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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Here’s to hoping.
