Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called Tuesday on Newsmax for new leadership in the House after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reached a broad government funding compromise deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for $1.66 trillion.
Congress faced deadlines Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government, but the deal with Schumer has angered conservatives because they don't see it as progress toward reducing the national debt, which now stands at $34 trillion.
"The reason I think we need new leadership in Washington is that we don't have any," Roy told "The Chris Salcedo Show" from Iowa, where he is campaigning for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. "It's an absolute and total disaster, this $1.66 trillion spending package.
"I want to be very clear. Chuck Schumer was on the floor of the Senate applauding and saying 'it doesn't cut a nickel' to quote his language."
Roy said if Congress did nothing but pass a continuing resolution funding bill through the end of the 2024 fiscal year, which is Sept. 30, "it would trigger the caps that we fought for last year."
"The debt deal wasn't good last year but it has caps," Roy said. "It would trigger the caps, the total spending would be about $1.56 trillion, we'd save $100 billion, defense will be left untouched, veterans would be left [untouched], we would cut the bureaucracy.
"But no, our Washington Republican leaders [are] blowing it."
Newsmax reached out to Johnson for comment.
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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