It's a "Christmas miracle" that House Republicans have scrapped a bipartisan continuing resolution that called for billions in additional spending beyond what was needed to avoid a government shutdown, Rep. Eric Burlison told Newsmax on Thursday.
But the Missouri Republican said on "Wake Up America" that he wouldn't comment on calls from some in the House to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had initially endorsed the legislation.
"He's a good guy, and I'm not going to comment about his future," Burlison said. "I'm so happy, and I'm going to celebrate this win for America, which is that this bill, this monstrosity, is dead."
The bill was scrapped Thursday after House Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump, and X owner Elon Musk joined in criticizing it.
"That would never have happened had the American people not chimed in and called their lawmakers, had Elon Musk and [Vivek] Ramaswamy not gone on Twitter and called us all out for what we needed to hear," Burlison said.
Usually, he added, lawmakers get to the end of the year and race for a "Christmas omnibus" where "they jam us with all this pork and a huge bill. For once, we may have averted that."
The original bill had included, in addition to the money needed to keep the government open, billions in spending for disaster aid and farm relief, which brought on several additions from Democrats, leading to the outcry.
Burlison said the deal-breaker for him was a provision to extend funding for the Obama-era Global Exchange Commission for another year.
"That was a censorship group," Burlison said. "It was a group that was being sued by The Daily Wire and other conservative organizations because they were censoring them. This is not what the federal government is supposed to do."
There were also provisions for pay raises for Congress, and "a lot of very egregious things in the bill," Burlison added.
He said he expects a "skinny version" of a continuing resolution to come before Friday's deadline, but said he's also "OK" to shut down the government if need be, as 85% of the federal government would still be operational.
"We'll come back in January under a Republican Senate and a Republican House," Burlison said. "We can pass the appropriations the way that we want to with no excuses."
Burlison also on Thursday criticized Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., for his claims that it was Musk, not Trump, who killed the continuing resolution, and insisting that the X owner is calling the shots rather than the president-elect.
"Dan Goldman is a, I would say, mentally limp political hack," said Burlison. "I wouldn't take anything that he says seriously."
But still, Burlison said that he thinks Musk and the private sector should be celebrated for "coming in and having influence."
"This is what this town needs," Burlison said. "We need people to bend the will of Congress to do what the American people want."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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