By Connor O’Keeffe, Mises Institute
Last Friday, House Republicans opened the first session of the 119th Congress by voting to keep Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) on as Speaker of the House. Almost every Republican—including pro-establishment moderates, Trump loyalists, and even the “hardliners” that make up the fiscally conservative Freedom Caucus—fell in line behind Johnson. The one Republican who refused to vote for Johnson was Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie.
Massie was mocked by figures in the establishment media for taking an unsuccessful stand against Johnson and disparaged by Trump supporters online for getting in the way as Republicans retake control of the government.
In his acceptance speech, Johnson made the same big promises we hear Republicans trot out every time they find themselves in front of a microphone. He said, under his leadership, Congress will “drastically cut back the size and scope of government.”
The Speaker surely had fun reading this dramatic pledge to thunderous applause. But it will be a lot less fun to actually bring these “drastic” cuts about.
That was made clear in the previous, 118th Congress, when a handful of representatives decided to fight—not even for spending cuts—but for a procedural change that could someday make it easier to cut spending.
Republicans like Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy (R-TX) pressured party leaders to agree to do away with omnibus bills and continuing resolutions which cram the entire federal budget into one single up-or-down vote.
The previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), agreed to present twelve unique budget bills relating to different parts of the federal government—as had traditionally been done. He did this to...(READ THIS FULL ARTICLE FREE HERE).
