Among the eight Republicans running for Speaker of the House, Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) stands out. Not only for potentially being the first African-American Speaker but because of his conservative bona fides and momentum within Congress. Rep. Donalds appeared on Fox and Friends First to discuss what his priorities would be if elected Speaker, including the spending, border, Ukraine, and Israel crises.
"My pitch is very simple," said Rep. Donalds, "First, we have got to get back to work immediately. We have to get these appropriations bills done, we must secure our border. If we are going to continue government funding, the border must be secured, and the White House is to realize that and take us seriously."
Additionally, Donalds stated that Republicans "must have a true ability to expand our majorities past this Congress," which Donalds said could be accomplished through "strong, direct leadership" that will unify the Republican Party with "a fresh voice."
The discussion turned to the border crisis, as hundreds of individuals on the terror watchlist and several thousand Chinese nationals are known to have crossed the border. The Biden Administration, however, has advanced expediting the processing rather than security, demonstrating a point Donalds had reiterated before: "We do not have a money problem with respect to the border. We have a policy problem."
More to the point, he said, "If the White House is going to come and say they want more money, then we are going to say "No, you need to change your policies."
Regarding Ukraine, Donalds proposed appointing an Inspector General to oversee funds going to the warring country, as many Republicans have been wary of where the money is really going due to Ukraine's infamy for corruption. More importantly, he said the Biden Administration must have a clear goal for Ukraine and allocate funds from other projects toward it rather than try to fund both, as America is $33 trillion in debt with a $2 trillion deficit. "We cannot continue this because the fiscal health of our nation will be in jeopardy," he said.
This led to how the United States can avoid involving itself in Israel as they fight Hamas, which could be World War III. Donalds replied, "This is going to take leadership from Joe Biden. Leadership, by the way, has not shown to any point at this time. So it starts with going back to the Iranian sanctions that were under President Trump and having this White House reverse course on some of their desires with Iran trying to negotiate through the back door. That will be a big step forward to avoiding this global conflict," he concluded.
