Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Today, Speaker Johnson sat for a wide-ranging interview with Fox News’ Guy Benson at the Americans for Prosperity’s “Freedom Embassy.” Speaker Johnson discussed House Republicans’ agenda, the budget reconciliation process, and the importance of grassroots organizations in the 2024 election and beyond.

Watch Speaker Johnson’s full interview here. 

On House Republicans’ agenda:

The president's done a heroic job with executive authority right out of the gates and accomplished quite a bit. DOGE is working overtime, and all these things are happening. Now we have to codify it. So, the reconciliation process is the key to getting that done. And for a lot of people back home who don't follow all the machinations here, reconciliation is the one exception to having to get 60 votes, the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Because we have 53 Republicans in the Senate right now, doing something with a bare majority is the way to go. So we'll use the reconciliation process to check a lot of the boxes of the promises that we made. And that is how we will get to the cost of living - you know, the price of eggs is up high because that, that has more to do with bird flu than anything else. There's a lot of mixed messages out there, but obviously inflation continues to be a major problem. The way to do that is to make sure small businesses have certainty to make sure we don't have the largest tax increase in US history, which is what will happen by default at the end of this year if we're not successful in this mission to get taxes down, reduce regulations, and free up the free market again. And the way you do that, the way you ensure prosperity, which is what we're all about, is to get the government out of the way. This is the team to do it. And reconciliation is the vehicle in which we're going to get it done.

On the budget reconciliation process:

I'll give you a little more detail about reconciliation because it sounds like a lofty concept, but the details really do matter here. What we need to do for small business owners like you, is get government out of the way and give you certainty so that you can plan and invest appropriately so that you know what's going to happen six months from now or more. The reason that we are putting the extensions of the TCJA, the Tax Cuts and Jobs act, one of the seminal achievements of the first Trump administration, the reason that's in reconciliation is because as we noted, those tax cuts are going to expire at the end of this year if we don't fix it.

And the reason we have to do it early in the process and not wait until the end of this year or later is because everybody needs to see the effects of that ASAP, right? If you're a small business owner, this is a very challenging time because you don't know what to expect. The markets don't know what to expect. The bond market doesn't know what to expect… My job is to find the equilibrium point between the two sides and to advance the ball as far as we can down the field for our conservative principles and get 218 votes.

On the House budget resolution:

I'm often reminded, and I remind my colleagues all the time, of what Ronald Reagan reminded us. “I'd rather get 80% of what I want than go over the cliff of the flag waving.” For those of us who believe in limited government and liberty and opportunity and security and prosperity, we have to recognize that an aircraft carrier is not turned on a dime. It takes three miles to turn an aircraft carrier, right? It took us decades to get into the situation we're in.

It is not likely that we're going to fix everything in one bill, in one fell swoop. But if we can make great strides in these areas and we begin to change the trajectory of the carrier, we can turn it around. And if we do that well, and we demonstrate to all these new demographics who came into the party, now that it truly is our principles, our core conservative principles that lead to human flourishing…then we will be able to hold this as a governing majority for years to come. This can be an historic moment for our party and our principles.

On the importance of grassroots activism:

The grassroots component of this is critical. And what you can do is what AFP does so well, leading on this, is to let your elected representatives in Washington know how you feel about [an issue]. Let House and Senate members know that this is important. One of the most effective ways to do it, just in the 1-1 kind of contact is to talk and share your story.

You know, share your story about your small business and how the tax cuts of the last Trump administration helped you grow and thrive. Talk about the challenges that you're facing now and why we can reduce the challenge by further deregulating your industry, right? Talk about the challenges that your family has with inflation and the cost of groceries and all that. Make it real, make it personal. Because when you're a constituent of one of these folks, they've got to listen to that. And it does make a difference. Talk about how your state's a border state and how the open border has been disastrous for your community. You add those things in and you make it real and make it personal. Make it specific. It's very difficult for elected officials to just turn a blind eye to that. And when you add the reinforcements and the resources and the power of AFP behind it, it's, it's a very effective thing. 

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