, and we're all working together to make the country stronger, safer and more affordable and more prosperous for all Americans, and many of them will be represented in that that big, beautiful gallery tonight. The American people will see that reflected this evening and in the months ahead as we press forward on all of those promises and so much more. We're excited. It's a great time for America. Take a few questions. Yes, sir. Becker. Yeah, I just wanted to ask you and the representative. Yes. Jimmy, of course, is a Catholic. Democracy views. Why was it so important to invite her? And what do you hope she gets out? Um, well, it's a very important symbol of America's principles and what we've been advocating for around the globe. When I gave my address to the British Parliament just several weeks ago, I mentioned Jimmy Lai in that address as well. He's a British citizen, actually, but he's been detained in China for just simply engaging in free speech. Um, we need to send a message to to the Chinese Communist Party, the Marxist on all those who believe in this communist idea that you can shut down censor and silence opposing viewpoints. That's not that's not consistent with basic human rights, and America has always been a bulwark to stand for those liberties. And I think having his daughter here tonight is a I think I hope it will be a poignant symbol to everybody around the world that America is the great superpower because we stand for basic human rights are inalienable rights that we celebrate on the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation in the history of the world. Think of it. We were the only kind of sound like President Trump. Think of it. We're the only we're the only country in the world was founded upon the idea that our rights come from God, our creator and not from the government and the profound impact of that. The implications of that truth is what has led us down the path to be the most free, most successful, most powerful, most benevolent nation in the whole history of the world. The communist and the Marxist have a totally different view. Their worldview begins with the premise that there is no God. And so if there is no God and there is no creator who gives you your inalienable rights, they are very much available and they could be taken away from you. If the government is powerful enough to give you all your rights, the government can take them away. We stand in direct opposition to that. And I'm excited. The president and all of us will be standing tonight in the rostrum right above us with the national motto and God we trust. That's America, man. It's as good as the gold that the hockey team won. And I hope we put that on display tonight with all of our guests as well. Yes, last question. Speaking of some of the guests that are going to be in this night, some of the justices. President Trump disgrace. One after you expect the president to press justice directly tonight. I I'm not sure the content of the speech, but I expect it will be a positive affirming statement about all the things that we have accomplished together and all the plans we have going forward. Um, the president, you know, of course, was frustrated about the Supreme Court decision, but we're sorting out the fallout from that what it means for us. But I think tonight it's going to be a great celebration of America and all that we've achieved together. So we're looking forward to that. Thank you all so much.