The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill coming for a vote this week is like a "locomotive train coming down the track," but Senate Republicans are "laying there without even a caution flag," Rep. Ralph Norman told Newsmax Monday.
"I don't understand it," the South Carolina Republican said on Newsmax's "American Agenda." "It's bankrupting this country. This is anything but bipartisan and for them to lay down, I don't get it."
He also called the infrastructure bill and then the $3.5 trillion bill following it this week a "tragedy" that the American taxpayers will have to deal with.
"We're not putting up a fight in the Senate, but in the House, it's going to be a tough fight," said Norman. "We've got a group that's willing to fight, and the public does not deserve this at all."
He added that he can't imagine that there would be more than a few Republicans supporting the larger spending bill, but at the same time, the party's Senators could block the smaller infrastructure bill and they're not, even knowing "what's coming down the tracks."
"This is socialism at its worst, and it's coming at us fast and furious," said Norman. "There's no CBO (Congressional Business Office) accounting. There's no balanced budget. We don't know how we're going to pay for it. This is a tragedy at every level..states created the federal government. It's not the federal government creating states. This administration has gone headfirst into total lockdown socialism and we hate to see it, but we have got to fight."
Norman also discussed the ongoing controversy about COVID mandates and his own diagnosis, coming last week after he and two other Republicans sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House officials over a reinstated order to wear masks in the chamber.
"States ought to make the call, and the municipalities in the states should make that call as well," said Norman. "This is a local decision. This is not a federal mandate that should come down from the federal government. We've all seen what that's done to the country. It shouldn't be done now."
As for his own diagnosis, Norman, who has been vaccinated said he is "extremely tired" and has no sense of taste or smell, but said his symptoms are "mild" compared to other people who have suffered.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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