Matt

We had a Republican who sat down in the budget negotiations and said, I'll be for any cut so long as it's the cross the board to everything and not reviewing individual things. And I said, why? He said, well, because mine wouldn't survive that review. And that was like an acceptable answer. And so here's a tangible vote that I was aggrieved by.

You see Elon pointing out how USAID was really just a slush fund for the global left for their regime change ambitions and their social engineering ambitions. That's what USAID has largely been. Eli Crane, a terrific congressman from Arizona, put up an amendment to just cut their money in half And 141 Republicans voted against Eli Crane's amendment.

You see Elon pointing out how USAID was really just a slush fund for the global left for their regime change ambitions and their social engineering ambitions. That's what USAID has largely been. Eli Crane, a terrific congressman from Arizona, put up an amendment to just cut their money in half And 141 Republicans voted against Eli Crane's amendment.

And those same people show up now and say, we love Doge, we love Elon, cut it. But when they had the chance to vote, they just voted in lockstep because of the fear and because of the corruption. Now, I tried everything to break through that. I tried shaming them. I tried altering my own behavior with donors. I fired the guy who sat in front of the building. And all of that was insufficient.

And those same people show up now and say, we love Doge, we love Elon, cut it. But when they had the chance to vote, they just voted in lockstep because of the fear and because of the corruption. Now, I tried everything to break through that. I tried shaming them. I tried altering my own behavior with donors. I fired the guy who sat in front of the building. And all of that was insufficient.

And my only hope is that courage can be contagious with President Trump and with the effort that he has put into this initiative that the members of Congress will do what is necessary. And I think the obvious first step is to take his most popular executive orders and to put them into permanent law. And if we can't get the votes, show who's voting no.

And my only hope is that courage can be contagious with President Trump and with the effort that he has put into this initiative that the members of Congress will do what is necessary. And I think the obvious first step is to take his most popular executive orders and to put them into permanent law. And if we can't get the votes, show who's voting no.

I'm so happy with all of those things and getting those things right. If you got any one of those things right, it would be deemed one of the most consequential presidencies in all of our life. If you could do all of that, it would be incredible. But if we do all of that... and you keep the structural deficit in place that we have on spending, we will not save the country.

I'm so happy with all of those things and getting those things right. If you got any one of those things right, it would be deemed one of the most consequential presidencies in all of our life. If you could do all of that, it would be incredible. But if we do all of that... and you keep the structural deficit in place that we have on spending, we will not save the country.

If we have a secure border but no economy, we will not save the country. We are headed to some necessary austerity, and that only gets harder the longer you wait. I heard a story from this last week in Congress where they were trying to say, well, where can we get some cuts? And the Medicaid program is an important program, but it is rife with fraud.

If we have a secure border but no economy, we will not save the country. We are headed to some necessary austerity, and that only gets harder the longer you wait. I heard a story from this last week in Congress where they were trying to say, well, where can we get some cuts? And the Medicaid program is an important program, but it is rife with fraud.

And a lot of the waste in Medicaid is driven by the fact that the federal government runs it. Because states would come up with more cost-effective, innovative ways to be able to keep people healthy in their jurisdictions. But no, no, no. We have a system where you have to spend more state money in Medicaid in order to activate a federal drawdown.

And a lot of the waste in Medicaid is driven by the fact that the federal government runs it. Because states would come up with more cost-effective, innovative ways to be able to keep people healthy in their jurisdictions. But no, no, no. We have a system where you have to spend more state money in Medicaid in order to activate a federal drawdown.

So Speaker Johnson and some smart folks said, tell you what, why don't we do a plan to cap Medicaid at our current spending and then just send it to the states and block grant it, and then some will succeed, some will fail, best practices will emerge, and they'll be copied in our federalist system.

So Speaker Johnson and some smart folks said, tell you what, why don't we do a plan to cap Medicaid at our current spending and then just send it to the states and block grant it, and then some will succeed, some will fail, best practices will emerge, and they'll be copied in our federalist system.

And Republicans were so offended that he would have the nerve to cut future expected Medicaid growth that they walked out of the room. And wouldn't even listen, Derek Van Orton of Wisconsin.

And Republicans were so offended that he would have the nerve to cut future expected Medicaid growth that they walked out of the room. And wouldn't even listen, Derek Van Orton of Wisconsin.

And that should really worry us because if we don't believe in unlocking innovation, then this is still going to be a very expensive government to run, far more expensive than we are able to generate in taxes or in any tariff. And so I think the problem is structural. I think that you have to get to the single subject bills.

And that should really worry us because if we don't believe in unlocking innovation, then this is still going to be a very expensive government to run, far more expensive than we are able to generate in taxes or in any tariff. And so I think the problem is structural. I think that you have to get to the single subject bills.

I don't believe the big, beautiful bill is going to result in substantial reductions in spending, and that's still the meat on the bone. That's still the work we're going to have to do. It's not a criticism of the important tax work and the important border work, but the spending hawks have become an endangered species on Capitol Hill, and I'll still fly with them.