In the News
In the wake of the passage this week of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a former Arizona congressman has some strong words for for his ex-colleagues in the U.S. House.
Matt Salmon believes Washington is more dysfunctional than ever.
Salmon, one of the GOP's most respected names in Arizona, decided not to run again last year. And he doesn't regret that decision one bit, especially in light of recent events.
"This atrocity that was passed by the House is a dereliction of duty," Salmon said.
PHOENIX — An Arizona congressman said one reason he did not vote for a Republican health care bill on Thursday is because he was not given ample time to read it.
"I did not get a chance to read those changes, but that was the additional $8 billion in spending that was put in because of the requests of moderates that had bounced off the bill," U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told KTAR News 92.3 FM's Mac & Gaydos on Thursday.
Arizona conservatives were largely on board Thursday with the House's passage of the American Health Care Act, a move that revived Republican hopes of repealing central parts of President Barack Obama's signature health-care law.
Freshman Rep. Andy Biggs, who represents a conservative congressional district east of Phoenix, was the only Arizona Republican to vote against the legislation, joining Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego, Raul Grijalva, Tom O'Halleran and Kyrsten Sinema in opposing the bill.
For the first time in 10 years, Republicans are in control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. We should be optimistic about moving a conservative agenda forward, but we have failed to keep our promise to repeal Obamacare and have followed that up by surrendering to demands of Democrats by producing a budget bill that spends more than $1.1 trillion to fund the government.
That's more than $7 billion dollars a day.
President Trump's acknowledgment this week that he has considered breaking up the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals breathed new life into a Republican proposal that has languished in Congress for years.
GOP lawmakers whose constituents live within the 9th's expansive appellate jurisdiction have repeatedly introduced legislation that would carve a 12th Circuit out of states currently covered by the 9th.
PHOENIX — An Arizona congressman said Thursday he was glad to see President Donald Trump's proposed tax plan does not include a border adjustment tax.
"I think that's good news because that's not going to be helpful for the country," U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told KTAR News 92.3 FM's Arizona's Morning News.
President Donald Trump's dedication to enforcing immigration law is one of his significant accomplishments as he nears his 100th day in office Saturday, experts and lawmakers say.
Trump is "taking the handcuffs off of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and the Border Patrol because the immigration enforcement officers were prohibited from doing their job to a significant degree under [President Barack] Obama," Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Signal in an interview.