Texas congressman Jodey Arrington was caught in an awkward moment of apparent hypocrisy on Tuesday when Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse came to a hearing on the Republican budget bill armed with receipts.
During an exchange in the House Rules Committee hours after the Senate barely passed the massive piece of legislation, Neguse asked Arrington about the harsh attacks levied at the bill by Elon Musk over its projected addition of more than $3 trillion to the national debt.
“Elon Musk has been very vocal in his opposition to this bill… Do you think he’s wrong?” Neguse asked Arrington, the chair of the House Budget Committee and an avowed deficit hawk.
“No,” Arrington replied. “I think he has sincerely held convictions about the runaway spending.”
“Why not follow his lead?” Neguse asked.
“I don’t follow any man,” the Texas lawmaker answered. “I follow my conscience.”
It was at this point that Neguse read aloud Arrington’s own words about Musk from just a month ago.
“Let me read you this quote… This is from your website,” Neguse began, holding in his hand a gushy press release from the congressman from May 29, when Musk exited his role as the de facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
“We should not only appreciate Elon’s courageous leadership, but follow it by holding Washington accountable, rooting out waste, and restoring fiscal sanity before the debt burden crushes the future of this great nation,” Neguse quoted.
“It sounds like you were telling people about a month ago that we should follow his lead on debt reduction, but it’s a different tune you’re singing today,” Neguse said.
Arrington admitted that the bill “isn’t perfect when it comes to any principle, including fiscal discipline.” Yet there are enough “significant reforms on the fiscal side” that are consistent with Musk’s concerns.
That didn’t seem to convince Neguse.
“Part of the frustration for me, and I suspect many Americans, is this notion that we don’t have the agency to shape the bill,” he said.
“So if we as a Congress decide that we don’t really want to have special interest tax breaks for tanning salons, as was the case in the original bill that the House put forward, or for whaling deductions, if we decide that we don’t want to spend $40 million on a garden of heroes at the White House, we can proceed with shaping policy that does precisely that,” he added.
“And I would just venture to say, Mr. Chairman, that it feels like you have an opportunity here,” Neguse continued. “You have a number of members on this committee, on the other side of the aisle, who express their opposition to the bill and their indication that they’re going to vote against the rule, and I would just hope that you take that opportunity to perhaps change course.”
Among those who have said they’ll vote against a procedural rule over the bill are House Freedom Caucus members Andy Harris of Tennessee and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, according to The Hill. Norman told Fox News that others may join them.
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