Representative Roy Urges Newsmax: Congress Must Fulfill ‘Duty’ Regarding Government Funding Deal

A government shutdown might be looming, but isn’t “an objective,” if Congress fails to do its duty to reach a long-term funding deal, conservative House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Monday.

In an interview with Newsmax congressional correspondent Kilmeny Duchardt, Roy rejected the use of a continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown when government funding technically expires Sept. 30.

“I’m not going to do a 60-day, 90-day, 180-day CR rubber-stamping the status quo from last December’s debacle of an omnibus spending bill that was led and driven by House Democrats with the support of 17 Republicans who never should have voted for it,” Roy said.

He added that the “American people are tired” and implored Senate Republicans to “actually stand up.”

“We have a duty to fund a government that actually does its job,” he said.

Roy cited border problems in Texas that have fueled his hard-line approach to government funding.

“The funding calculation is, Are you going to give another dollar to [Secretary of Home Security] Alejandra Mayorkas to continue to endanger Texans with fentanyl poisoning, human trafficking, ranches getting overrun, cartel ownership of the border, finding weapons and ammunition on our side of the river?” Roy asked. “This stuff’s all happening every day in Texas. So why would I fund that?

“A shutdown isn’t an objective. The objective is to force the administration to the table to come sit down with Republicans and say, How are we going to fund a government that’s supposed to carry out its responsible duties for the American people? That’s it. Nothing more.”

Roy also warned that a shutdown shouldn’t be tied to support for an impeachment inquiry targeted at President Joe Biden, as some Republicans have pressed.

“The whole point of [Congress’] power of the purse is to check the executive branch,” Roy said. “That’s why the founders gave it to us. … We should actually use the tools appropriately, not just for political purposes. 

“So if you want to go after impeachment, make the case … and have it in a debate in the floor. Advance an impeachment inquiry and proceed. That’s a separate calculation, in my opinion, from the funding calculation.”

Roy said the House ought to “pass 12 appropriations bills, but it’s Sept. 11, and we’ve got to figure out how to move forward, and we’re going to have debates about how to get this done. The main thing is that we achieve the policy objectives that we need to achieve and get the spending levels that ought to be achieved.”