I hope that you and your family are well. It was a pleasure to be back in Greensboro with fellow conservatives from all across North Carolina this weekend before returning to Washington yesterday. If your family travels to Washington this summer, please reach out to my office for assistance with tours of the Capitol and other attractions. It’s always great to welcome North Carolinians to D.C.!  

#HoldTheFloor 

Last week, 11 Republicans, myself included, took down a rule vote on the House floor to signify that Kevin McCarthy cannot govern without rebuilding the unified Republican Conference after his debt ceiling betrayal last month.  We need an end to the Swampy, backhanded tactics from the establishment before that can happen. We sent a message that Speaker McCarthy cannot pass legislation without our consent and without first fixing what he broke. 

As a result of the Speaker’s race in January, House conservatives entered a successful governing coalition with Speaker McCarthy. Through this partnership, we were able to set conservative priorities and pass conservative legislation like the Limit, Save, Grow, Act, the Border Security Act, and the successful resolution to overturn pro-crime and anti-police laws in Washington, D.C. 

However, McCarthy then violated the agreement that allowed him to become Speaker when he agreed to the Biden-McCarthy debt disaster. He seems to view his new partners in governance as the Democrat party, which is completely unacceptable in a Republican-majority house.    

To make matters worse, the GOP leadership in the House threatened members who refused to bend the knee to the debt sellout disaster, and tried to use Americans’ Second Amendment rights as a tool to punish members who opposed the deal.

We will only allow voting to move forward with the condition that Republican leaders will fight for what their constituents put them in office to do. No more Washington status quo.   

The Week in Weaponized Government 

Last Thursday, the Biden Justice Department indicted President Donald Trump on charges, including violating the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.  

It’s straightforward what is happening here – this is a politically-motivated indictment from a politicized and weaponized DOJ. We have for years witnessed the weaponization of the federal government against the American people and the uneven application of the law depending on one’s political affiliation. 

It’s clear that this prosecution is not focused on espionage or concerns about national security. This is the bureaucracy’s demonstration that it has taken control from the people. I will use every tool at my disposal to root out this corruption from our federal government and retake control from the faceless army of partisan bureaucrats aiming to tear apart our constitutional order.  

It was also revealed last week by the journalist Lee Fang that a billionaire donor to Joe Biden bankrolled a government program to censor conservative speech on social media prior to the 2020 election.  

You can read more here:

Republicans must use every tool at our disposal to rip out this rot from our government and break the censorship laundering enterprise for good. Anything else would be a total dereliction of duty. This is an issue I’ll continue to probe, and I’ll be sure to bring you updates on our investigations into this government weaponization.  

Common Sense in Foreign Policy 

Last week, I spoke at The American Conservative’s 10th Annual foreign policy conference in Washington about the values of common sense in foreign policy.  

You can watch my full speech here. 

"If you apply tests of common sense, the effort that's been undertaken in the name of American foreign policy is not bearing the results that we've been promised from day one."

It’s simple – we need fewer so-called experts in Washington, and more of the will of the people. Common sense must prevail.  

Where is the FBI when we actually need it? 

A horrifying report from the Wall Street Journal last week exposed how Instagram’s algorithms connect a vast network of pedophiles and promote illegal content.  

READ:  Instagram Connects Vast Pedophile Network

Where is the FBI? Heinous crimes like these should be its top priority. Instead, they seem focused on going after concerned parents, pro-life activists, and conservative Americans.  

The American people expect federal law enforcement to go after the real bad guys. This is a case where they must act. Social media is a powerful tool, and it is often abused by criminals both domestic and foreign. 

During a Homeland Security Committee hearing last week on the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations, I posed this question to one of our witnesses. Doesn’t the executive branch have the wrong priorities?