Washington Update
Advancing Appropriations
Seven down, five to go!
This week we passed two more appropriations bills—the Legislative Branch and the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bills.
The Legislative Branch bill equips Congress with the tools necessary to operate effectively for the American people. The funding for recruiting, training, and retaining sworn Capitol Police officers, House committees, and other vital agencies are in this bill. Passing this bill ensures Members and our teams have the resources needed to hold the Biden Administration accountable by conducting vigorous oversight of the Executive Branch while effectively serving our constituents.
The Interior and Environment bill focuses on reining in the Biden Administration’s constrictive, hyper-regulatory policies that have been hurting farmers, producers, and small businesses across America for too long. This bill releases the Administration’s chokehold by clawing back billions of dollars of funding for environmental and climate justice programs and prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from imposing burdensome regulations on farmers. By doing so, this bill expands access to critical minerals and protects oil and gas production—both important to unleashing energy production right here in the US of A!
Both bills advance conservative priorities while keeping the hardworking taxpayer front of mind.
Now, there are five appropriations bills left to pass, and mine is up next!
As Chairman of the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee on Appropriations, I’m tasked with drafting the bill for the committee. If you remember, back in July, we met as a committee to offer amendments and markup the bill.
The plan now is for me to go before the Rules Committee on Monday afternoon to explain why the bill should garner the support of our entire conference. Once it clears the Rules Committee, it can head to the House floor for amendment debate and votes, and, eventually, a vote for final passage. We hope to see all of this happen next week.
I cover all of where we stand in the appropriations process in this week’s edition of Comment from the Capitol HERE!
Backing Israel
This week we did the most important thing we can do for our friend and ally, Israel—getting emergency aid through the House.
The $14 billion aid package boasts essential resources needed for Israel to defend itself against the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists—by bolstering their defensive capabilities and stockpiles of munitions critical to its continued war efforts. This funding comes at a time when Iran is using its proxies to aggressively probe on all fronts. Establishing deterrence is crucial right now.
America’s security interests are taken care of in this bill, too. It boosts our military readiness by providing $4.4 billion to replenish domestic defense stockpiles and also gives $50 million for the evacuation of US citizens.
Another important component of this bill is that it’s fully offset, meaning it’s already paid for. We rescinded nearly $14.3 billion from President Biden and the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, specifically from the bloated and unnecessary funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) used to spy on American taxpayers. This is a good compromise of first and foremost, fighting against ruthless terrorists, and second, being cognizant of Washington’s runaway spending.
In Congress, sometimes my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can let the search for perfect get in the way of the good. I can acknowledge that this bill isn’t perfect. Although I support the recissions to the bloated IRS budget, it is unusual to have that sort of measure in an emergency supplemental package, and it presents challenges, with concerns that it could set a precedent for future emergency packages.
One immediate challenge is that the Senate doesn’t want to touch our proposal with a 10-foot pole. Their Israel supplemental plan includes funding for Ukraine, the southern border, and deterrence against China—all things I support, but are absent from our plan. Also, Democrats will never coalesce behind our package that pulls back their ample funding for the IRS, which came from their bill, the Inflation Reduction Act.
I understand there are all these concerns. But what we can’t forget is that $14.3 billion for Israel. That’s what it comes down to. That’s what is important. $14.3 billion will save lives and help rid the world of murderous terrorists.
Passing our proposal propels us to the negotiating table and is one step forward in helping our friends fight their war. Once we figure out the Israel funding, we can then turn our attention to other issues, like supporting our Ukrainian friends, rebuilding our defense industrial base, and improving our conventional military capabilities to enhance our deterrence against PRC threats.
All in all, I’m glad we got it passed. We have to take the first downs when we can get them. Only then can we re-huddle and try again.
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Click here to watch my remarks on the House floor before voting on the Israel Supplemental bill, urging my colleagues to get on board to pass this important legislation.
Welcoming Arkansans to Washington
I had the pleasure of welcoming this special group of Arkansans to the People's House today. They do the Lord's work—helping human trafficking victims and addressing this horrible crisis happening across the nation. We are so grateful for their efforts. It was an honor to have them here today and show them around the Capitol!
Looking Ahead
I’ll be back in Washington, tackling more appropriations bills as the November 17 deadline to fund the government is quickly approaching. As mentioned, on deck will be my FSGG bill and the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development bill, which includes almost all of my Community Project Funding requests for Third District priorities. I look forward to updating you on our progress next week!
I hope you have a great weekend ahead! Be sure to check out my website, Twitter, and Instagram pages in the meantime.
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