Top Republican pushes for reconciliation 3.0 to address affordability

As Congress scrambles to assemble a third reconciliation package, the Chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) struck an optimistic tone in an interview on the Ruthless Podcast.

"On affordability, on fraud, and on defense, I think that we're going to run a two-minute drill," Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, said in an exclusive interview released Tuesday morning. "In fact, we’re in the middle of planning for it right now."

Reconciliation is a budget-related measure that can pass the Senate on a simple majority vote. Most other forms of legislation require 60 votes to bypass the filibuster in the upper chamber.

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The House is expected to vote on the second, immigration-focused, reconciliation bill later this week. The Senate approved the measure last week.

Pfluger lamented that Republicans needed to use reconciliation to pass reconciliation 2.0 and fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).

"I’m hopeful about this country," Pfluger said. "But it is a sad state of affairs when you have to do partisan-only bills like reconciliation, especially for defense-related things."

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Podcast co-host Josh Holmes struck a similar tone.

"[The Democrats] forced it on a partisan basis on something that should be a consensus," Holmes said. "Particularly at a time of war used to be an afterthought."

Pfluger outlined his vision for this third bill. He emphasized tackling affordability, fraud, and defense along with housing, energy, and healthcare as central components of the next legislative package.

"3.0 is different," Pfluger said. "3.0 is us going into our districts, listening to our constituents who are saying, ‘Hey, things are pretty expensive.’ ‘We know it's not your fault.’ ‘We know, it's [President Joe] Biden and the inflation that he created, but what can we do for housing, energy, and healthcare?’"

Pfluger believes that congressional action will give Republicans substance to run on in the upcoming midterm elections.

"Our constituents, we have a group of 75 to 80 million people that came out in support of Donald Trump, and we’ve got to get those people back out," Pfluger said. "We gotta give them something to be excited about. We have to tell them, we heard you in Minnesota, we hear you in California, we know there's fraud in many states, and we're going after it."

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Fraud has emerged as a core theme in the Republicans’ message for November. Vice President JD Vance’s Fraud Task Force has uncovered billions in government waste.

Pfluger’s fellow Texan, Rep. Brandon Gill, highlighted fraud in a viral hearing last week. In an interview with Ruthless, the Republican nominee for Governor in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, said that the state and federal governments have approximately $1.1 trillion in improper Medicaid payments.

Pfluger’s interview took place as part of the Ruthless Midterm Interview Series, an ongoing initiative to interview major candidates across the country. The hosts have already interviewed candidates in 15 states, with more scheduled ahead of the November midterms.

Voters in the Lone Star State and across the country will head to the polls for the general election on November 3rd.