Evening Edition: Bipartisan Work On Threats From China And Prescription Drug Prices
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I'm Madison Allworth. I'm Juan Williams. I'm Liz Klayman. And this is the Fox News Rundown. Monday, May 12th, 2025. I'm Ryan Schmelz. Members of the House are eyeing bipartisan ways to combat China's influence in the U.S., while Republicans are preparing for some contentious hearings when it comes to President Trump's one big, beautiful bill. Work requirements are something that we should be

in favor of, that a Republican should stand united in favor of. And this bill, this proposal shouldn't lose a single vote because of that. This is the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. You may get a little excited when you shop at Burlington. I'm saving so much!

Burlington saves you up to 60% off other retailers' prices every day. Will it be the low prices or the great brands? Burlington. Deals. Brands. Wow. I told you so. Styles and selections vary by store. The House Ways and Means Committee has released the bill tax for President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes an extension of the Trump tax cuts from 2017, reduced taxes on tips and overtime, and an increase in the debt limit.

Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee also released its bill text ahead of a contentious markup this week. E&C is the committee that oversees Medicaid spending. Republicans will need to stay unified in order to pass the bill that's likely to not have any support from Democrats. But Congressman Ben Klein is focusing on an issue that's getting bipartisan support, combating China's influence in the U.S. Right now there are transparent

I see laws that require registration of foreign agents, but those have loopholes. We're speaking to Virginia Republican Ben Klein. And so foreign agents like the Chinese Communist Party are using those loopholes to evade that transparency and influence U.S. policy behind closed doors. So right now, suspected foreign agents are let off the hook when they just simply claim they've ended their relationship with a foreign government. Right.

It's outrageous, quite frankly. You know, so this bill would just ensure that

If you have been acting on behalf of a foreign power, you have to register even if you've walked away. And how did this get brought to your attention? Because it seems like it was driven through the China committee, obviously a bipartisan committee. It's had a lot of bipartisan work that's gone on there since it's been established. You know, Raja Krishnamoorthi has signed on to this. You also have, I believe, Don Davis signed on to this, too. So it seems like it's a bipartisan effort. Are you getting a sense that that's going to be the case throughout the rest of Congress?

I think that China is approaching China is a bipartisan issue. The recognition is that we do need to confront Chinese aggression. This is one issue where we all, regardless of party, want to stand up for the laws that we pass, our transparency laws, our registration laws we don't like.

those laws to be evaded by foreign powers, especially China. So whether it's Congressman Krishnamoorthy, who is a friend, or Chairman Molinar, who is a good friend, I was on the China committee for a time before I got on the Intelligence Committee. And so confronting Chinese aggression is a major priority for me and for my fellow colleagues on the committee. And have you gotten any buy-in from leadership or any interest on the Senate side with this? From the conversation...

that I've had, they've been all positive. And we would anticipate very little pushback. And if we could kind of get into some of the news of the day topics, you know, President Trump issued an executive order today that he hopes will lower prescription drug prices by quite a hefty sum. I believe we're looking at anywhere between 50 percent to 90 percent. What are your thoughts on the executive order? And are you on board with this? Well, we all want to

bring down the price of prescriptions. For those of us who are advocating for action, there are a lot of ways that you can do that. The president has taken executive action today. We've been pushing legislation that would encourage more generics and bring down prices through competition.

The president, you know, through his actions are definitely targeting this problem, which has been an issue for so many millions of Americans. And this president has his finger on the pulse. You know, families are confronting inflation. They're confronting higher prices there. And whether it's taking on.

China taking on drug manufacturers, big pharma taking on big tech. You know, this president is not to take on those concerns that on behalf of the American people. So I commend him for it. And do you think that some of the actions you're taking in Congress when it comes to prescription drug prices can be bipartisan or is this going to be done on a partisan basis, you think? Well, I think it can be bipartisan.

Problem Solvers Caucus, we have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. So we try and find those areas where we can reach across party lines. Drug prices are a tough nut. It means it encourages competition. The left wants more government intervention. And there's a meeting in the middle to be had, but it's going to take us—

putting aside those partisan differences and sitting down and working together. And I'm committed to doing that. When we talk about the reconciliation process and the one big, beautiful bill, your committee did get out. You're on the budget committee. You guys got some, I think, good news from the CBO today, which Republicans are usually at odds with the CBO. But based off of the letter that they sent to Chairman Guthrie on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where the bulk of this spending is going to be happening or a bulk of the spending cuts are going to be happening.

happening, I should say, they believe that the

changes and the recommendations that the chairman has put out, as well as committee members on the Republican side have put out, will reach that $880 billion spending cut goal that this committee had. What do you think that says for the momentum of this bill that you're now going to be seeing at least the recommendations that have been put forward so far and are going to be talked about in the markup are actually going to reach that $880 billion deficit reduction you've pushed for?

You know, I think it's a great sign that we do, in fact, have the momentum that as we move forward with this bill to be able to confront the runaway costs that we have seen in health care, other sections of the economy, to be able to confront those and and.

bring down those runaway costs by the goal that we've put forward, $880 billion, I think is a major accomplishment for the committee. It's a major accomplishment for the chairman. And if we can keep the momentum going on the Ways and Means Committee, on the Ag Committee, we're going to meet those targets immediately.

and be able to put a bill out of the House that is going to be tough to oppose in the Senate and meeting all of the president's goals. So hopefully we'll be able to get it on his desk by the 4th of July. Now, of course, there are two things in here, though. I think Democrats are trying to make this argument that the

This is going to lead, I think the number they put out, 13 million people are going to potentially see their benefit reduction or even lose their benefits altogether. And of course, we've seen Republicans, more moderate ones, say that they're going to vote against anything that has a significant cut to Medicaid. Do you think that this is still on track to not lose any Republican votes? Or do you think that this could be something that puts that at risk?

I think once we explain it to our colleagues, explain it to the American people, that this doesn't take away benefits from any vulnerable populations. You're not taking benefits away from children. You're not taking away benefits from the elderly, from the disabled, that able-bodied working adults who are part of the expanded Obamacare Medicaid program will be asked to work. And that is something that should be expected and is expected

I think, a reasonable request. So work requirements are something that we should be in favor of, that a Republican should stand united in favor of. And this bill, this proposal shouldn't lose a single vote because of that. We're speaking to Virginia Republican Ben Klein. More after this.

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And now we did just get not too long ago, the ways and means bill text, you know, includes a significant number of things in here and over. I think it's almost 400 pages long. Now, the salt cap looks to still be at a number that might not be.

satisfactory to some of these blue state Republicans who've been kind of at the forefront of these negotiations. It's capped at $30,000 for most taxpayers. It's a number that several New York Republicans have said they can't agree to. And what do you make of kind of the disagreement going on with SALT? I know that Republicans who represent red states aren't the biggest fan of it.

But it just seems like you're going to have to have something in there that's going to be satisfactory to not lose any votes here. Well, we understand that we are a diverse party. We're a majority party from all over the country, including blue states like New York and California, and that they have concerns with their constituents that are different from the concerns of my constituents. My constituents are mainly worried about inflation and the economy and energy prices and agriculture issues.

But yes, there are worries in blue states about the salt cap. And so we're

respectful of that. We want to make sure that all Republicans feel like this is a bill that we can go back to our constituents, our districts and say, look, we delivered for our constituents on the issues that they're concerned about. And so we're understanding of those concerns. We want to work with our colleagues on addressing that issue, but we're not going to simply blow a hole in this bill that that

that satisfies one specific issue but undoes the bill on a lot of different levels. And where do you think these tax priorities should be? Because we do see a lot of disagreements amongst Republicans and getting to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, that gets eaten up very quickly, even if you just extend the

the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. So what happens after that? Where do you think the tax priority should be? Well, we want to make sure that working men and women don't pay an inordinately high amount of taxes. We want to make sure that we are able to deliver on improving the economy, improving the jobs creation across the nation. And so bringing manufacturing back home, bringing

Bringing businesses back to America is going to help create jobs. It's going to help to produce wealth. It's going to help lower tax burdens. And that's great for working families and great for Americans. So this bill is going to go a long way towards doing that.

And we're excited to pass it and to see the growth that results in the coming months and years. And is there anything we should watch for that could be up for debate in either one of these committees, whether it's energy and commerce, ways and means that you think could put this legislation at risk? Oh, I think that when it comes down to it, Democrats are unfortunately not

opposed to anything that is going to be seen as helping President Trump. And so with them fully against the bill,

We're going to have to be united as a party since our margin is just in the single digits. And so making sure that we all sit down and talk, make sure all of our concerns are addressed. Nobody's going to get 100 percent of what they want. And as soon as everybody realizes that on the Republican side of the aisle, we should be united behind this one big, beautiful bill. Get it to the Senate and get it to the finish line here come summertime.

And what are your thoughts on President Trump's? I mean, I guess he what we understand is that he spoke with Speaker Johnson about this. But this idea of raising taxes on the highest wealth earners in order to pay for some of these tax priorities and also maybe prevent some of these spending cuts when it comes to Medicaid. Are you on board with that? We had the Freedom Caucus chairman, Andy Harris, tell us earlier that he's.

open to it if it's necessary. Do you think that's good policy or is this something you would push back on? No, I would disagree. I think that raising taxes is something that the American people voted against. They voted against the Democratic Party, which stands for higher taxes. President Joe Biden and his bid for higher taxes as a Republican House and a Republican Senate were put in place.

because we ran on lowering taxes on the American people. And so,

muddle that message by increasing taxes on some and decreasing taxes on others. I think we just need to work to keep taxes low. That incentivizes growth and that makes the entire economy better and all Americans are going to benefit from a big bill that lowers taxes overall for the American people. Congressman Ben Klein, thank you for joining us on the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. Thanks, Ryan. ...

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