Brian Schatz: “Before you came on, Senator Kim talked about taking on the New Jersey political machine. Political machines everywhere…”

“Before you came on, Senator Kim talked about taking on the New Jersey political machine. Political machines everywhere work pretty much the same. If you behave well, you get your stuff. And pork is distributed based on political alliances. I think you are right to notice that the President of the United States wants to sort of create a Tammany Hall vibe nationwide. I will say, just to take your own advice, that on, say, withholding disaster aid from California, that feels like just--like he is just ranting, and he is not actually in a position to do that because the Stafford Act provides that this is a disaster and that once we fund it, they have to help, and they will help. They are not permitted not to help. Now, he may stretch the boundaries of the law, but I do not think he is in a position to withhold aid. Now, do I think Mike Johnson is going to initiate a disaster supplemental for California? No. But the terrible fact of the matter is, there will be disasters going forward, and they hit blue States and red States equally. You just never know.”