Last week’s spending bill was bad for the American taxpayer, so I stepped away from Christmas festivities for a few minutes to talk to Newsmax about my choice to vote “no” on all three versions.
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We’re not being honest with the American people about our spending problem. People called it a “clean CR,” but let me tell you, it’s anything but clean. We fail to deliver on our duties, and our apology to you is to continue spending your money like a drunken sailor.
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We had a golden opportunity to hand President Trump something meaningful—something that would rein in spending and hold folks accountable—and we blew it.
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Instead of taking up individual bills, like we do back in the Tennessee legislature, we passed one big bill that’s jam-packed with junk. There’s a reason Tennessee has a balanced budget, and it’s because we don’t pull stunts like this.
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These continuing resolutions just keep the bad spending policies from the Pelosi-Schumer era alive. We’re still operating at COVID-era spending levels—and I challenge anyone to name one federal program added since COVID that’s been a real success. I sure can’t.
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On top of that, we passed another bloated National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with a whopping $895 billion price tag, money that will probably be spent without much accountability.
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We can do better than this, and I’m holding out hope that 2025 brings a change in how we do business. The Department of Government Efficiency talking about cutting $2 trillion is a start, but when we’re adding $1 trillion every 100 days, we’ve got to dig a whole lot deeper.
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Here’s to hoping.
