Congressman explains current spending bill and future plans to cut

Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) joined Chris Salcedo today on "The Chris Salcedo Show" to discuss what Chris has termed the Omnibus Overspending Bill.

The congressman said he was "just as frustrated" with the bill as conservative voters.  Republicans did manage to secure a $15 billion increase for defense, but President Donald Trump had asked for $30 billion.

Brady also defended the decision to put off full wall funding until September, noting that they did manage to fund 700 miles of secure fencing plus other deterrents and detection technology that border agents requested, obtaining $1 billion to fund and achieve "the highest security border level in a decade."

The chairman objected when it was suggested that Congress voted to fund Planned Parenthood, stating that was  "definitely wrong." That funding is intertwined with Medicaid, which is not in this bill. They instead gave the President authority to withhold funding from the United Nations population fund, which includes abortion in its family planning services.

He also touted continued cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and said they are no longer funding climate change initiatives. His continuing frustration is because "as long as we have a Senate that has 60 votes that gives control to the [Democrat New York Senator Chuck] Schumers of the world...we're not gonna see the wins we want."

Brady did disclose that he will vote Yes on the omnibus. He believed that of his colleagues, 241 Republicans are fully aware of how hard it will be to fund 2017's $4.15 trillion budget. He affirmed that they do have ideas to cut at least a trillion from that budget, beginning with health care.

To see more from Chris, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Chris Salcedo Show” weekdays 2–5 p.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.