(ConservativeJournal.org) – House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that federal agencies weaponized against the American people needed to have their budgets cut. He suggested that organizations like the FBI and ATF have targeted “the American people” improperly instead of maintaining their ostensible function of exclusively targeting criminals.
Johnson championed the budget cuts from the DOJ, ATF, and FBI by three, seven, and six percent, respectively. The cuts were included in recent negotiations to keep the government funded.
While discussing the cuts, Johnson emphasized that they were just the beginning of a conservative fiscal agenda. He said that the reality of the current political situation was such that Republicans needed to control more seats in the House, as well as take over the Senate and the White House.
Johnson reported he was “optimistic” about their chances of winning sufficient elections in November to advance a conservative mandate in governance.
Republicans currently control only the House of Representatives and their majority is tenuous with 219 to 213. Johnson took over the role of Speaker from Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last January after McCarthy engaged in back door deals with Democrats which broke promises he made to the House Freedom Caucus.
McCarthy was ousted after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) brought the vote to the floor in October and Johnson replaced him after a few weeks of debate over who the next Speaker would be.
Republicans recently lost a seat with former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) being kicked out for alleged ethics violations. Santos will face a multiple count indictment on allegations he committed financial crimes related to his election in 2022.
Democrats have suggested that Republicans are “defunding the police” with the cuts. In typical Democrat fashion, the definition of that phrase is being expanded. Defunding the police largely refers to efforts to reduce budgets of police departments in major cities in the wake of the George Floyd riots of 2020. It does not refer to efforts by conservatives in Congress to restrict the ballooning budgets of federal agencies.
Copyright 2024, ConservativeJournal.org
