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I'll be signing it. i'll be signing it. and we don't know what that it is, but we know now this is a president who has been burned testifyicly by the michael wolff book. a president who knows, and john points out, what his approval ratings are, and he wants a win. he wants one win. by the way by the following afternoon i'll get another win. >> this is something he cares about, tex taxes, health care, that's important. but this is tough immigration, one of the things he wanted. >> he wants bipartisan cooperation, democrats and republicans working together. then on a few occasions during the mee...

A senator. a lot of people who worked for her had been around washington for quite a long time. and they were familiar with those people. so there's a lot of uncertainty and the kind of relationships that would normally be there are just starting to develop. mike pence is a reassuring presence because a lot of people do know him. they worked with many of his top aides have been with mike pence since he was here in the house. mike pence himself thought about running for president back in 2011-2012, and the people who worked with him on that and on the hill are still surrounding him today. in fa...

Current political stage? >> i think they are both good ideas. they are wildly optimistic in the sense i don't know how republicans would sell to their base the idea that we need to bring back earmarks, as good an idea as it would be. it's a lubricant to the legislative process and in the broader scheme of the budget and how much money it entails, it's a drop in the ocean. the problem, i talked to political scientists about these reforms toward the end of my piece. the problem is that the same partisan forces that are causing the polarization are also impeding congress from passing these kinds ...

Bringing back earmarks institutionalizes the pork. >> it is like saying responsible alcoholism. it lubricates corruption . massive spending bills and obama care and the like. the only time we should have that kind of pork stuff is pass the flat tax otherwise ban them. >> rick, you had a piece a couple of months ago saying congress cannot operate without earmarks. >> it is interesting. i got on to a piece after a conversation with jack who got me think being it. before the moratorium went into affect. we had a much easier time getting things through congress. 15 billion before the moratorium on...

You know, a bill usually doesn't become law until earmarks are tacked on. that's just the way washington works, right? well, this week the democrats and republicans are swapping promises to end earmarks? let's get straight to our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar. brianna, a republican announcement on cutting back earmarks. what is this? >> reporter: yeah, and followed by a democratic announcement just the day before. >> yes. >> reporter: what you have going on, tony, is some oneupmanship between democrats and republicans trying to take on the earmarks, something that both have fierc...