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Dear Friend,
This week, we’re almost to the finish line—the end of the 117th Congress. Before we leave Washington for the Christmas holiday, the House and Senate must address another deadline to fund the government before the end of the year. The Senate has released a behemoth 4,000-page bill that spends more than $1.7 trillion. My team and I are reviewing the legislation but it is yet another sign of how broken our budgetary process has become (like we mentioned in last week’s newsletter).
As the House awaits consideration of the FY23 spending bill, I think it is important to note that Congress, earlier this month, cleared important legislation of a different matter. The House and Senate adopted the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to provide for our national defense and included a welcome change for our military: an end to the COVID vaccine mandate for our service men and women.
This draconian policy prompted the Department of Defense to discharge 3,300 Marines, 1,800 soldiers, 1,800 sailors, and 900 airmen based on their personal decision to not take the COVID vaccine—all while the Army and Navy missed their recruitment goals by thousands of service members. We are confident that this year’s defense funding will strengthen our national security.
In thirteen days, the real work will begin. The new Republican majority will be able to take a fresh approach to fixing our broken budget process and support our men and women in uniform. With our new majority, we will hold the Biden Administration accountable and work to restore every American’s right to self-determine.
The 118th Congress is just around the corner, and there is much to look forward to.
Sincerely,
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