Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Rep. Jim Jordan expressed outrage at the recently passed budget deal, saying that the “swamp won” and “the American taxpayer lost.”
The deal increases spending by a whopping $300 billion — the largest spending increase in a decade.
“This was not consistent with what the American people elected us to do. Not consistent with what we told them we were going to do,” Jordan, a Republican, said Sunday. “This deal, which increased spending $300 billion, second largest spending increase in a decade second only to the stimulus, was not what we said we would do and we’re going to have to fight harder now as a freedom caucus and conservatives to get things back on track.”
“I’m saying the swamp won and the American taxpayer lost,” he added.
Jordan said he is frustrated with party leadership for caving and believed the GOP was on track to win the budget battle, after Democrats shut down the government.
“Here’s the frustrating thing. We were so poised to win. Three weeks ago we sent a bill to the Senate. Chuck Schumer shut down the government, didn’t pay our troops because he said amnesty was more important. Earlier last week the House sent the same bill, the exact same bill to the Senate except we did one thing different. We funded the military for the entire year,” Jordan said. “And instead of standing firm in that position, our leadership said, ‘No no no, let’s do what Washington always does.’ Let’s just spend more on everything. Let’s just grow government, give into the Democrats instead of fighting and standing firm and doing what the people elected us to do.”
“They gave into the Democrats and we got this boondoggle that we passed,” he concluded. “I didn’t vote for it, but that passed on Friday morning.”
The fallout from this deal may be just beginning. The chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows, suggested that Speaker Paul Ryan’s job may be in trouble. The Hill reports that Meadows “denied wanting to take Speaker Paul Ryan‘s (R-Wis.) job, but called for ‘soul searching’ within the party in light of the budget agreement.”
We’ve heard this tune before and it’s not likely that Ryan will be booted anytime soon. But this budget deal may be a game changer for conservatives.
The 70 or so hard-right members of the House can’t stage a revolt. But they could gum up the works considerably, forcing Ryan to look for more and more Democratic votes on issues like immigration and infrastructure. Of course, this would dishearten the base even more, causing many to stay home on election day and giving the Democrats the House.
But what else can they do? The party that touts itself as a conservative alternative to Democratic big government policies is all but dead. Perhaps losing 60 or 70 seats in the next election will wake them up.
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