Opinion

Why they voted the way they did

By Matt Walsh
| 5:00 a.m. October 4, 2023

Sarasota
Opinion

We contacted Florida’s two Republican U.S. senators and three Florida Republican House members from Florida’s west coast to ask why they voted the way they did last Saturday on the continuing resolution that prevented a government shutdown.

Of those contacted, three House members did not vote with the majority. They are:

Rep. Greg Steube, representing Sarasota County, voted against.
Rep. Byron Donalds, representing Collier and Lee counties, did not vote.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who represents Pinellas County, did not vote.
Rep. Vern Buchanan, representing Manatee County and portions of Hillsborough County, voted in favor with the majority.
Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio voted in favor of the resolution.

As of press time, we heard from Reps. Steube and Luna and Sen. Scott.

Rep. Greg Steube

“On Friday, the House attempted to pass H.R. 5525, the Spending Reduction and Border Security Act to avert a shutdown. I supported this package because it would have cut spending by 29% across the board while fully funding our veterans, homeland security and defense operations. It also would have taken historic measures to secure our southern border …

“I voted no on (the) continuing resolution … I have heard from thousands of you over the past few weeks that you elected Republicans to cut spending, secure the border and get our economy back on track.

Unfortunately, this deal does none of those things…

“I’ve always fought against wasteful spending and business as usual in Washington D.C.

“I am hopeful we can find a path forward that puts American taxpayers first and finally begins to rein in reckless, out-of-control spending that has been going on in Washington for far too long.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna

Rep. Luna’s communications director, Edie Guy, wrote that Rep. Luna did not vote because she “just had a baby is currently recovering from an infection. She was told she was not allowed to vote by proxy.”

“Her position on the CR has been clear: The latest data says typical Americans are spending over $700 a month more than they were two years ago just to buy the same goods and services. That’s nearly $9,000 a year being stolen from Americans through the hidden tax of inflation.

“Rep. Luna is standing with the constituents of her district, many of whom are on fixed incomes, who literally cannot afford the uniparty’s reckless spending and Bidenflation.”

Sen. Rick Scott

“I voted the way I did because 1) The disaster relief got in there; 2) We worked to make sure we were able to pass something that stopped the government shutdown; and 3) We have a path.

“It doesn’t mean we’re going to get there, but we have a path now not to have an omnibus bill and a process toward spending sanity.

“We’re not going to get a balanced budget in the next 45 days, but we’re better off than we were.

“I think the American public won: 1) We don’t have a government shutdown; 2) We didn’t tie disaster relief to Ukraine aid; and 3) We now have the chance to have more fiscal sanity.”

Why Sen. Scott is optimistic about fiscal sanity

Sen. Rick Scott is always the optimist — no matter the insanity in Washington, D.C.

In an interview Monday assessing what happened last week in Congress, Scott saw the bright side — even though many conservative commentators have said the Democrats won and Republicans lost. Said Scott:

“What happened on Saturday, we chose the best of two things. We still have to acknowledge that the budget process failed. But we didn’t have a shutdown. We didn’t tie disaster relief to Ukraine aid. We got disaster relief in the bill.

“And we have a plan for fiscal sanity,” he said. “We’ll get there.”

Huh? Please tell.

Scott went back to the beginning — when he challenged Mitch McConnell for the leadership throne of Senate Republicans. Scott lost, but he didn’t stop in his efforts to do what Matt Gaetz is trying to do in the House — but in a much more thoughtful, tactful way.

After his loss to McConnell, Scott recruited five fellow fiscally conservative senators — Sens. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin; Mike Lee, Utah; Ted Cruz, Texas; Rand Paul, Kentucky; and Mike Braun, Indiana — and with them started meeting with members of the House Freedom Caucus.

“We just talk about how we get something done that is fiscally responsible,” he said.

They felt they made progress when the House adopted a Freedom Caucus debt-ceiling earlier in 2023. The bill ultimately did not make it through Congress, but Scott nonetheless says: “That was a big deal.”

And even though last weekend’s continuing resolution extends current funding for another 45 days, Scott again is optimistic.

“I think we have a lot of people committed that we’re not going to see an Omnibus bill,” he said. “That is a significant change.

“At least Susan Collins (one of the more liberal Republican senators) said to me she is not interested in having an omnibus bill with a whole bunch of blowout spending with just a few people in leadership getting all their spending priorities.”

But ultimately, Scott notes, the House needs to do what it hasn’t been able to do: pass all 12 of its appropriations bills.

“We have to take up their spending bills in the Senate, not our spending bills, and have a robust amendment process.

“That will be hard, but that’s what we should be doing,” he said. “It’s actually doable.”