Byron Donalds

So, look, at its core, it's mismanagement. This is what happens when Washington does what it typically has done, where we call it the four corners, when they kind of go into a room and nobody else knows what's going on. The difference between today's Washington and the Washington we all know is that there is real outside influence that can stop garbage bills from being passed at the last minute.

So, you know, when members started saying no publicly on this bill, Elon comes out, says this bill should not pass. President Trump comes out, says this bill should not pass. At that point, they had to go back to the drawing board. And that's when members came in the room working with the leadership to get to what we got to here.

So, you know, when members started saying no publicly on this bill, Elon comes out, says this bill should not pass. President Trump comes out, says this bill should not pass. At that point, they had to go back to the drawing board. And that's when members came in the room working with the leadership to get to what we got to here.

The big thing now is next year, which really starts in a week for us, we can't have any missteps. We have a large agenda we have to get through, not a lot of time to do it.

The big thing now is next year, which really starts in a week for us, we can't have any missteps. We have a large agenda we have to get through, not a lot of time to do it.

Yeah, it is. Because members were asking questions. Where are we with this? What's our game plan? Weren't really getting any real answers. Then you start hearing rumors around town. We hear there's a package. We hear this is in it. We hear that's in it.

Yeah, it is. Because members were asking questions. Where are we with this? What's our game plan? Weren't really getting any real answers. Then you start hearing rumors around town. We hear there's a package. We hear this is in it. We hear that's in it.

And you weren't really hearing anything concrete until, you know, whether it's lobbyists, staff members start coming back to members and reporters saying, hey, we hear it's going to be about 500 pages.

And you weren't really hearing anything concrete until, you know, whether it's lobbyists, staff members start coming back to members and reporters saying, hey, we hear it's going to be about 500 pages.

Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes you hear about it from media.

Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes you hear about it from media.

Yes. And I will tell you, and let me expound on this. The 118th Congress, which is the one that just ended, has been, in my view, a very historic one. We started this Congress with a major fight over the speakership because members like myself and others wanted to see the ways of Washington change. And we actually did accomplish a lot of those things. But to be blunt...

Yes. And I will tell you, and let me expound on this. The 118th Congress, which is the one that just ended, has been, in my view, a very historic one. We started this Congress with a major fight over the speakership because members like myself and others wanted to see the ways of Washington change. And we actually did accomplish a lot of those things. But to be blunt...

When McCarthy got vacated, a lot of the stuff that we kind of got accomplished was rolled back, and it was embodied in what came out this last week. So we have to get back to the drawing board, get back to making it a member-centered process.

When McCarthy got vacated, a lot of the stuff that we kind of got accomplished was rolled back, and it was embodied in what came out this last week. So we have to get back to the drawing board, get back to making it a member-centered process.

If it's a member-centered process, you don't have these issues, and you have, frankly, the will of the voters reflected in the packages that come out of Washington.

If it's a member-centered process, you don't have these issues, and you have, frankly, the will of the voters reflected in the packages that come out of Washington.

When you start hearing things from the lobby corps, from K Street, from staff members and from media before you hear from it, from your leadership. That's a problem. And I will tell you, I will tell you, there is a lot of us who are who left D.C. either this morning or last night saying we're not going into 2025 operating this way. We're just not.

When you start hearing things from the lobby corps, from K Street, from staff members and from media before you hear from it, from your leadership. That's a problem. And I will tell you, I will tell you, there is a lot of us who are who left D.C. either this morning or last night saying we're not going into 2025 operating this way. We're just not.

Again, truly, I'm not – I will expand. I will expand. It's incumbent upon the leadership to realize what went wrong and fix it immediately. If they do that, I think things will be fine. If they don't or they don't come to a recognition of that, there's going to be other discussions that are going to be made.