December 16, 2022

Kicking the Can Down the Road

Friend, 

Congress has a spending problem. In Fiscal Year 2022, the government spent over $6 trillion dollars with a $1.3 trillion deficit. 

Government spending was set to expire tonight. Yesterday, Congress passed a one week continuing resolution to continue negotiations. We should not be in a situation where we are funding the government for a week at a time. 

Each year, the lack of an open and transparent budget process leads to more irresponsible spending. If we continue to fund the government at its current levels, our nation's defense and critical government programs are threatened. 

Washington has yet again kicked the can down the road to avoid our critical responsibility to fund the government. I'll be continuing to fight for funding that appropriately funds our government, cuts wasteful spending, and puts our country on the right track. 

Questioning FTX CEO

Earlier this week, the current CEO of FTX testified before the Financial Services Committee regarding the fraud of the previous CEO Sam Bankman Fried. I've had a lot of questions about the collapse of this major company that has resulted in millions of Americans getting hurt. 

During the questioning, Mr. Ray revealed the Bahamian authorities "pushback" when asked for transparency has been "extraordinary, irregular, and raises questions." His comments indicated that Bahamian authorities appear to have taken money that could have been used to repay American families who lost funds. 

My takeaway from the hearing: there are more questions that need to be asked. Too many Americans had money stolen from them. For too long, Congress has been asleep at the wheel and has failed to create a roadmap for cryptocurrencies. Now, we're seeing the fallout, as innocent Americans have now lost billions of dollars. 

I'll be continuing to ask questions to get the answers we all need. We must prevent another FTX collapse from ever occurring. As always, if you'd like to share an opinion with me, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

On Wisconsin, 

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

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