Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) unleashed a fiery tirade on the House floor Thursday, criticizing his Republican colleagues for supporting a bill that would raise the debt ceiling by trillions of dollars.
Roy’s outburst followed sharp criticism from President-elect Donald Trump on social media, accusing Roy of refusing to align with the party. In response, Roy delivered a passionate speech accusing his colleagues of betraying their constituents.
“What we’re doing right now is to continue to double down on the things that are destroying the Republic. We are going to increase the debt ceiling not just four trillion, that’s false. We have spent $4.7 trillion in additional debt in the last nineteen months,” he said.
“We’re gonna increase the debt by $5 trillion. That’s what’s gonna happen. Right here, by Republicans, increasing the debt $5 trillion, and what are you doing in the same bill? $110 billion unpaid for!” he railed.
“Because you never have any ounce of self-respect to go out and campaign, saying you’re going to do balance the budget, and then you come in here and pass $110 billion unpaid for!” Roy added.
“The fact of the matter is $330 billion, congratulations, you’ve added to the debt since you were given the majority again in November 5th. It’s embarrassing! It’s shameful!” the Texas Republican railed on.
“Yes, I think this bill is better than it was yesterday on certain respects, but to take this bill yesterday and congratulate yourself because it’s shorter in pages but increases the debt by $5 trillion is asinine! And that’s precisely what Republicans are doing,” he said. “I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible. It is absolutely ridiculous.”
Roy then finished his speech with what was likely a veiled dig at the president-elect, remarking, “I wanna remind people, this is Article 1” – a reference to Article 1 of the Constitution, which describes the role and powers of Congress as one of three branches of government.
Trump lashed out at the Texas Republican in several social media posts on Thursday, calling him “very unpopular” while accusing him of “getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself.”
“Chip Roy is just another ambitious guy, with no talent,” Trump wrote. “I hope some talented challengers are getting ready in the Great State of Texas to go after Chip in the Primary. He won’t have a chance!”
In all, 38 Republicans refused to approve the slimmed-down legislation, which failed to pass the two-thirds muster by a vote of 174 to 235. A two-thirds majority was needed in order to suspend the rules to pass the bill without it going through a committee.
Two Democrats — Reps. Kathy Castor, Fla., and Marie Gleusenkamp Perez, Wash — broke ranks and supported the bill, Fox News reported.
The chaos in Congress followed two days of infighting among lawmakers over a path forward on government spending—a battle that also drew in President-elect Donald Trump and his allies Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Meanwhile, the national debt has surpassed $36 trillion, with the deficit exceeding $1.8 trillion.
The new deal includes several key policies unrelated to government funding but is significantly more concise at 116 pages compared to its 1,547-page predecessor.
Similar to the original bill, the revised version extends the government funding deadline to March 14 while also suspending the debt limit—a move supported by Trump. It also includes $110 billion in disaster relief and an extension of the farm bill.
The deadline for a government shutdown is midnight Friday. It’s not clear that the GOP-led House will be able to cobble together a spending agreement that will win the requisite number of votes.
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