The massive 1,500-page continuing resolution (CR) died a quick yet painful death Wednesday after House conservatives rebelled against it. This left two days for a new spending bill to be drafted before a government shutdown. Representative Aaron Bean (R-FL) expressed optimism about getting the job done in a recent appearance on Fox Business's Mornings with Maria, saying a "clean" CR would be the way forward.
Rep. Bean remarked that the CR barely survived three hours "before it just collapsed under its own weight," noting that Congress was "regrouping this morning," meaning "hopefully, we can get the job done to avoid a shutdown this weekend."
Host Maria Bartiromo noted that President-elect Donald Trump called for a "clean" continuing resolution and asked Rep. Bean what this would entail.
"A clean CR just says, 'Okay, we are going to keep the government open without adding all of these bells and whistles and Democratic programs and expanding government.' So let's just focus on getting the government funded, the bare essentials of what is funded now without any crazy changes. We saw many crazy changes [and] it was anything but a clean CR, what was presented yesterday," the Florida Congressman answered.
Bartiromo further noted that Trump wanted the debt ceiling debate to occur now since he would not support raising the ceiling upon assuming office, so she asked Bean if he believed the debate should be held now.
Bean replied that the debt ceiling debate was why the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the DOGE Caucus exist in the first place, saying, "We have got to break this city's [Washington D.C.'s] addiction to government spending, and that is why we had a big meeting," adding that over 60 Republicans and "three Democratic members that also realize [that] we cannot do this. We cannot sustain the levels of spending that we are having right now."
Moreover, he stressed the need for DOGE to be bipartisan, as "Waste, fraud, and abuse is not just a Republican issue. It should be, and it is a bipartisan issue."
