‘We Own That Failure’: Matt Gaetz Concedes House Democrat’s Criticism Of GOP’s Inability To Pass Vital Legislation
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) blasted House Republicans on Friday over their inability to agree among themselves on how to fund the federal government beyond Sept. 30. It was a criticism Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) conceded.
Funding for the current fiscal year will run out on that date unless the House, Senate, and White House agree on legislation to fund the government beyond it. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has reportedly been trying to secure a 30-day stopgap bill to avert a shutdown. Over the longer term, a handful of GOP hardliners – including Gaetz – are seeking 12 separate appropriations bills to fund various parts of the government, even while they argue over a top-line spending figure.
During a meeting of the House Rules Committee, Neguse accused Republicans of lollygagging:
The question that I am trying to reconcile in my mind is, why did the Republican majority decide to spend the summer on bills regarding gas stoves and the lesser prairie chicken, and then send everyone home for a 47-day recess – only to come back seven days before the government is slated to shut down, and troops and Border Patrol agents are slated to not receive paychecks – decide that now they’d like to bring this bill to the floor?
When it was Gaetz’s turn to speak as a witness, he conceded Neguse’s point:
[T]here can be no denying Mr. Neguse made very valid points in criticizing this Republican majority for having not done so sooner. And we own that failure, and now we have to break the fever. We have to kick the habit of governing by omnibus and continuing resolution. This government is about to run $2 trillion annual deficits and $33 trillion in debt.
Both parties have contributed to that substantially, and I believe the reason that regardless of which party’s controlling the place, we seem to always gravitate to these omnibus bills and continuing resolutions is because we don’t have the courage to actually cut spending.”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
