Joan Esposito is joined by Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL).

The 6th District congressman discussed Governor J.B. Pritzker's August 25 speech urging President Donald Trump to not send federal troops into Chicago.

"What Governor Pritzker did is exactly what needs to be done, to tell people that we are going to look out for the least of these, that we are going to honor the oaths we took to the Constitution, to the basic moral principles that we were raised by, and the president needs to be reminded of that, because he's not reminded that by the people in his Cabinet and he's not reminded of that by the Republican leadership in the House and Senate that seems to prefer cowardice and sycophancy to doing their job," Casten told WCPT.

The vice ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Casten criticized Trump's recent attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, calling the move stupid and questioning its legality.

"We are the world's reserve currency," Casten explained. "We are carrying massive amounts of debt, and yet, every time we issue new treasuries to raise more debt to keep our country going, people buy that debt because they trust that the United States is governed by the rule of law. They trust it at the end of the day, we have a independent monetary policy that will do the right thing, and that this is a better bet than any other place in the world. What Trump is doing, even if it's legal, is sending a signal to the rest of the world that you really can't trust the United States to be a country of laws going forward, because if you want to do business here, you've got to do business with Donald Trump."

He also highlighted the need for bipartisan oversight. "Unfortunately, the only place where there seems to be bipartisan commitment to stand up to Trump is on [Jeffrey] Epstein," Casten said, referring to the late, convicted sex offender, "and we'll have to see how that plays out in the House. But maybe that's the break of the dam. It would be a strange thing, indeed, if we were to say thank you, Jeffrey Epstein, for saving our republic. But maybe we will."

Casten expressed concern over the potential for a government shutdown in October, suggesting that Democrats may not be as willing to give House Republicans the votes they need to pass a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government open.

"I don't know how that conversation is going to go this time around, because when the White House continues to disobey congressionally mandated laws, and the House of Representatives and the Senate refuse to do oversight, what is the value of giving the White House the authority to spend money without oversight? It's like giving your kid access to your checkbook and finding out that they go out and buy a keg for all their friends every night; at some point you stop giving them the checkbook. And I'm not suggesting that therefore the Democrats will shut the government down. I'm just saying that I feel more uncertain about how that process is going to play out than I felt at any point in my service so far, because the basic currency of trust that we will jealously defend the prerogatives of the Congress -- we'll have our differences of policy, but we will not cede power to the executive or judicial branches. And there's been such a willful emasculation of Congress [in] the Mike Johnson era that the basic trades that are in a CR, I'm not sure they're on the table."

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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