NationBuilder

Good afternoon, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and welcome to our Weekend Update.

From our family to yours, we wish you a blessed, happy, and healthy Christmas and holiday season.

We are especially excited for next year as we are less than a month away from President Donald J. Trump's inauguration. We are all ready and excited to Make America Great Again as we work to enact an America First agenda.

Earlier this week, I joined "Fox & Friends" on Fox News to discuss the first meeting of the House DOGE Caucus. We’re committed to working with President Trump and his team to cut waste, fraud, and abuse and create real efficiencies in government.

With smart policies, we can reduce federal spending by over a trillion dollars while focusing on responsible reductions that taxpayers deserve. Federal employees must return to work, and we must address bloated programs and excessive regulations. Click here to watch my interview.

This week, Congress debated and ultimately passed a funding bill to keep the government open and working into the first quarter of 2025. As I told CNN, both Republicans and Democrats are already working with President Donald J. Trump's White House because President Biden has been completely missing in action. While Biden sits on the sidelines during critical government funding negotiations, President Trump is setting the tone for transformational leadership a month before even taking office. Together, we'll advance an America First agenda that benefits the American people. Click here or below to watch my interview.

I spoke on the House Floor on Friday in support of the agreement between the Senate, the Republican-led U.S. House, and the incoming Trump White House. We will be working in a concerted manner like this for the next four years to Make America Great Again.

This legislation delivers responsible disaster relief, targeted spending, an agreement to address the debt ceiling, and avoids a government shutdown. Our work will reflect the will of the people to carry out the America First agenda. We must deliver results to show the American people that we’re serious about correcting the course of our nation, and this bill is the first step in that direction. Click here to watch my comments.

I attended a meeting of the Border Security Caucus of this Congress. We were joined by Tom Homan, President Trump’s incoming Border Czar. We discussed the necessary policies to make our communities safer and reverse the wave of illegal immigration that has occurred under the Biden-Harris Administration. President Trump will secure our border, end Catch and Release, reinstate Remain in Mexico, and work with our neighbors to ensure their cooperation in ending the border crisis.

Biden’s decision to commute the sentence of Michael Conahan, a central figure in the “Kids for Cash” scandal, is an injustice to the families and communities whose lives were forever changed by his actions. This scandal marked a profound betrayal of public trust, exploiting children and causing lasting harm to northeastern Pennsylvania. Commuting Conahan’s sentence undermines the accountability that victims and their families rightfully deserve. The Biden-Harris Administration continues to prove they are out of touch with mainstream America, showing they are more interested in pacifying political allies than doing what’s right. President Biden caved to political pressure from his party, highlighting the transactional nature within its ranks. The American people want fairness for all, yet this commutation epitomizes special treatment for those with connections.

IN NEWS YOU WON’T HEAR IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: President Trump is securing the border, and he hasn’t even taken office yet.

It's no longer business as usual. As President Donald J. Trump prepares to be inaugurated in just 28 days, that message is being heard loud and clear across the globe.

Last month, President Trump, fresh off his decisive electoral victory, delivered an ultimatum to our northern and southern neighbors: Secure your borders or face a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States.

It didn't take long for Canada to heed President Trump's warning. Facing an uproar among his own citizens, embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just announced a billion-dollar plan for major border security improvements and increased border patrols in an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and deadly drugs into the United States.

Mexico has been put on notice, too. Mere days after President Trump made the promise, Mexican authorities announced its largest-ever fentanyl bust in a cartel-dominated region of the country — deadly drugs that likely would've ended up in American communities.

After four years of a Biden-induced crisis in which criminals, terrorists, and deadly drugs have poured across the borders in record numbers, President Trump is making good on his mandate for sweeping change.

Promises made, promises kept — and the border is far from the only example. In just weeks, President Trump has made significant progress in advancing international peace, propelling economic growth, dismantling divisive social programming, and bolstering American investment.

Our retribution will be our success — and Americans won't get tired of winning.

I met with Chris Hoffman and Bailey Fisher from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. We discussed ways to provide more assistance to American farmers, potential H-2A reforms, the farm bill, and the current state of the agriculture industry in Pennsylvania.

I was pleased to sit down with David Paulson, President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, to discuss the state of our economy and ways the incoming Administration can provide much-needed relief for America’s small businesses and housing market.

We also explored opportunities to strengthen our financial system, ensuring it is a reliable source of capital for businesses and families across the country.

Lastly, I want to leave you with a quote from President Ronald Reagan celebrating Christmas in 1986:

"For most of us, the holidays bring back such a trove of memories, evoked by things as simple as the scent of pine or the painted scene on a greeting card, that our Christmases become not separate events on a calendar but a chain in which all are linked together as one. This is as it should be, for Christmas is a holiday that we celebrate not as individuals nor as a nation, but as a human family -- and not merely as a family living in this age and time, but as a family linked through history, in ways we still cannot fully comprehend, to that First Christmas in Bethlehem."

Christmas is a time to give back. In that spirit, our campaign made a $5,000 donation to Chop Out Hunger - Towanda. Their mission is to ensure that children across Pennsylvania have access to nutritious meals. I encourage you to find a charity or someone you can help if you have the means to do so. Just a few dollars can make a difference. If you want to join me in helping Chop Out Hunger - Towanda, click here.