Congress only has 18 months to save the United States at this pivotal point in the country's history, but the legislature's current structure does not make it ready for the task, Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Monday.
Cloud, who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, talked to "Wake Up America" about the fact that the new Congress will be sworn in this Friday and that the first item on their agenda will be voting for a House speaker.
Until a speaker is elected, nothing else can move forward.
Cloud emphasized that "what will not work is the status quo in Washington, D.C. … we've got to have a course correction — whether that comes with Speaker [Mike] Johnson or if that comes with a different speaker."
In December, 34 Republicans voted against Johnson's stopgap funding bill, bringing into doubt if some of them would back Johnson's next bid for the position because they insisted that the bill favored Democrats.
Republicans only have a 219-215 majority in the House, which means if the Democrats all vote against Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., almost all GOP members must vote for him if he is to win.
Cloud said that "we have to have a course correction … because what we have been seeing is the major legislation … is more leftist and supported by more Democrats than Republicans even when we are in leadership."
The congressman stressed that "we are at a pivotal point in our country. We have 18 months [until the lead-up to the midterms] to save the country [by fulfilling President-elect Donald Trump's agenda] … but we have to be sure that Congress is ready and structured to support that."
Cloud reiterated that glossing over the differences among Republicans is counterproductive, stating that "it is important to get this done up front as opposed to dragging this out over a couple years and then getting mediocre results for the American people. That would be a loss in the long run."
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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