Congressman Chip Roy Explains House Budget Vote, Spending Restraint Floor, and the Fight for Fiscal Sanity

[00:00] without further Ado I want to bring in

[00:01] representative chip Roy there was a lot

[00:03] of action on the house floor last night

[00:06] uh Congressman Roy thank you so much for

[00:08] making the time here I you are one of

[00:10] the leaders on this uh what I call

[00:13] fiscal sanity bringing reigning in this

[00:16] uh addiction to spending within the

[00:18] house Congressman genuinely for for

[00:21] Americans all across the country thank

[00:22] you for being such a loud voice on this

[00:25] tell us what happened last night bring

[00:26] us up to speed there was a lot of you

[00:28] know theater last night uh tell us what

[00:32] happened yeah first of all great to be

[00:34] on great to be on the show uh and yeah

[00:37] proud to get out there and try to fight

[00:39] for some level of fiscal sanity I would

[00:40] tell you that I think what we passed

[00:42] last night out of the House of

[00:43] Representatives was a very small step

[00:45] but an important step in the right

[00:47] direction what we did and what we passed

[00:49] out of the budget committee on which I

[00:51] serve and the rules committee on which I

[00:52] serve and then the house floor is we set

[00:55] a floor of spending Restraint of

[00:57] spending reductions now let me be very

[00:58] clear this is why Washington speak this

[01:01] is actually reductions and increases we

[01:03] are not yet to the point where we've

[01:05] embraced the need you know the need to

[01:07] have the cuts that reduce the spending

[01:10] doge is doing that we need to in

[01:12] Congress what we passed yesterday was a

[01:15] reduction in increases in spending of

[01:17] about1 a half trillion dollars a floor

[01:20] we can go higher we should so we

[01:22] actually get to cuts and but that we set

[01:25] that floor in place and we tied that to

[01:27] the tax policy we tied that to extending

[01:31] president Trump's tax cuts and then

[01:33] being able to provide additional tax

[01:35] relief but we put them together so that

[01:38] we can basically be responsible to

[01:39] ensure deficits will go down we're not

[01:42] where we need to be yet but it was a

[01:43] step when you passed the budget now the

[01:46] Senate has to do it once we get those

[01:48] aligned then we have to do the actual

[01:50] work of reconciliation where we do all

[01:53] of the votes on the specific measures

[01:55] the tax policy and the spending my

[01:58] requirement to my colleagues is we must

[02:00] reduce deficits we must bring down

[02:02] spending and we've got to embrace Doge

[02:04] and the discretionary side and make sure

[02:06] that we deliver reduced deficits this

[02:08] was a step forward and the drama was

[02:10] there were a few of my colleagues mostly

[02:12] on the right flank uh who wanted more

[02:15] and you know what I did too but I had

[02:17] already basically given my word in order

[02:18] to move this through committee to get

[02:20] the the floor in the spending restraint

[02:22] and the tie of tax policy so a few

[02:24] others fought for some more good things

[02:26] I think we'll get some good results out

[02:28] of Victoria and Warren Davidson and

[02:29] others that demanded more more spending

[02:32] restraint okay so you I mean you got to

[02:35] the heart of the matter where a lot of

[02:36] people talk about spending cuts but what

[02:38] they really mean is reductions in the

[02:40] growth of spending now we we've heard a

[02:43] lot of talk about getting budgets back

[02:46] to preco levels I on a very fundamental

[02:50] level why is that not every Republican

[02:53] in Congress first instinct I mean the

[02:57] the the budget expanded what happened to

[02:59] that money where did it it go why can we

[03:01] not get back to the four or5 trillion do

[03:03] a year spending just educate our

[03:05] audience in a very Washington way why

[03:08] can we not just simply say hey we didn't

[03:10] need that money you know the last couple

[03:12] years we were happy with four and a half

[03:14] $5 trillion do worth of spending why

[03:15] can't we just go

[03:17] back yeah well there's two reasons one

[03:19] members of Congress don't have the

[03:20] courage and two Doge hasn't illuminated

[03:24] as many things that we need to cut uh

[03:26] yet that I think we're going to be able

[03:28] to cut and I think that's going to

[03:29] happen

[03:30] uh a lot of these things are things we

[03:31] know but until Doge puts it out there

[03:33] it's harder to get some of my friends in

[03:35] Congress to have the courage to go cut

[03:38] so what does this mean you pointed out

[03:40] so for the average viewer out there and

[03:41] I think Charlie's talked about this too

[03:44] pre-co we were spending about four and a

[03:45] half trillion doll this year we're at 7

[03:48] trillion now let me put in context what

[03:50] we passed last night we passed a bill

[03:53] that will simply reduce the increase in

[03:56] spending by about $150 to $200 billion a

[03:59] year year that is compared to a $7

[04:02] trillion current spend at the end of the

[04:05] 10-year budget window we will have spent

[04:07] $84 trillion we will have taken in about

[04:11] 60s something trillion dollar for a

[04:13] rough increase in the deficit more debt

[04:16] of20 trillion I'm not painting a great

[04:19] picture yet am I I had very serious

[04:22] reservations about moving this bill but

[04:25] here's why it was important it set the

[04:27] stage with a floor of spending restraint

[04:29] it opened the door to reforming Medicaid

[04:32] which we must do because it is currently

[04:34] being used to scam taxpayers to give

[04:37] money to able-bodied Americans and

[04:38] illegal aliens at the expense of those

[04:40] who need it the most we need to reform

[04:43] it my colleagues are afraid of that or

[04:44] wrong and we need to hold uh our

[04:47] colleagues accountable and discretionary

[04:49] to take the Doge Cuts Like usaid and

[04:52] Implement them let me remind you Eli

[04:55] crane my conservative friend from

[04:56] Arizona offered an amendment because all

[04:58] of us knew all of us conservatives knew

[05:00] that usaid was bad he offered an

[05:02] amendment to cut it by 50% Republicans

[05:05] voted for it 102 Republicans voted for

[05:08] it 114 Republicans voted against it that

[05:11] was in the fall of 23 because of Doge I

[05:14] think that vote today would be different

[05:16] but this is what we're up against I'm

[05:18] answering your question in a long form

[05:20] that's why it's a problem we have two

[05:22] and a half TR you ask why it went up

[05:24] part of that's inflation because of the

[05:26] ridiculous policies under Biden the

[05:28] energy policies the big spending

[05:30] and then it's the spending and all of

[05:32] that raised it from 4 and a half to 7

[05:33] trillion keep in mind the total spend in

[05:36] 1987 was a trillion dollar it was 4 and

[05:39] a half trillion in 2019 it's already up

[05:42] to 7 trillion we've got to act the

[05:45] Senate's going to have to stand up work

[05:47] with us to actually embrace additional

[05:49] spending

[05:50] restraint yeah and and I think you you

[05:53] hit on a really important piece here

[05:55] this is the Medicaid Medicare Social

[05:57] Security piece of it the entitlements

[05:59] piece of it was which is considered

[06:02] political poison for anybody to try

[06:05] reforming it right and I know we're

[06:06] going to try and focus on the waste

[06:09] Fraud and Abuse that is certainly in in

[06:12] that those programs just moments ago

[06:14] president Trump uh commented on this

[06:17] let's go ahead and play Cut

[06:20] 181 bill that passed last night aims to

[06:23] cut two trillion dollar can you

[06:24] guarantee that Medicare Medicaid Social

[06:27] Security will not be touched yeah I I me

[06:29] I have said it so many times you

[06:31] shouldn't be asking me that question

[06:33] okay this will not be read my lips it

[06:36] won't be read my lips anymore uh we're

[06:39] not going to touch it now we are going

[06:41] to look for fraud I'm sure you're okay

[06:43] with that like people that shouldn't be

[06:45] on people that are illegal aliens and

[06:48] others criminals in many cases uh and

[06:51] that's with Social Security we have a

[06:53] lot of people you see that immediately

[06:55] when you see people that are 200 years

[06:56] old that are being sent checks for

[06:59] Social Security some of them are

[07:01] actually being sent check so we're

[07:03] tracing that down and I have a feeling

[07:05] that Pam is going to do a very good job

[07:06] with that but you have a lot of fraud

[07:09] but no I'm not we're not doing anything

[07:11] on this so he is adamant we're not going

[07:14] to touch

[07:15] entitlements I mean I hate to put put

[07:17] you on the spot here Congressman but

[07:20] earlier in that press conference he said

[07:21] we're going to balance the budget and I

[07:23] have to assume that he's talking about

[07:25] balancing the budget through rooting out

[07:26] waste Fraud and Abuse and growth because

[07:30] uh but can you do it can you can you

[07:32] balance this budget without touching

[07:35] entitlements so first of all we we can

[07:38] absolutely balance the budget with the

[07:39] combination of all of those things right

[07:41] the president is correct that we must

[07:43] have economic growth we must have

[07:45] spending restraint which I think the

[07:47] president has agreed said we must have

[07:48] cuts that that will eliminate waste

[07:50] broaden abuse he talks about you

[07:52] repealing the massive subsidies under

[07:53] the inflation reduction act um those

[07:55] things are absolutely true um we also

[07:58] need to get rid of the regulatory state

[07:59] that is constraining economic growth

[08:01] right and those things are impeding

[08:03] Americans being able to go produce well

[08:05] but what I would say to this is we have

[08:06] an obligation and a duty to reform

[08:09] Medicaid why because it was designed as

[08:12] a program to help those who are disabled

[08:15] uh and frankly the people who are not

[08:17] able-bodied right that's how it was

[08:18] designed we have a duty to the extent

[08:21] tax dollars are going to be committed to

[08:22] that end then we have a duty to make

[08:24] sure that's what it's what's done most

[08:27] Americans don't know that after Obama

[08:29] care able-bodied Americans were given a

[08:32] higher Federal matching rate a higher

[08:35] rate 90% the dollars that go from the

[08:37] feds to go say we're going to go fund

[08:39] Medicaid a higher rate for the

[08:41] able-bodied expansion population on

[08:43] Obamacare I think that's wrong it is

[08:46] being gained by California it is being

[08:48] gamed by other states for basically to

[08:51] funnel money so they can get Federal

[08:53] money while they overly expand the

[08:55] population whereas other states like

[08:56] Texas that didn't expand we're not we

[08:59] don't have as High a number so we've got

[09:00] to fix it we got to make sure that only

[09:02] the able-bodied that the able-bodied

[09:04] aren't on it and the illegal aliens

[09:05] aren't on it and that would be the

[09:07] reforms we need to put in place and we

[09:08] can do it well I I think that's smart

[09:10] and by the way I I do believe there's a

[09:11] lot of potential for growth uh Revenue

[09:13] growth and you know Trump's announcing

[09:15] this gold card for $5 million I actually

[09:17] think that's kind of smart especially if

[09:19] we could sort of Reform some of our

[09:20] other uh broken immigration policies uh

[09:23] I want to give you the opportunity

[09:24] though uh Congressman Roy uh we've got

[09:27] about 45 seconds here what happened next

[09:30] in this budget process and I agree these

[09:31] are some big wins putting that floor on

[09:34] on spending that we can go higher is key

[09:36] what happens next well the Senate's

[09:38] going to have to now look at our product

[09:40] they they've sent a version over their

[09:42] version which was a skinnier one to deal

[09:43] with border and defense they're going to

[09:45] look at ours they're going to try to

[09:46] figure out what they're going to do my

[09:47] guess is they're going to try to expand

[09:49] the tax side of it make them more

[09:50] permanent I support that comma however

[09:54] provided they also expand the spending

[09:57] restraint side we've got to do are part

[10:00] we've got to be honest we've got to do

[10:01] math and the singular objective should

[10:03] be to reduce deficits immediately not

[10:06] based on some future promises and our

[10:08] budget yesterday was only a step it

[10:11] didn't get the job done we had more work

[10:12] to do well Congressman I know that you

[10:15] are one of the good guys in there

[10:16] fighting Charlie has your back we have

[10:18] your back thank you for all your hard

[10:19] work you're doing there cut more cut

[10:22] deeper as Mr Wonderful's telling Doge we

[10:24] tell you the same thing thank you sir