The Moore You Know October 13th - October 27th, 2023
The speakership fight
This week, we elected the 56th Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson from Louisiana. As you likely know, electing a Speaker was not an easy task. This all began last month when we faced a possible government shutdown because Congress had failed, once again, to pass all 12 appropriations bills to fund the government. Due to the missed deadline, some Republicans voted in favor of a motion to vacate the chair and Speaker McCarthy was ousted.
I was disappointed that we didn’t focus on finishing the appropriations process as quickly as possible, but I understood the frustration of my colleagues. Congress has not done its job and passed all 12 bills in 27 years, and that is the key reason why we are more than $33 trillion in debt. Furthermore, our budget deficit is expected to double to $2 trillion in the next year. Americans simply cannot afford another 4,000-page omnibus bill full of pork spending.
After the chair was vacated, I proudly supported my good friend Jim Jordan for Speaker. He has a deep understanding of the greatest issues facing Americans today, and my office heard from hundreds of you who supported his speakership. Unfortunately, there was a concerted effort within the Republican conference to end his speakership bid due to his support for strong spending cuts.
As our conference was meeting to decide whether to hold more votes, some Republicans hopped on a plane and flew home for the weekend. This meant that if we held a Speaker vote on the House floor, we risked electing Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker. This is unacceptable. We are elected to stay here and work for the American people as long as it takes, and if we can’t get our job done in the time allotted, we should stay longer. Most Americans aren’t granted the luxury of going home to relax when their work project didn’t meet the required deadline – they would be fired.
While I was disappointed by this effort to prevent Chairman Jordan from being Speaker, I am encouraged that our conference has chosen Mike Johnson. He is a man of God and a true conservative leader who will put America first. This is great for our party, our state, and our country. But our job is far from done.
We must continue the appropriations process and get all 12 bills across the finish line to fund the government and protect against Biden’s out-of-control spending. We also need to reauthorize the Farm Bill, so our farmers have the resources they need to put food on America’s tables. During this process, I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me by calling my office at 202-225-2901 or http://barrymoore.house.gov.
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If you need help from my office with the VA, IRS, or another federal agency, or if we can help you with a government service like processing a passport request, I hope you will reach out to us. We’ve resolved over 3,700 cases since I took office in 2021. Visit one of my offices in Wetumpka, Dothan, Andalusia, Troy, or Washington, call us at 334-478- 6330, or visit http://barrymoore.house.gov to learn how we can help.
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