Deportations will reverse erosion of US wages from illegal alien suppression, says treasury economist to Glenn Beck



An economic aide to Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent explained how the deportation policies of President Donald Trump will lead to wage gains for U.S. workers, in an interview with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck.

Joseph Lavorgna tackled the argument from skeptics that illegal alien low-wage labor is not a significant drag on U.S. wages.

'There's no below-market-based rate, so the economics are pretty solid. ... You should see nominal wage growth accelerate.'

"Speak to somebody who [doesn't] believe the talking point that illegal immigration actually suppressed U.S. wages," said Beck.

"Well, it's very simple. ... If a worker comes in illegally, that allows the employer to pay [him or her] a below-average wage rate. And in turn, that resets the market lower for everybody else," Lavorgna explained.

"Put another way, if a firm does not have access to abundant — and we can even call it 'exploitative' — labor, then those wages economically, [the] microeconomics are such, you have to pay more," he added. "You're not kind of [flouting] the law. And what that allows then is for wages to be naturally higher, and what happens is U.S. workers then get paid a fair ... market-based rate."

Raising U.S. wages has been a focus of the Trump administration. On Tuesday the Treasury Department reported that real wage growth had made enormous gains in the first five months of Trump's second term.

RELATED: Zillow CEO says there's a link between mass deportations and affordable housing

Blue collar wage growth is at a nearly 60-year HIGH. Are Trump’s deportations to thank? @SecScottBessent's counselor @Lavorgnanomics explains: “If a firm does not have access to abundant - exploitative - labor…US workers then get paid a fair, market-based rate.” pic.twitter.com/DvpVvy925O
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) June 18, 2025

"There's no below-market-based rate. So the economics are pretty solid, and Sec. Bessent has highlighted that," Lavorgna continued.

Some economists argue that migrants, both legal and illegal, benefit the economy by driving prices down through their low-wage labor.

In an interview on a New York Post podcast, Bessent made the case that wage growth during the Biden administration was suppressed because of illegal aliens streaming in.

“Biden opened the border, and it was flooded,” said Bessent. “And for working Americans, that’s a disaster because it’s pressure on their wages.”

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Vance tells Glenn Beck Congress needs to 'get serious' about codifying DOGE cuts



While President Donald Trump greenlit a flurry of executive orders in the first 100 days of his second term, Congress has been struggling to keep up.

In the first few months of his presidency, only five bills from Congress have made it to Trump's desk and been signed into law. Meanwhile, Louisiana Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's "big, beautiful bill" has been the focal point of Capitol Hill drama with promises to codify the MAGA mandate Trump was overwhelmingly elected for.

Although the mandate is reflected in certain provisions in the bill, Vice President JD Vance himself said that Congress needs to do more to codify DOGE cuts and rein in spending.

'We're going to have to do it and get serious about it.'

.@VP Vance assures me major spending cuts are coming in the FINAL “Big, Beautiful Bill”:

“We’ve already had conversations with House leadership that we want to see some more significant efforts to rein in spending.”

“When I talk to @elonmusk and I talk to the DOGE folks, where… pic.twitter.com/CyyJRt1zZ4
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) May 15, 2025


"I will say the big, beautiful bill text just came out last week," Vance told Glenn Beck on "The Glenn Beck Program" Thursday. "That's going to change a lot from now until then. We've already had conversations with House leadership that we want to see some more significant efforts to rein in spending here."

"The president also believes, Glenn, and he's right about that, that if you cut the trade deficit or you raise revenue through tariffs, that you actually go a long way to making the country on a more sustainable fiscal pathway as well," Vance added. "But you're right. You can't do it without cutting domestic spending."

Up until this point, the United States has racked up over $36 trillion in national debt. Despite the desire from certain Republicans to actually control spending, Johnson's bill is expected to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the deficit through fiscal year 2034.

"We're going to have to do it and get serious about it," Vance told Beck. "We're making that as clear to congressional leaders as possible. But look, knock on wood here, I think that once we get the final package out of the House and the Senate, we're going to have something that's serious on budget-cutting."

RELATED: Exclusive: Why Chip Roy can't support the 'big, beautiful bill': 'The swamp does what the swamp does'

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Vance noted that one of the easiest ways to chip away at the nation's mounting debt is to begin by eliminating mismanaged spending and fraudulent benefits.

"What no one talks enough about, and when I talk to Elon, and I talk to the DOGE folks, where they think they're going to get the most cuts is in taking people, illegal aliens and other people, who are defrauding the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security system," Vance added.

"Think about two people, right? A guy who's paid into Social Security for 40 years. Obviously we want that guy to get his Social Security benefits," Vance told Beck. "You compare that person to an illegal alien who's engaged in Medicaid fraud. Obviously we don't want that person to get their benefits."

RELATED: Big, beautiful bill advances after 18-hour markup marathon while SALT talks go south

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Medicaid reform has been a hot-button issue as reconciliation talks escalate. In its current state, the bill amended work requirements so that ineligible recipients would have a harder time defrauding the Medicaid system, protecting vulnerable people the service was intended for. Although this is a step in the right direction, some Republicans say it doesn't go far enough and have pointed out that the changes won't be enforced until 2029, after Trump has left office.

"I think Democrats are going to fight us on this, but this is such an important point," Vance added. "We cannot allow people to defraud the Medicare and Medicaid system, or it's going to bankrupt this country. It's also just fundamentally unfair."

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'Full pedal to the metal': JD Vance tells Glenn Beck the admin is ensuring US dominance over China in AI



Vice President JD Vance said that the U.S. is ahead of the Chinese in developing artificial intelligence but that the race to maintain American dominance is going to be critical in the coming years.

Vance made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on his radio show Thursday. Beck asked Vance whether the U.S. was ahead of China in the AI race, and the vice president explained how the administration is working to keep America on top.

'We don't want to meet on the battlefield of the future, and we have the muskets, and the Chinese have the M-16s. I think AI is a critical part of staying ahead of the Chinese.'

"I think that we're ahead, Glenn, but no one who says we're way ahead should be believed," said Vance.

"In artificial intelligence, six months is a lifetime, 12 months is a generation," he added. "We're probably 12 months, maybe two years ahead of where the Chinese are when it comes to critical hardware, when it comes to necessary infrastructure, when it comes to the engineering talent. But that is not very far ahead at all."

The vice president said the Trump administration is focused on policies that will develop the next generation of scientists in the field, as well as end over-regulation on energy infrastructure.

"If we allow the Chinese to catch up, we may never, ever have an edge on China in this space again," Vance continued.

"I think a lot of people [believe] artificial intelligence is a chatbot. It's something that maybe helps the college student write a paper. No, no, no. The artificial intelligence that I am worried about, Glenn, is the kind of intelligence that helps them develop next-generation weapons, that helps their rockets and missiles hit their targets 99% more accurate than the weapons that aren't using artificial intelligence," he explained.

"There are just massive defense technology implications of this," he added.

RELATED: Trump’s AI vision: End Biden’s tyranny, restore fairness in tech

Photo by DAN KITWOODNICHOLAS KAMM/POOL/AFP/AFP via Getty Images

Vance then made an analogy to the Revolutionary War, suggesting that the outcome likely would have changed if the British army had modern weapons and the colonists fought with muskets.

"We don't want to meet on the battlefield of the future, and we have the muskets, and the Chinese have the M-16s. I think AI is a critical part of staying ahead of the Chinese," Vance said.

"It's full pedal to the metal, Glenn. We have to constantly be innovating and stay ahead of the game," he concluded. "We can't follow the European lead of regulating. We want America to innovate, and that's what we're doing."

Here's the video of the conversation:

.@VP JD Vance says staying ahead of China on AI is LIFE OR DEATH: “The AI that I’m worried about is the kind of intelligence that helps [China] develop next-generation weapons.

We’re really going to have to invest a lot in developing America’s next generation of scientists [and]… pic.twitter.com/JH8KhFVpCf
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) May 15, 2025

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'There will be hell to pay': Rand Paul tells Glenn Beck he's not done with Anthony Fauci over Wuhan funding



Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said that the investigation into the coronavirus pandemic isn't done with Anthony Fauci, after new revelations about laboratory funding.

Paul made the comments in an interview with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on his radio show Wednesday. The senator said that the change of guard at the Department of Health and Human Services meant new evidence was being produced from the pandemic era.

'It is our belief that Anthony Fauci had to sign the document. We haven't found the document yet because they've either been hidden or destroyed.'

"Is anyone going to pay for the COVID thing?" asked Beck.

“We’re not done, and I will bring Anthony Fauci back in. We’ve finally discovered the records as to who determined that the money went to Wuhan," Paul responded.

"They have resisted me for three years. Robert Kennedy has helped me get the records. So has Jay Bhattacharya. This week or next week I'm gonna begin interviewing the people that are on that committee. We're gonna find out what was the debate, what was the discussion, what were the arguments for sending it to Wuhan, what were the arguments against it," he added.

"Who made the arguments? And then who ultimately had to sign off on this? It is our belief that Anthony Fauci had to sign the document. We haven't found the document yet because they've either been hidden or destroyed," Paul said.

"There will be hell to pay," he concluded ominously.

Paul's feud with Fauci has manifested in numerous rhetorical skirmishes that erupted during congressional hearings. Fauci was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 until 2022. He was responsible for the U.S. health response to the AIDS epidemic, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

RELATED: Fauci says his critics 'deny reality,' embrace 'conspiracy theories' — but his supporters are 'guided by the truth'

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

In 2021, Fauci and Paul traded blows over whether the nation's top epidemiologist had lied to Congress when testifying that he had not signed off on funding for controversial gain-of-function research. Many believe the risky studies might have been responsible for a laboratory leak theorized to be the source of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Dr. Fauci, as you are aware it is a crime to lie to Congress," Paul said at the time. "On your last trip to our committee on May 11, you stated that the NIH 'has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.' And yet, gain-of-function research was done entirely in the Wuhan Institute by Dr. Shi and was funded by the NIH."

Fauci and Paul went back and forth in debate over the evidence.

"Sen. Paul, I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement. This paper that you're referring to was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain-of-function," Fauci replied.

"Sen. Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially," Fauci angrily declared. "You do not know what you are talking about."

Fauci retired from his office and was pardoned by former President Joe Biden pre-emptively against any politically motivated charges that might be filed by the Trump administration. Some have since cast doubt on whether Biden had the mental capacity to sign the pardon and wondered if others falsified the signing.

Here's the video of Paul's comments:

“There WILL be hell to pay.” @RandPaul gives a fiery update on COVID investigations: “We’re not done, and I WILL bring Anthony Fauci back in. We’ve finally discovered the records as to who determined that the money went to Wuhan.” pic.twitter.com/MwVft0se7h
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) May 14, 2025

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