Exclusive – Rep. Andy Ogles: Offering Amendments in House Key to Cutting Spending

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) said on Breitbart News Saturday that the House’s ability to offer amendments on the floor is one of the vital pathways to cutting spending as lawmakers look for a compromise to raise the debt ceiling.

Ogles was one of the 20 House Republicans that held out against Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) bid to become the next speaker of the House. As part of the compromise that led to McCarthy becoming speaker, the House adopted rules that opened the legislative process to offer amendments on the House floor, which was not allowed under former Speakers Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Paul Ryan (R-WI), and John Boehner (R-OH).

“We’ve got to start cutting spending and in order to do that we have to be able to offer amendments on the floor,” Ogles explained to Breitbart News Saturday host and Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle.

Ogles noted that America would add $20 trillion to the debt over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

“Currently, the average American household owes $239,000 because of that debt. Think about that, that’s a house for some people,” he added.

Ogles said we would have to cut spending and try to grow the economy to reduce the deficit. He called for “strategic cuts” to reduce the deficit.

House Speaker McCarthy has continued to negotiate a potential compromise with President Joe Biden on a way to raise the debt ceiling while also pursuing ways to reduce the deficit. Ogles warned that Republicans are negotiating in good faith to find a compromise, while Biden has moved for no reforms to America’s spending problems.

In 2006, then-Sen. Biden voted against raising the debt ceiling under President George W. Bush, voicing concerns about the rapid increase in the debt.

“If we do see any kind of repercussions, it will be at the hands of the Democrats, it will be at the hand of Joe Biden, and you can squarely point the finger at him because we are acting in good faith,” Ogles said.