Ed Case & Jeff Hurd

Ceasefire

Host Dasha Burns explores the potential for political bipartisanship through interviews with Congressmen Ed Case and Jeff Hurd regarding the Problem

Key takeaways

• Congressmen Ed Case and Jeff Hurd are co-leading a bipartisan effort to end mid-decade redistricting through the TRUST Act.
• Senator Bill Cassidy advocates for Congressional oversight regarding AI regulation to ensure public safety.
• Strategist Ashley Davis notes that 86% of Americans express fear regarding artificial intelligence.
• The New York Times-Siena poll indicates a slight Democratic edge in some upcoming midterm races.
• In Texas, significant political spending is expected, with Elon Musk potentially contributing $200 million to local races.

Main topics

• Bipartisanship and Problem Solvers Caucus
• Gerrymandering Reform
• Artificial Intelligence Regulation

Notable quotes

Our job is to overcome denial and anger and get into the actual... solving of national issues.

Conclusion

The episode underscores that while political polarization remains high

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:14) Welcome to Ceasefire, where we look to bridge the divide in American politics. I'm Dasha Burns, Politico Playbook co-author, and joining me now from Capitol Hill, two guests who have agreed to keep the conversation civil even when they disagree. Hawaii Democratic Congressman Ed Case and Colorado Republican Congressman Jeff Hurd. Thank you both so much for joining the program. Speaker 3 (0:35) Great to be with you, Dasha. Speaker 2 (0:37) All right. I do want to start with something that is very on theme here at Ceasefire, which is you are both part of the Problem Solvers Caucus. I'll start with you, Congressman Hurd. Why did you feel it was important to become a part of this group? Speaker 3 (0:52) Well, the Problem Solvers is a group of Republicans and Democrats that are committed to finding effective solutions to the most pressing problems in America. And one of Speaker 2 (0:59) the Speaker 3 (0:59) things I've learned in Congress is a lot of problems that we have are not Republican problems or Democratic problems. They're American problems. And my constituents expect results. And oftentimes the best way to forge public policy is when you have Republicans and Democrats coming together to advance policy solutions that are durable and lasting. all the time those solutions come through bipartisan cooperation and the problem solvers is a group of of committed republicans and committed democrats and i'm just attracted to getting stuff done for my district and you do that by working with colleagues both on your side and across the aisle who are similarly minded so glad to be a part of that group and ed case from hawaii is a great example of one of those democrats that's terrific to work with yeah Speaker 2 (1:36) congressman case what about you Speaker 1 (1:39) First of all, back to you, Jeff. You've been an outstanding partner, outstanding member of the Problem Solvers. Look, I think most of us that come to Congress just want to solve our problems. We want to face up to our challenges and solve our problems. We're not into yelling and screaming and swearing and pretending that our challenges are... are somehow insurmountable and that there's such a deep divide that we can never solve them. And the reality of legislating, truly legislating, is our job is to solve problems. Our job is to overcome denial and anger and get into the actual... solving of national issues. And the Problem Solvers is at the center of that and has been for a while. And it came together for that purpose because many of us on the R and the D side were frustrated with the political dynamic. We were frustrated with the dialogue and we were frustrated with the divide. And so the Problem Solvers was created seven, eight years ago. with some very specific guidelines that allow us to function in a very safe place, to talk about very difficult issues, and to try to come up with solutions where we can, and then to go out there and advocate. We're about 40-some-odd strong at this point, evenly divided between R's and D's. We must be. And we have worked on some of the toughest stuff that is out there. We were central to the... to the landmark historic infrastructure bills of some years ago. We're at the center of immigration. We have worked actively in debt and deficit reform, which is very tough stuff, social security reform, et cetera. So that's why I'm here, to try to contribute to that. Speaker 2 (3:21) Now, gentlemen, Congress just began a seven-week recess. Talk about solving problems. Are you satisfied with the level of problem solving that's been accomplished before everyone has left town? Speaker 3 (3:34) This is, speaking from my perspective, representing my district, I'm never going to be satisfied. There's always more that we can be doing to address the challenges that we face. And working across the aisle is one of the ways that we can do that. Certainly, you know, I know folks have pressing concerns and being at home for the campaign side. My perspective is I'm going to be able to also be in my district, meeting my constituents, telling them about some of the work that we've done here, but also some of the challenges that we have. some of the initiatives that I don't think get a lot of attention, like what Congressman Case and I are working on with respect to gerrymandering reform. I am happy to get back to my district and talk to my constituents and show them, hey, I know if you just watch cable TV, it's shouting heads, people yelling at other people. Here's an example of something that we're doing in Congress that's meaningful. There's a lot of stuff that Congressman Case and I know that if he's anything like me, and I know he is, there's some stuff that you do hear that's really frustrating, but there's other things that... you do that are really meaningful in this initiative and all of the issues that Congressman Case just ticked off are important to me as well. And gerrymandering reform is a big one. And this is one of the topics that. regardless of what the calendar is, I can't control it, Ed can't control it. Regardless of what the calendar is here, we have an opportunity to come home and let our constituents know the good work that we're doing that they might not always see on television. Speaker 2 (4:47) Congressman Case, I saw a bit of a sly smile from you there when I asked about the recess. What do you think? Speaker 1 (4:53) Oh, no, it wasn't a sly smile. I said, no, I'm not satisfied with the level of our problem solving. We have major challenges facing us. We all know what the challenges are there. They're the economy, affordability, certainly gerrymandering, which Jeff and I have worked very hard on with our problem solvers. I mentioned debt and deficit earlier. I could go right down the list. Foreign policy. There are many, many challenges. And Congress is here to solve our country's problems. And that's what our job is. And so as Jeff and I think Jeff said it well, I'm never satisfied with with with with. you know, the time and the effort in Congress because there are so many of these challenges. But understandably, people have to go home and they have to connect with their constituents, as I'm going to do as well here. And we all have to get reelected every two years. And so this is a time to go home and talk with our constituents and, you know, make sure we're reconnected and obviously to ask them to be able to continue for another two years and to be able to face those challenges and solve those problems. Speaker 2 (5:58) Congressman Hurd, you're a freshman. I'm curious to get your assessment. What has surprised you about Congress? What encourages you? What discourages you as you near the end of your first term? Speaker 3 (6:09) My biggest surprise is the number of Republicans and Democrats that are committed to doing the right thing and that are here for good reasons. Certainly, there are a number of members that are less committed to that and are more interested in... pursuing their personal interests in getting on television and raising money by throwing rhetorical bombs. But there is a solid and decent number of colleagues on both sides of the aisle that are committed to doing the right thing. Unfortunately, the incentives in our system don't always uh incent us to to to work in the ways that are most effective here in congress, but um That's probably been the biggest surprise for me are the number of people that i'd never heard of them and i'm fairly it was fairly connected to politics But I wouldn't be able to recognize most of the people that I see as the most serious problem solvers here That's probably been the biggest surprise for me. Um, I will tell you also how important relationships are Is something that has hit home to me? it is very hard if ed case comes to me and says hey jeff there is an issue in hawaii that matters um he's he's i have a good relationship with him i like him it's hard for me to to to say no and obviously we're not going to agree on everything and and i'm sure ed would say the same thing for me but having somebody that you like to work with and that you want to try to solve a problem with is really really important so anyway there's a lot of good people here and relationships really matter. Those are the two big things that I've taken away so far in Congress. Speaker 2 (7:34) Well, your relationship has brought you to a lot of work on gerrymandering, which you both just mentioned. As part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, you two co-lead the gerrymandering working group, and you unveiled your bipartisan reforms this week. Let's take a listen to some of that. Speaker 3 (7:48) This scourge of mid-decade redistricting is relatively new, and it's something that we need to stop. It's not good. It's not healthy for our country or for our political system. That's why Congressman Case are introducing the Problem Solvers Transparent Redistricting Under Stable Timelines Act, the TRUST Act, to end mid-decade redistricting and establish a clear nationwide rule that maps are drawn once a Speaker 1 (8:17) decade following census. What we're trying to do here is to go after four ingredients. Number one, when are congressional maps drawn? Number two, how are they drawn? Number three, who gets to draw them? And number four, how do we resolve disputes? Those are all ingredients of the issue. And today, in this particular bill, the Trust Act, we are trying to get after when we draw maps. Speaker 2 (8:48) I genuinely think this is one of the most important issues in our modern politics. And what I constantly hear from both Democrats and Republicans is redistricting this mid-decade redistricting is terrible for democracy, but the other guys are doing it. So we have to do it too. And everyone feels like this is just this inevitable race to the bottom. Congressman Case, how likely is it that anything will actually move here? Speaker 1 (9:17) Well, I think I think the I think the voters out there are disgusted with hyper partisan gerrymandering. I think I think people are going to go home and they're going to hear all over again that gerrymandering is bad, that it's it's it's pretty obvious. We all we all agree on it. I think that most Americans agree that gerrymandering to start with is a bad thing where you actually design congressional. And let's just be really, really clear here. because there's often some confusion here. What we are talking about are the congressional maps for U.S. House of Representatives districts. We're not talking about state legislative districts, and we're not talking, obviously, about the U.S. Senate because they have the whole state. We're talking about how each state is allocated into congressional districts. So the United States House of Representatives is what we're talking about. And gerrymandering, where essentially the politicians try to pick their voters to their advantage. resulting in very, very weird maps, very disconnected maps, has always been a problem. What has made it very worse these days is that it's just so hyper-partisan now, and modern technology allows for such incredible distinctions in terms of how you draw those maps for distinct political purpose. And then add on top of that, that we are now in, as you already put it, a series of descending wars over that, where we are... basically into an every single cycle redistricting and that and that causes multiple problems. But at the top level, the problem is that it's corrosive to democracy. It disillusions voters, it disenfranchises voters, and it is not conducive to the workings of the United States House of Representatives because it actually destroys problem solving. It actually results in a predominance of more extreme positions that are not really interested in problem solving and the detriment of really districts that are competitive, where you actually will see the solving of problems in our country through debate and through the problem solvers and other groups sitting down and trying to figure them out. Speaker 2 (11:24) But Congressman Hurd, given it is actually the politicians that are also behind this, what kind of response are you getting from your colleagues on both sides of the aisle here? Speaker 3 (11:35) Certainly, I think there is a large majority of our members of Congress that are unhappy with it. I'll tell you with even the members that are in districts or in states that are being redistricting themselves for their own advantage, they will tell you that they're not happy about it. I will also say Ed had a great point. This gets the issue of corruption, trust in government, voters choosing politicians, not politicians choosing their voters. It also gets to the issue of... how we can be effective legislators. There is no way that I could be as effective a legislator if I don't know what my constituents are going to be in two years. And getting to know them and understand the issues and understanding the cities and in parts of my district. I'm not going to be able to do a good job of that if in two years I'm going to be representing a completely different part of the district or running in a completely different part of the district. And so it's also fundamentally not fair to the voters in that sense as well, is that their member of Congress is not going to be able to serve them well when the boundaries are constantly changing. We're getting close to the end of the, when it's 2026, there's only, you know, as we're getting close to the next census. I'm optimistic that as we get closer, the chances of us getting this bill across the finish line are only going to get higher. We're going to keep pushing it. in the Problem Solvers Caucus. And I will tell you, the support for it is broader than what you might necessarily think of if you just look at the headlines. I Speaker 2 (12:55) want to talk about another issue that we are seeing increasingly, both on the campaign trail on Capitol Hill, the White House is dealing with it, and Americans at large are kind of freaking out over it right now. And that is, of course, artificial intelligence and the debate over what to do with AI, who should take action, what that should look like. I sat down with Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy for my podcast. the conversation. Here's what he told me about it. Who should be setting the guardrails? Should it be just the AI companies themselves? No, Speaker 8 (13:23) it should be Congress. Speaker 2 (13:24) Okay. Now, Speaker 8 (13:24) by the way, it has to be dynamic. It may also be the courts. Speaker 2 (13:27) It Speaker 8 (13:28) may also be the courts. But you think there's Speaker 2 (13:29) a big role for government regulation here? Speaker 8 (13:31) Absolutely. And by the way, that's certainly with precedent. Anything that is this transformative, the American people need to weigh in on. And the American people express their thoughts and anxieties and hopes and aspirations through representative government. Speaker 2 (13:46) Congressman Herg, do you agree with Senator Cassidy there that Congress should take a big role in this? Speaker 3 (13:53) I would say, Dasha, AI has an extraordinary potential to improve productivity. scientific research, scientific advances, medicine, national security, energy, all those parts of American life. But it also presents legitimate questions that