So this is much bigger than a motion to vacate where eight were eight republicans aligned with 208 democrats to remove the House Republican speaker. To me, this is about a lot more than that. Announcer Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau director rohit chopra talked about Financial Systems and Digital Currency, including the evolution of Digital Payment systems, control over the flow of money, ecommerce, and data privacy. From the brookings institution, this is 40 minutes. If everyone could take their seats, were going to keep the program rolling. Rolling, rolling, rolling. It is that was a lively and fantastic first panel that cover the waterfront, from credit card reward points to cryptocurrency, from payment nerds to real life, what do you do when you need to access your money. And real life is really the focal point of our next speaker. Director rohit chopra has been running the cfpb. And i like to say whether you agree or disagree with what the cfpb is doing, they are doing. And that itself is a massive accomplishment in washington which i think is often underappreciated. Time in government is finite. The ability to effectuate change is one metric that we ought to judge Public Servants by. We can do a separate weather we think it was changed for the good or ill. But i can think of very few people who were as skillful and impactful in their career in effectuating change. Before becoming director of cfpb , he was confirmed unanimously. Before that he had a prior stent helping found in the office of cfpb as its man for student loans, a topic that is still plagued and impacts us today. At this moment in thinking about the future of our payments, we talked about back office and structure. We need to now have a moment to talk about front office and how this impacts people. I can think of nobody better than a person whose sole job is to look at the Financial System from the consumers point of view. So director chopra, please come on up, give us some remarks, and then we will have a conversation. [applause] mr. Chopra thanks, aaron, and thanks brookings and everyone who helped organize this today. You know, let me start by saying, over roughly a decade i would say, Digital Payments mostly conducted through mobile devices rapidly became ubiquitous in china. And two dominant Chinese Tech Company services, alipay and we chat pay, began to process millions of transactions, and now millions of transactions every hour. They capture an extraordinary amount of chinese citizens personal data and the movement of money throughout the chinese economy. And in the same vein, in 2019, facebook announced that it had hatched a scheme to create a new global currency called libra. And while alipay and wechat pay have undoubtedly succeeded in capturing so much information and market share, facebook did not succeed. And libra did not become a new global currency for consumers. But the question if provoked in the west for consumer and Data Protection authorities, for Financial Stability watchdogs, and National Security agencys, and Central Banks, still live on. Importantly, the vision at the heart of the libra conflict remains alive among Big Tech Companies around the world. Their incursion into finance comes at a uniquely vulnerable moment for historical separation of banking and commerce. Two modern trends are colliding. The erosion of traditional lines between core banking activities and commercial financial activities, and the growth of ecommerce and our digital economy. Today i want to discuss digital dollars and Digital Payments from the Consumer Household and retail perspective here in the u. S. First, i want to talk about how money and Payment Systems are essential infrastructure for our society. I want to share some analysis from the cfpbs inquiry into payments gatekeepers, especially those large tech firms, as well as some observations about surveillance and censorship. Finally, im going to close with a summary of the dangers of allowing very large nonbanks to issue private money outside of the Banking System and wield inordinate control overpayment rails, as well as some policy considerations for the future. So, we have long known that sectors like transportation and telecommunications are critical pieces of the infrastructure of our society. Technology to increased the speed of ships and railways dramatically changed the nation of commerce. Highspeed internet fundamentally changed how we work with colleagues around the globe and see family members living far away. And i would just argue that banking money and payments are just as essential. Without this, there could not be betrayed in commerce that is foundational to our standard of living. This infrastructure is also somewhat different, relying heavily on confidence in addition to any physical or technological attributes. And banks are the primary ways through which money is created and moved. And when we keep money in banks, we can demand it back immediately in physical cash. We can also use bank money deposits to make payments. As a society, we give banks a special legal treatment to issue this and influence the supply of money in our economy. We afford them access to the Public Safety net when they get into trouble so that we can ensure, for consumers and businesses, that their money is safe and reliable. In return, we subject banks to oversight, regulation, and require that they meet the needs of the community. And to prevent all sorts of conflicts of interest. Whether it is with railways, energy utilities, the list goes on and on. We also limit angst certain financial activities, rather than allowing them to engage in commercial enterprise or merely be an arm of a larger conglomerate. It did not always work this way. Banks used to issue sketchy private money. And at times in our history, thanks and their executives managed sweeping conglomerates across the commercial sectors. In many ways, aligning our National Currency and bankissued money while structurally dividing, banking and commerce provided in neutral standard for money and payments that instilled confidence and stability. The creation of our nations central bank, the fed, was a further acknowledgment banking and payments had important Public Infrastructure components that needed Public Investment and governance. Just as aging ridges and now dated power grids demand Public Investment, so too does the nations Payment Systems. And as the system evolved driven in part by Technological Advancements like the telegraph, the internet, the fed invested in an architecture that created Public Utilities for wire services, ach transfers, and now realtime payment. To be sure, our country has not always devoted the necessary resources to ensure open payment options, especially over the last few decades. During this time, lots of private gatekeepers emerged. Decades ago, new private electronic Human Networks like visa and mastercard started to grow. They grew over time, but ultimately they still move money through the egg Banking System on the backend. Relying heavily on communication rails built outside of the Federal Reserve system. At first these networks mostly were facilitating shortterm borrowing. Largely through charge cards and credit cards. Over time, modernday debit cards grew into a massive portion of those networks traffic. And generalpurpose reloadable prepaid cards, where funds could enjoy pass through private insurance, and other projects also ride these rails. More recently we have seen new private gatekeepers emerge. Some are mobile payment apps with enormous abusers. Here at home, paypal, venmo, and cashback are among the most popular, especially when it comes to facilitating personal payments between friends and family. There are also bankowned apps that travel within bank rails like zell. Others are big tech firms. As i mentioned in china, Alibabas Alipay and wechats wechat pay became dominant in retail payments. In the u. S. And across the globe, apple and google traffic glow a growing number of payments through their digital wallet. Starting in late 2021, the cfpb began to study these payment platforms including the big tech firms. We issued orders to many of the Major Players operating in the u. S. , and last month at the Federal Reserve bank of philadelphia we released our analysis of tap to pay teachers, describing the regulations imposed by apple and google. We spent considerable time evaluating the complex data handling practices and privacy protocols at these firms. These firms regulations are often long and filled with legalese. We often click right through them. To make things even more confusing they sometimes refer people to other policies to understand what data is being ingested, how it is being used, and what, if any, rights a person may have. And while there regulations are convoluted, there are clear takeaways for us. First, these firms collect a significant amount of data about the consumers using their payment products. They use this data for a variety of purposes including to develop, market, and sell the payments products. And for a majority of them, other products and services to potential third parties. Second, these entities retain much of the data they collect for extended periods of time. The Companies Generally require the consumers consent to their data being collected to use their product. And the lack of such consent would restrict their access to many or all product features. It is take it or leave it. Similarly, fulfilling a request to delete data may result in the closure of a consumers account or their inability to continue using the product. Finally, regardless of how these Companies Use the data they have collected today, their regulations do not appear to commit to meaningful limitations on future efforts to monetize the data, including fueling Artificial Intelligence and other use cases. Their policies are not static and evolve over time. Each new version affords these entities opportunity to change their position on what data is collected or how it is used. It also impacts how they share those data with other parts of their corporate conglomerates, including commercial businesses that they operate. As i mentioned earlier, u. S. Banks are subject to certain restrictions when it comes to crossownership and affiliation with commercial firms. The payment platforms i just mentioned are not banks and are indeed parts of big conglomerates touching so many areas of digital commerce. So, whats the problem . The traditional lines we drew within the Financial Sector have become much fuzzier recently. Big Tech Companies are now taking advantage as they move into finance, threatening the fundamental separation between banking, money, and payments on the one side, and our real economy on the other. They can engage in banklike activities either on their own or through complex arrangements with banks, without facing the same arrangements or obligations. And these firms will have a strong incentive to survey a all aspects of a consumer to survey all surveil all aspects of the consumer. For example, the firms can use detailed payments data to develop personalized pricing algorithms for ecommerce, or increase engagement with their behavioral advertising businesses. And of course corporate surveillance activities around the world also raise questions about espionage tracking and sensor set. Indeed, there has been concern both in the u. S. And abroad about the relationship between chinese tech giants and governmental entities, including with respect to the sharing of sensitive user data and censorship. Given the massive scale that payments firms and tech giants can amass, this can also raise alarm bells regarding private censorship as well. Since each of these firms controls the regulations of its Payment Systems, the cfpb has been studying how these firms decide which users get to play on the platform and who gets deplatformed and why. For example, last october, paypal updated its regulations to give itself the power to levy fines and take punitive actions against users engaged in conduct that would not otherwise violate federal or state law. Paypal withdrew the regulation. Merchant selling goods and accepting payments through these platforms also report being censored and muzzled. Many of these issues are top of mind for regulators and legislators when it comes to private digital dollars and privatized Payment Systems. In november of 2021, the Treasury Department and other federal regulators produced a report on private digital dollars. The cfpb found their report to be interesting, especially when it comes to concerns outside of the Consumer Household and retail context. For example, the report describes risks to the Financial System and to market competition, particularly if these private currencies became broadly adopted. From a consumer regulators perspective, its important to safeguard against the risk of private currencies such as the potential for destabilizing runs, intrusive data surveillance, private financial censorship, private regulations that favor the issuers commerc fial interest, and consumer fraud. Of course the specifications, particularly the technology specifications, and the Business Model of the currency creator and payment platform operator, may surface more risks, or mitigate many others. The november 2021 report made some helpful suggestions that would address some of these risks. For example, the report suggested that agencies explore the applicability of section one 21a2 of the glasssteagall act that prohibits nonbanks from engaging in certain types of deposit taking activities. The report also described the benefits of limiting commercial affiliations with private currency issuers and limiting the use and misuse of transaction data. And to ensure that private currencies and Payment Systems in the household and retail context do not harm consumers. We think a number of steps are warranted. First, the cfpb will be issuing supplemental orders to certain Large Technology firms to acquire more information that will help us that or ascertain their specific Business Practices and plans, especially with respect to the use of personal data and any issuance of private currency. Second, to reduce the harms of errors, hacks, and unauthorized transfers, the cfpb is exploring Additional Guidance to Market Participants to answer their questions regarding the applicability of the Electronic Fund transfer act, with respect to private digital dollars and other virtual currencies. Third, the cfpb is going to look at appropriate authorities to conduct supervisory examinations of nonbanks offering Consumer Payment platforms. We have a number of authorities to do so, such as when these firms serve as providers to large institutions. Another one of these authorities include defining larger participants in this market by rule, which would subject banks meeting a particular sized threshold to cfpb supervision. Fourth, as suggested in the november 2021 report, the Financial StabilityOversight Council should consider exercising its authority under title eight of the dodd frank act to designate this activity as likely to become a systemically important payment clearing or settlement activity. This could provide, for example, other agencies with critical oversight and tools to ensure that a stable coin is actually stable. Finally, its critically important for American Consumers to have stronger protection against excessive surveillance and misuse of our data. Later this month i will authorize the publication of a proposed rule regarding personal Financial Data rights pursuant to section 1033 of the Consumer Protection act. The rule will seek to accelerate americas shift to open, competitive, and decentralized banking, while also speaking to safeguard against abuse of our personal data. In addition, i think all policymakers, legislators, and regulators must continue to identify additional financial Privacy Protection that goes beyond the existing grammleachbliley act protections. They have totally proven to be insufficient. I hope federal legislation can provide us with more tools to deter abuses. In conclusion, i fear that the u. S. Is lurching toward a consolidated Market Structure like the one that has emerged in china, that blues the lines between payments and commerce and creates the incentives for excessive surveillance, and even financial censorship. A quarter century ago, the u. S. Mint within the Treasury Department began to chart out its thinking on minting coins in the digital era. Today, we have many more questions to answer and challenges to overcome. And as we seek to configure a payments architecture that can provide safe and secure electronic cache, we should make sure the deployment of private payments and services are aligned with our valuers for fair cap addition, Consumer Protection, and our National Security. Thank you very much. [applause] mr. Klein it was really hard for me to stay seated, because there were so many times i wanted to jump out of my seat at what you were saying, often to agree. But that would be kind of boring up here, so lets talk about some things where i want to probe a little deeper into what you are saying. Director, you went into a good amount talking about the separation of banking and commerce, which is fundamental in the u. S. But isnt it the case you put payment on the banking side. But banking is the taking of departments deposits and the making of loans. So, why do you banks have dominated payment because they are better at it and have more advantages. Why, in your legal mind, did you put it there . Mr. Chopra if you really look at our history, the way in which a lot of money has moved has been heavily influenced by public utility approaches. So if you look at how the fed created even standards for check clearing, how they created standards for wire services, even fed now, it has a fundamental Public Infrastructure component partially because these are Network Businesses. In some ways, they are natural oligarch police oligapolies or not police. Or monopolies. It has a function that is very much about Public Infrastructure. So, if you look through many moments in our history, we have decided that we want to be different than europe in many ways. We dont want to have national champions. We want to create a structure that provides a lot of innovation and progress on top of these networks. And i think it is a place where there is a lot of room for a huge amount of private sector participation. But once it comes down to a chinesestyle system where you really have two players traffic and lots of the retail payment, i think that introduces some very, very real problems. Mr. Klein i love the view of china. I went deep on chinese payments years ago when i came back from an experience over there. And the takeaway i had was, in the most centrally planned government on earth, the refused to adopt cards because of the merchant fees. They had a cashbased economy, the banks were doing nothing. In the Chinese Central Bank said, nah, you tech firms figure it out, and detect firms crushed it. Ali and wechat are light years ahead of our technology in providing better, faster and cheaper services. There are a bunch of problems with state surveillance, all the things you flag. But man, their system smokes the american system in terms of better, cheaper, faster, more secure, for merchants and customers, etc. You are right to draw that analogy in terms of libra and all these things. But i kind of question you on like, wouldnt it be much better if we had that system then a system that crushes people on overdraft, that a check i deposit today, which could be available instantly, will sit in my bank account until tuesday because that is the next business day . Why is that the case . Mr. Chopra one of the reasons that is the case as i mentioned some of the private sector rails that exist, for which there are very many of them here and have a lot of reach. Whats the incumbency bias to protect the rents and fees they draw from that . I want us to be careful, because i do think we have a very different model about how Major Enterprises are connected to the state here. I think in china, we can all agree it is a little bit different. So the question then becomes, what is the right regulatory architecture that still supports all of that, but that does not actually create some of the harms, especially when it comes to consumer fraud, you mentionedc cost, you mentioned speed. Those are benefits, not harms. But what happens when this Network Business uses that to advantage the rest of their conglomerates . I think that has some very, very real modernday applicability. Mr. Chopra mr. Klein when you think about amazon doing the same thing, i think those are really important areas that we need to be on guard. You are right, in the 21st century, that is a new way to tie banking on commerce with data. On the other hand, the speed and benefits, the delay is a harm, and we have a system that is deeply delayed. He talked at the very end about the mint and digital coins. Americas unique in that the mint is in liability of the treasury, and paper money is a liability of the Federal Reserve. I think it is us, kenya, and argentina, that are the only countries that do that. It also explains why we dont have dollar coins in america. The fed does not make money on them. I saw a really interesting paper but the treasury playing more of a role in the mint. You talk about a digital calling as opposed to a digital digital coin as opposed to a digital dollar. We have commercial bank Digital Currency. Do you see a place for the treasury to explore supposedly Central Banks . Why does it have to be a Central Bank Digital currency versus a treasury or governmentbacked Digital Currency . Mr. Chopra i actually find the entire cbdc conversation very confusing because it does not divide out the key design elements. So what part is issuing it . What is the technological specifications when it comes to privacy and tracking . When you think about it physical coin, theres no serial number on it. Theres many things we could think about. But at the same time i would argue, aaron, that theres all sorts of reasons to pursue and not to pursue. Those are heavily related to wholesale, commercial, Larger National competitiveness issues. If we care a lot about retail payments, lets figure out what are the things most important to us. I would argue we have already mentioned safety, speed, funds availability. We actually have lots of tools to address those both in the Current System and beyond. For example, hncc, its a place the Federal Reserve board and the cfpb have some authority. I think it is worth taking a look at how we make funds availability, and what the right level of speed is on that. I think when it comes to fraud, there is lots of places where we can align the incentives better, and in many cases, i have seen how the private sector and Financial Institutions are starting to move to address those. So, i not want to not answer your cbcd question, but its pushing together a bunch of different issues. Mr. Klein lets most together a few because it is like red meat and i am rabid. You could apply balances unstable coin and fed wire as a potential fraud issue. You could use the Federal Reserve could, in consultation with you to make peoples payments available faster by law. The law says shall, it does not say may. The fed shall promulgate regulations. Anyone want to guess when the fed got around to that topic . 2007. What happened in subprime mortgages between 1990 and 2007 . Tanked the global economy. While the fed refused to follow the law. Were at the same point we have been. Its taken hundreds of billions of dollars from working poor people and put it in the hands of payday lenders and Bank Executives with boats named overdraft. When is the fed going to use its legal authority, or what happens when they ignore the law . Mr. Chopra oh boy. [laughter] so, let me just say that the central bank has many functions. And as you mentioned, many of them were stripped from the fed after the passage of dodd frank, but they also got some new ones as well. So, as you think and i think sometimes we need to think more analytically about the linkages between monetary policy, Bank Supervision regulation, and payments, as well as household Financial Stability and Consumer Protection as part of all that. So, i do think we are overdue for refreshing the payments architecture. There may in fact be a role for the treasury. Many people have argued this. Not only in terms of treasury securities that are issued. Theres already a one day certificate of indebtedness. You mentioned the mint has authority. You are right, it is accounted for differently. I hope we start, rather than focusing on phrases, focus on surveillance, censorship, fraud, all of those. And we can pick them all off i hope. Some of it is going to require, i think, some nuance though, especially when it comes to privacy. Mr. Klein i think there is also a role for enforcing the law that we have that has some authority. You mentioned fraud, and you could do some things on fed wire, which is usually where big wire transfers happen as opposed to zell or we have time for one more answer and we want to turn to the audience. But there was a lot of conversation about frequent flyer miles and credit card points and you talk about the private creation of money. And last night im booking tickets to go see the twins in the playoffs and im moving money from my Credit Card Rewards to my frequent flyer to pay for my daughters ticket. This is not money somehow. But when i buy my ticket with cash, it is money. And we saw the news from Delta Airlines or do we have airlines or payment structures that run planes in order to drive people to their card . Where is the financization of society as a payment mechanism and where is the role of the bureau . Mr. Chopra if you look at the security filings, even certain retailers we see how much of their business relates to credit cards, financial activities. So look, i think there is certainly a lot thats happened the past few years especially around rewards. So rewards, we must think of that in the past as some sort of very specific gift card type arrangement. But really when you look at the broad range of activities happening in points and awards, especially online gaming, theres lots of sectors we see this, we do get a lot of questions about how does this interact . Are these funds . Thats part of what i mentioned in my remarks. We may need to provide Additional Guidance on it. Mr. Klein the Banking Industry seems to make an argument your rewards comes from their fees, overdraft fees, merchant fees and seems to me theyre making the linkage more clear. Tim, you raised your hand for a question. Where is the mic . Well get there. I do think these are im glad to hear it because this is what real people are talking about. Mr. Chopra there are representations how those points could be used and rewards could be used and we are thinking about is there bait and switch happening. Go ahead, tim. Tim thank you, tim massit. Thanks for your comments. You mentioned retsoc should look at title 8 to view stable coin as likely to become systemic. I wanted to make sure i got that right and if you were referring to stable coin activity or something broader. And number two, can you talk about what kind of reception you expect to get from secretary yellen and other members of the fsoc, have you discussed this with them, if you where do you think it is going . Mr. Queen as part of the mr. Klein as part of the financial reforms it gave treasury and the regulators to create certain prudential and enhanced standards for certain nonbanks. I wont go into all the details. Mr. Chopra it can be institution by institution and it can be for certain Financial Market utilityies. You know, for a whole host and there have been many designations around that. One area that hasnt used the title 8 authority around payment clearing and settlement. So i think there is actually a number of issues there around nonbank issuance of currency and coins. It would be highly inappropriate, as you know, to comment on the deliberations we have on that. But it is explicitly referenced in the 2021 report. The 2021 report which is now approaching two years old essentially says absent legislation. The council should look at exercising that authority because at a minimum, it will provide some additional tools on liquiditiy, on standards to make sure that some of the risks about coins being runnable, about creating destabilization, could be addressed. Mr. Klein isnt ironic the closest stable coin came to crashing because the bank they had their money in failed . Mr. Chopra there are others but i dont want to say the only one but if youre referring to silver gate. Mr. Klein circle and sbc. Mr. Chopra there are many examples how you might think of linkages between a nonbank issuer and direct deposit but the question has come to many people come to ask questions about tether and other ones. The point is mr. Klein how the hell is tether Still Standing . Mr. Chopra its important to see where these things can become very large. What are the tools we have to make sure that its actually stable. Mr. Klein we have time for one more question because i know you have a hard stop. Crypto council for innovation and new america for security. Ill try to be quick. Data privacy rights, i think we understand it, well, very important, can you point us towards either a document or some sort of vision a vision document for how we in the u. S. Should see Digital Financial privacy . I mean more a vision as opposed to specific rights or standards, thinking about china, theyre very clear on the vision for the Digital Future, if were going to make laws or change laws, what reference do we have that updates the Fourth Amendment or applies the Fourth Amendment to our Digital Future . Mr. Chopra its a great question. Its not easy to compare with china when it comes to financial privacy because i dont know they have a vision for privacy where i would say is this, we have, i think theres very broad consensus now that the notice and consent framework that is really viewed in the grahamlikebliley act and many others theres elements of it in hppa and other state and privacy laws, people have accepted that that doesnt work, you cant meaningfully opt out, its often take it or leave it. So i think what youre seeing across sectors not just in Financial Services is really in some ways a little bit more like the fair credit reporting act in most ways is permissible Service Restrictions and use limitations. It is a real challenge because these are hard to enforce. In many ways when someone its very hard to verify when something is deleted or not being used for some other purposes. So i think that is something that you already see happening throughout the u. S. Across states of very different, you know, ideological stripes in some ways, but i think the concept of purposes limitation, and if im offering you and asking for your data to originate an auto loan to you, and is it reasonable im also going to sell that information, too, because i know youre in the business youre in the market for a lawn mower, and i think that is sort of where the lines i think have to be drawn. We will be proposing some rules that will accelerate open banking and i think part of that is going to be some use restrictions on the data that ie permissioning to financial firms. Mr. Klein thats very exciting to look forward to. Join me in thanking the director for his times and thoughts. If we could stay seated for one second. I know you have to get out of here. Please take you can head out. They stay seated while you get out because i know you have to make a run. And realize, i appreciate the privacy was a genuine for lawyers and paper companies, paper was the only one fighting to get the things in the mail when congress got rid of them. Hippa is insane. I had to pick up a c. D. Rom of my shoulder, because they couldnt email the picture between doctors. And when i brought the c. D. Rom, i dont have a c. D. Rom reader, what is this, 2006 . So build a better system, man. Thank you very much. [applause] mr. Klein do we go straight to the second panel . A five minute short break and enjoy a cup of coffee and well be back for more fireworks. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy visit ncicap. Org] announcer cspan is your unfiltered view of government. Were funded by these Television Companies and more, including comcast. You think this is just a Community Center . No, its way more than that. Comcast is partnering with a thousand Community Centers to create wifi enabled lists so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. Comcast supports cspan along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. Tonight watch cspan series in partnership with the library of congress, books that shaped america and feature a narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845, the first of three autobiographies by Frederick Douglass and deeply personal and sometimes graphic language, he describes his childhood years on the Eastern Shore of maryland, his time as a slave in baltimore and his escape north in 1838. The book was widely sold and set to highfully influence the cause of abolition. Well discuss the book on books that shaped america. Featuring the life of Frederick Douglass. Tonight at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan now, our free video mobile app or online at cspan. Org and scan the q. R. Code to listen to our companion podcast to learn more of the books featured. On capitol hill, republican representative mike lawler talked briefly about the upcoming House RepublicanConference Meeting and speaker election. A lot of people believe Kevin Mccarthy is the right person to lead us. Reporter you have a preference, jordan and mccarthy are the only two options . Look, well have our conversation tonight. Ive spoken with the perspective candidates and well have our conversation and then see where we go from there. But to me ive said repeatedly, if theres not accountability for what just happens, how do you work as a conference . How do you actually govern, if eight people can upend what 96 of the conference believes in and work with 208 democrats, including talib, omar, adam schiff and Hakeem Jeffries to remove a public speaker, how do you deal with that . Reporter have you blocked the motion to vacate that reform to make your demand . Michael its bigger than the motion to vacate. Its much bigger. Thats a procedural thing. At the end of the day, if you dont have people willing to compromise within the conference and work as a unit, then it makes it very difficult. So this is much bigger than a motion to vacate where eight democrats aligned eight republicans align with 208 democrats to remove the House Republican speaker. To me, this is about a lot more than that. Reporter would you like to [indiscernible] the office of speaker of the house of the United States house of representatives is hereby declared vacant. On tuesday at 5 00 p. M. Eastern, the House Republican conference meets to discuss potential candidates for speaker of the house following congressman Kevin Mccarthys removal. The House Democrat will select Hakeem Jeffries as their nominee for speaker. The battle over house speakership continues. Follow every moment from capitol hill as this historic election unfolds. Watch on cspan, cspan now or online at cspan. Org. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Announcer 2024 republican president ial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy talked about woke kell churr in New Hampshire where he was the keynote speaker at the coolidge fundraiser hosted by the Cheshire CountyRepublican Party and then he talks