Republican Representative Matt Gaetz asserted that the so-called shutdown politics has played into the favor of the “special interests” trying to sway House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
During this week’s broadcast of FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Gaetz claimed the brinksmanship centralized power, benefiting special interests behind McCarthy.
“Are there Freedom Caucus members also out of compliance?” FNC host Maria Bartiromo said.
“They were also on the Appropriations Committee. Where is the responsibility for them? Are they also out of compliance?” Bartiromo asked.
Gaetz replied:
“No, I’m not a member of the Freedom Caucus.”
“So, I will let them speak for themselves. But take, for example, the border, this issue you think is — has great primacy, and I would agree with you,” Gaetz said.
“The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill was passed out of the Appropriations Committee in June, and yet Kevin McCarthy hasn’t put it on the floor in more than 100 days.”
“That is not serious,” he continued.
“And you know why Kevin McCarthy didn’t move our border appropriations bill?” he asked.
“Because the lobbyists and the special interests who own Kevin McCarthy want to put us in this position, where we’re backed up against the wall, facing shutdown politics,” Gatez continued.
“And what that does is it centralizes power to the people that they buy off with PAC donations and lobbyist donations,” he added.
“And then the membership doesn’t get to make real contributions to that process,” he said.
“I’m trying to democratize it.”
Watch
Last week, five Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the defense appropriations bill, which failed 212-216.
The five conservatives pushed for more spending cuts.
CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju posted:
“Gaetz just told his conference that seven Rs would vote against any CR to keep government open.”
Gaetz just told his conference that seven Rs would vote against any CR to keep goverment open.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 20, 2023
That means McCarthy may have to work with Dems to pass a stop-gap
If he does, Gaetz tells me here that McCarthy will be out of a job “promptly.”
Roy says it would “not be a good move” pic.twitter.com/Ydrjzs2rHz
The leaders of the House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus drafted a resolution that would have extended government spending until Oct 31.
Gaetz posted on X:
“Trump Opposes the Continuing Resolution. Hold the line.”
Gaetz’s post included a post from President Donald Trump urging Republicans to use the power of the purse to place a check on Joe Biden’s “weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the country as Enemies of the State.”
Trump Opposes the Continuing Resolution.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 21, 2023
Hold the line. pic.twitter.com/rBExrNUZN9
The US would require to vote on the 12 individual appropriations bills to get the fiscal house back in order.
The US will see over a $2 trillion deficit for fiscal year 2023 and a $33 trillion national debt.
The interest payments on the debt for 2023 are $644 billion, up 30 percent from 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Debt payments are getting close to spending on national defense of $692 billion if you can believe it. A third of the current deficit is going to pay interest on money borrowed for previous spending blowouts,” the Journal wrote.
