Roger Simon Calls Speaker Mike Johnson a ‘Face Man,’ ‘Coward’ After Continuing Resolution Deal

Mike Johnson

Roger Simon, co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, joined the newsmaker line on Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his coverage of former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s performance in Iowa, Argentine President Javier Milei’s speech at the World Economic Forum, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent vote to pass a continuing resolution.

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Congress Passes Continuing Resolution to Avoid Government Shutdown

Both houses of Congress have passed a bill to temporarily fund the U.S. government until early 2024, following a vote by the Senate on Wednesday, after they were unable to pass appropriations bills for the current fiscal year.

The Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024, known commonly as a “continuing resolution” or “CR,” would temporarily fund certain government agencies — such as the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development — until Jan. 19, 2024, while funding the rest of the government until Feb. 2, 2024. The bill was passed by the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 87 yeas to 11 nays after being passed by the House on Tuesday, thus preventing a government shutdown on Nov. 17, when funding under a previous continuing resolution was set to expire.

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House Freedom Caucus Comes Out Against Johnson’s Continuing Resolution

The House Freedom Caucus (HFC) came out against Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily fund the government ahead of the vote on Tuesday, according to a press release.

Johnson’s two-part plan, the “Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act of 2024,” would avert a Nov. 17 government shutdown by issuing both a Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 funding deadline when certain spending legislation would expire, according to the bill’s text. The HFC is opposing the “clean” CR because it doesn’t provide any spending cuts or other conservative provisions, the press release reads.

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Fiscal Conservatives from Arizona and Tennessee Helped Depose Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House

U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) laid it all on the line Tuesday afternoon in supporting a motion to vacate to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) from the post he has tenuously held for less than a year.

“Speaker McCarthy has failed to demonstrate himself as an effective leader who will change the status quo. He has gone against many of the promises he made in January and can no longer be trusted at the helm,” Biggs said.

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U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty Blasts Continuing Resolution for Failure to Include ‘Serious Border-Security Measures’

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) blasted the passage of the 45 day Continuing Resolution that included no spending cuts and failed to properly increase funding for U.S. border security.

The bill passed the House on Saturday in a 335 to 91 vote, then passed the Senate in an 88 to 9 vote, and was signed into law by President Biden just hours before the midnight deadline on Saturday, when funding for the 2022-2023 federal fiscal year. The bill continues funding the government at 2022-2023 levels until November 15.

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Tennessee U.S. Reps. Burchett, DesJarlais, Green, Harshbarger, Ogles, and Rose Vote No on McCarthy’s Fiscally Reckless Continuing Resolution, Hagerty and Blackburn Vote No in Senate

Six of Tennessee’s nine member delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives voted “no” on Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s last-minute 45 day Continuing Resolution Saturday afternoon. Late Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed the bill in an 88 to 9 vote, just a few hours before the midnight deadline when the current fiscal year ends.

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Congressman Andy Ogles Exposes ‘Set Up’ to Pass Continuing Resolution, Warns McCarthy Could Lose Speakership

Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) joined host Michael Patrick Leahy on Monday morning’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report to share with listeners the state of the budget negotiations underway in the House; and in particular, expose what he characterizes as the purposeful handling of the House by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to result in another continuing resolution, instead of the regular order that he, the members of the House, and voters were promised.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles: ‘I Expect the Government Will Be Shut Down for Maybe 5 Days’ as House Votes on 12 Separate Appropriations Bills

One of the key figures in the center of the budget debate – Tennessee’s own Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) – took a break from ongoing talks to join The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy Friday to fill in listeners on where the House is on the budget, and what he sees coming in the days ahead. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: 7:33 a.m. – in-studio, original All-Star panelist Crom Carmichael; on the newsmaker line right now, the man at the center of the controversies going on in Washington D.C. this very moment, our good friend, Congressman Andy Ogles, who represents the 5th District here in Tennessee. Good morning, Congressman Ogles. Andy Ogles: Good morning. How are you guys? Michael Patrick Leahy: Well, my question to you, Andy, is this: two years ago, when you would be getting up at four o’clock in the morning and leaving your house in Columbia to come in here and spend the morning in-studio with us to talk about issues of the day, did you think that two years later, you would be the man at the center of the national budget controversy going on in Washington, D.C. today? Andy Ogles: I don’t know…

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House Republicans Balk at Temporary Spending Bill

Numerous House Republicans have voiced opposition to the continuing resolution (CR) brokered by the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) and the Main Street Caucus on Sunday evening to avoid a government shutdown.

Members of the conservative HFC and moderate Main Street Caucus agreed to fund the government for another month, and the bill also includes the Secure The Border Act minus e-verify, a near 8 percent cut of non-defense discretionary spending and other provisions. Several conservative members, including Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, took to Twitter following the announcement to say they won’t support the CR.

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Commentary: House Freedom Caucus Wants To Do Something About Out of Control Spending

On Monday, the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) struck a blow in the fight for fiscal displume. In a 431-word statement, the conservative House Republicans put Official Washington on notice that when Congress returned in September and took up the seemingly annual short-term spending bill known as a “Continuing Resolution,” the HFC would not vote to fund business as usual. Instead, HFC members would only support a short-term spending bill to keep the government open if it also included several of their key policy priorities – policy priorities that would represent significant shifts in key areas of government policy.

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House Conservatives Say Any Spending Bill Must Address Border Security, DOJ Weaponization

The House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers in the House, outlined Monday what conditions would need to be met for them to vote for a new spending bill.

The group is calling for spending bills to include provisions on border security, the “unprecedented weaponization” of the Justice Department and FBI, and the Pentagon’s “cancerous woke polices.” The lawmakers also oppose “any blank check for Ukraine in any supplemental appropriations bill.”

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Senate Fiscal Hawks Johnson, Scott, Lee, and Paul Call for an End to Pandemic Spending

While hagglers appeared to have reached a bipartisan framework agreement on a full-year omnibus spending plan, fiscal hawks like Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson are asking an important question: Why haven’t we gone back to normal spending now that the pandemic is over?

On Thursday, the Senate easily passed a a one-week continuing resolution, keeping the government funded through December 23. A worked-over spending plan is expected to be unveiled Monday, as negotiations continue in the shadow of another government shutdown threat in the days before the Christmas break.

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Virginia Congressional Delegation Splits on Party Lines over Continuing Resolution

All four of Virginia’s Republican congressmen voted against a continuing resolution to continue funding the government through December 16, 2022; the bill passed Friday with just 10 votes from Republicans nationally, sending the bill to President Joe Biden who signed the legislation the same day. In press releases, three of the Virginia Republicans criticized the bill for continuing Democratic spending. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Elaine Luria (D-VA-02), both in competitive elections in swing districts, criticized Congress’ use of continuing resolutions but said the bill is necessary to keep government open.

Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) cited similar good-governance concerns as his reason for voting against the bill.

He said Friday, “Today’s passage of a Continuing Resolution – an irresponsible stop-gap measure – is an unfortunate reminder of Washington’s ‘budget by crisis’ mentality.

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Rep. Wittman Again Calls to Cancel House August Recess

Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) wrote a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi encouraging her to cancel the House August recess, citing legislative priorities to fund the government.

“One of Congress’ most basic duties is to fully fund the government, yet with few legislative days remaining, lawmakers have found themselves unable to get the job done. Despite Congress’ failure to even consider the twelve annual appropriation bills on the house floor, Congress is set to adjourn for 6 weeks beginning in August. With so much work left to be done, it astounds me that Members of Congress feel justified in taking a month off,” Wittman wrote in the July 6 letter.

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Blackburn Joins Other Senators in Urging Trump Administration to Reach Consensus with Congress on Two-Year Budget That Fully Funds the Military

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined her colleagues in encouraging officials with President Donald Trump’s Administration to reach consensus with congressional leaders on a two-year budget deal to fully fund the military. Blackburn, along with Senators that include David Perdue (R-GA) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK), sent the letter to Acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to a press release from Blackburn. The full letter is available online here. In the letter, the senators caution that another continuing resolution (CR) would devastate the United States military, delay the implementation of the President’s National Defense Strategy (NDS) and increase costs. Blackburn recently voted to fund the United States Military in Fiscal Year 2020, via the National Defense Authorization Act, The Tennessee Star reported Monday. The NDAA funds crucial projects that will directly impact military communities in Tennessee. According to the letter, “The Administration’s efforts last year to pass the Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill on time allowed our military for the first time in a decade to be properly funded without the use of a continuing resolution…

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New Tone: Trump Administration Blasts Democrats as ‘Losers’ for the ‘Schumer Shutdown’

Moments after the Senate Democrats successfully blocked the passage of a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded through the middle of next month, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders released a scathing statement, squarely blaming Democrats for their obstructionism. “Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown,” Sanders began in a fiery missive posted on social media. “Tonight, they put policies over national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans,” the statement continued. “We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying out armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiation on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the President and his Administration will fight for and protect the American people.” At issue is the Democrats demand for a “DACA fix,” which is problematic for two reasons. First, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is not a legal program at all. It is a procedure that was described by then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in a 2012 memo. The procedure was ‘blessed’ by the Obama administration and implemented under…

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