House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends to discuss how House Republicans are ready to bring relief to the millions of families, workers, and small businesses who are suffering from President Biden’s failed agenda. Leader Scalise slammed Democrats for their inflationary spending and ramming their $1.8 trillion omnibus bill through Congress right before Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. Additionally, Leader Scalise emphasized that Republicans will use the beginning of the 118th Congress to introduce legislation that would reverse Democrats’ self-made border, energy, and crime crises.
On House Republicans’ priorities in the 118th Congress:“Look, we’re going to take care of our business starting Monday. We’re going to pass the rules package and then get into the policies that are so important to the people of this country. And you just touched on one of the most important threats to our country right now, and that’s our open border. We’re going to be bringing bills in the first [few weeks] dealing with border security. In fact, [Congressman] Chip Roy’s bill is going to be one of those first up. Obviously, our committees, Judiciary Committee, [Chairman] Jim Jordan, and his committee, are ready to dive into that as well. “But we’re also going to be working to tackle inflation to lower the cost of things for families. Look at energy – we need to become energy independent again. We know how to do it, just like we know how to secure the border. There are things that [President] Biden could do today to secure the border. He just doesn’t want to. There are things President Biden could do today to lower energy costs. He doesn’t want to. He’s made our country dependent on foreign countries.“You know, we’ve got to get control over all of these problems and help those hardworking families who are struggling because of that failed far-left Biden and Pelosi agenda. It’s no longer Pelosi [as Speaker]. It’s Kevin McCarthy as our Speaker.”On changing the way Congress is run:“Look, this has been coming to a head for a long time. And it’s really over the way that Congress has been run for years. I mean, what Pelosi has done over the last four years [as Speaker] has been the worst. But at some point in time, there was going to have to be a confrontation about changing the way that Washington works. You know, a lot of us as conservatives have been frustrated with that. The American people, by the way, are very frustrated with it, too. “And we are going to make those changes starting in the rules package, but then it’s carrying it out and just making sure that members, all rank-and-file members, can tackle the same issues that all of us want to deal with – bringing bills to the floor, bringing amendments to the floor, having debates, stopping these omnibus bills.
“I will tell you, you know, I don’t think there’s anything that disgusts me and most people across the country [more than] seeing a bill that’s 4,000 to 5,000 pages long, dropped by the dark of night, voted on the next day when nobody has a chance to read about it. For days and weeks, you find out bad things that were in it after it’s been signed into law because Congress has done this for years where they just jam everybody – the Senate [jammed] the House [last year]. This game has got to end. And those were the discussions we’ve had.
“And I think that’s healthy, by the way, that we took a few days to make sure that we can set up a Congress that can work for the American people. I wish that had happened years ago.”On what Americans can expect to see with the House Republican majority:“Well, number one, people know that the madness is over. You know, these trillion dollar bills – for the last two years, we’ve seen nothing but $1 trillion, $2 trillion bills every couple of months and racking up trillions in debt. That is the biggest threat to families right now. That’s what’s basically driven the inflation that has forced people to cut back on their standard of living. We’ve got to change that, and obviously, we will.“But then we’ve got to start confronting those problems. I mean, as you’re talking about immigration, keep this in perspective: Just last year alone, more people came into our country illegally than the entire state population of New Mexico. That’s how many people came in just last year. Plus, the 100,000-plus fentanyl deaths of our young people. Our young people are dying, and nobody seems to care in Washington. That changes. “We’re going to bring the Born-Alive Act next week – [Congresswoman] Ann Wagner’s bill that says if a baby’s born alive outside the womb, you can’t kill that baby and call it abortion. It’s murder. And yet, in states like New York, it’s [legal] right now. “Those are the sort of things that we’re going to be doing to stand up for families, to deal with inflation, to deal with these problems that are holding our country back, including crime in our communities. That’s something that so many people have been asking somebody to help with. And in many local communities, their [district attorneys], their mayors are making it worse by defunding the police. We’re going to confront the ‘Defund the Police’ movement as well.”