EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Rep. Eli Crane Discusses Continuing Resolution Battle, Says Speaker Kevin McCarthy Should Be REMOVED for Violating Agreement With Conservatives
Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ) spoke to The Gateway Pundit yesterday about Biden’s impeachment and the current fight in Congress over a stopgap spending bill and said he would vote to remove McCarthy from his chair.
As The Gateway Pundit reported on Thursday, Crane spoke about the politicized justice system in America and the persecution of peaceful January 6 protestors, who were misled and framed by federal agents. Crane confirmed to The Gateway Pundit that he believes Ray Epps–the only protester caught repeatedly on video on January 6, 2021, urging Trump supporters to enter the US Capitol–was “working with our government.”
Crane also discussed the out-of-control spending by Congress and impeaching corrupt Joe Biden.
As the Government approached a “shutdown” on September 30, RINOs and moderates are trying to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government running. Freedom Caucus members are fighting this measure, arguing that Congress must exercise the Power of the Purse to enforce border laws, end the highly politicized Biden Department of Justice’s political persecution of Americans, and defund Ukraine’s war.
Eli Crane also expresses concerns over the $33 trillion America has accumulated in national debt. “You start doing the math, and it’s not going to be very long before we hit 50 trillion in national debt,” said Crane while reminding us that McCarthy agreed with conservatives to take a hard line on increasing the statutory debt limit in January and setting a cap on discretionary spending.
The continuing resolution supported by moderates and RINOs will not do enough to stop the limitless spending, Biden’s corrupt DOJ, and Biden’s invasion at the southern border.
President Trump recently posted a message on Truth Social calling on Republicans in Congress to “defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the Country as Enemies of the State.” The President continued, “Use the power of the purse and defend the Country!”
I agree with President Donald J. Trump.
Thank you @RepGosar, @EliCraneAZ, @RepAndyBiggsAZ for working to rein in the out-of-control swamp spending and Defund the Deep State.
Please continue to hold the line! pic.twitter.com/ESkju8YD1e
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) September 21, 2023
Crane posted this morning on X, “We need to break the cycle. No more CRs No more omnibus bills, No more raising the debt ceiling. Congress needs to earn back the trust of the people.”
A continuing resolution would “keep the spending levels where they are, which is completely unacceptable when you have all of these issues all over the country, whether you’re talking about the border, whether you’re talking about the FBI, whether you’re talking about sending money to Ukraine, and it needs to stop,” Crane told The Gateway Pundit.
We need to break the cycle.
👊🏻 No more CRs
👊🏻 No more omnibus bills
👊🏻 No more raising the debt ceilingCongress needs to earn back the trust of the people they serve.
— Rep. Eli Crane (@RepEliCrane) September 22, 2023
Crane also revealed to The Gateway Pundit that he agrees with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that Kevin McCarthy is “out of compliance” with the terms he agreed to in order to flip the votes of conservative House members so he could win the Speakership. He further stated that he would “be surprised” if the impeachment inquiry, announced by Kevin McCarthy last week, goes anywhere due to McCarthy’s weak leadership. “That’s really frustrating. I’m not proud of that fact. I wish that we had more people here willing to actually fight for the American people and for this country,” said Crane.
This list of concessions that McCarthy gave to the conservatives reportedly included the following:
- Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus got commitments to be added to the Rules panel. The committee exerts tremendous power by setting the terms of debate but usually operates as a tool of the Speaker. (It traditionally has a 9:4 ratio, so the majority never loses).
- McCarthy had already agreed to a five-vote requirement to make the motion, which sets up essentially a vote of no-confidence in the Speaker, and agreed to lower it to a single lawmaker.
- McCarthy agreed to take a hard line on increasing the statutory debt limit – which Congress must lift to accommodate spending it has agreed to through appropriations.
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The holdouts reportedly got a pledge to get floor votes on term limits and border security. The former in particular could drive a wedge through the conference. McCarthy himself was elected to the House in 2006.
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The Conservative Leadership Fund, a PAC backed by McCarthy, brokered a deal with the Club for Growth that will impact Republicans that join the House in the future. The CLF committed to stay out of ‘open’ primaries when a lawmaker vacates a seat. That gives arch-conservatives a chance to prevail in a primary without getting pounded by leadership, which sometimes weighs in on behalf of candidates deemed more ‘electable.’
- McCarthy reportedly agreed to allow ‘open rules’ on spending measures, which could lead to lengthy debates and efforts to zero out funding for programs unpopular with Republicans.
- Another concession is a cap on discretionary spending, CNN reported. although spending levels are usually negotiated by both chambers – and get influenced by the president’s budget requests.
- Republicans are girding to take on the Biden administration, and the conservatives forced a commitment to set up a committee on the ‘weaponization’ of the DOJ. The idea had been floated as a subcommittee on the House Judiciary Committee. Its exact structure and membership were uncertain.
Crane said he would vote to remove Kevin McCarthy if a motion was brought to the floor.
The Gateway Pundit recently reported that Matt Gaetz threatened to remove Speaker McCarthy for being out of compliance with the agreement that allowed him to assume his role, not holding the Bidens accountable, and advancing Biden’s inflationary spending, among other things. “Here we are, eight months later, and we haven’t even sent the first subpoena to Hunter Biden,” Gaetz said on the House floor before calling McCarthy’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry a “rushed and somewhat rattled performance.”
One week later, A copy of a Resolution to remove Kevin McCarthy from his Speakership authored by Matt Gaetz back in September was reportedly found by a left-wing journalist in a restroom inside the Capitol.
Trump Save America Attorney Christina Bobb told The Gateway Pundit that she also agrees with Gaetz, and there should be a vote to remove Kevin McCarthy. This would show “which members of Congress stand where,” said Bobb. Watch the full exclusive interview.
Watch The Gateway Pundit correspondent Jordan Conradson’s interview with Congressman Eli Crane below:
Conradson: In order to stop this politicization of our Justice Department, you voted against a stopgap measure, the CR bill to keep the government open. Can you explain what that would have done? Maybe what it wouldn’t have done that you wanted?
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Crane: Everybody knows that we have a spending problem in this town. Just this week, Jordan, we hit $33 trillion in national debt. We have a $2 trillion annual deficit, meaning we bring in about $5 trillion in taxes, and then we’re spending about 7 trillion every single year. So, you start doing the math, and it’s not going to be very long before we hit 50 trillion in national debt. But, the bottom line is, Jordan, in this town, the way that it would work if the folks up here were serious about actually cutting back spending, they would set a top-line number, and then they would do their 12 appropriations bills, and make sure that their 12 appropriations bills added up to that top line number. And so, if you remember back in the speaker fight in January, there was a top-line number agreed to by Speaker McCarthy and the 14 individuals that made the deal with him. I wasn’t one of the individuals. I did not vote for Kevin McCarthy, but I am supporting that top-line number, and I want to see them actually do the appropriations process, which we’ve had nine months to do. And because we don’t have solid leadership here in the Republican Party, that didn’t get done. And so now what they’re asking for is an extra 30 days to do a CR, a continuing resolution where they just keep the spending levels where they are, which is completely unacceptable when you have all of these issues all over the country, whether you’re talking about the border, whether you’re talking about the FBI, whether you’re talking about sending money to Ukraine, and it needs to stop. And you know, the biggest power that Congress has is the power of the purse. That’s the biggest power that we have. And it just boggles my mind that enough of my colleagues don’t see the existential crisis that we’re in right now because of our spending habits and how out of control they are. No country, Jordan, in the history of the world has ever been able to get away with what we’re doing and what we’ve been doing for decades. It’s not a matter of if we collapse economically; it’s a matter of when, and some of us are trying to pump the brakes on the spending levels. That’s why many of us right now aren’t voting for the CR. We’re trying to stop the insanity, and when you do that in this town, one, you’re not very popular; two, you get called a legislative terrorist and all sorts of names. But you know, and that’s not why I do it. I do it because, you can see pictures of my daughters on the wall. I want my daughters to be able to grow up, buy a house one day, buy a car. I want their dollar bill to be worth something, and if we keep heading down the trajectory that we’re on, we will collapse.
Conradson: Another thing I want to talk about is the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. It’s very slow-moving. This should have happened a long time ago. He’s taken millions in bribes. Do you think this is actually going to go anywhere under the leadership of Kevin McCarthy? You noted that you didn’t vote for him? What do you think’s going to happen?
Crane: Well, I never underestimate the weakness of the Republican Party, Jordan. So, I’ll be surprised if this goes anywhere. And that’s, that’s really frustrating. I’m not proud of that fact. I wish that we had more people here willing to actually fight for the American people and for this country. But I agree with you, and I’m ready to impeach Joe Biden tomorrow if we can. I mean, to me, when you look at all the evidence, and I hear the other side saying, ‘Oh, there’s no evidence; it’s a dog and pony show.’ They say the same thing about the border. They really do. I was just in a hearing yesterday where they said the same thing about the border. We have receipts, we have text messages, we have emails, we have Joe Biden himself talking about some of the influence that he had over in Ukraine into his son’s company and their future outcome. So, it’s just unbelievable what Joe Biden has actually done, and I think what’s more unbelievable to me is that many of my colleagues haven’t been supportive of impeaching him. I should say starting that inquiry, but I mean, I think everybody in this town, Democrats included, know what’s going on. And it’s not a good look, but it’s a pretty common one up here.
Conradson: And you talked about “no evidence,” look what they did to Donald Trump. Look what the Democrats did. You know, the Republicans need to grow a pair and actually take some action. So, do you agree with Matt Gaetz that McCarthy is out of compliance and should be removed from the speakership?
Crane: I completely agree with Matt Gaetz. Kevin McCarthy has been out of compliance with that deal for a long time. I just went through the economic side of it; we were promised that we would do these 12 appropriations bills, which have not gotten done. Personally, I don’t think it’s an accident, I don’t think it’s laziness. I think it’s just a continuation of the status quo. So yeah, I do agree with Matt.
Conradson: Would you vote to remove Kevin McCarthy?
Crane: Yeah, I would.
You can email Jordan Conradson here, and read more of Jordan Conradson’s articles here.