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I hope all of you had a great Christmas, and Happy New Year. As we roll into January, one of the big stories to watch over the next few weeks will be government funding.

There are two major deadlines on the immediate horizon, the first of which is just 17 days from now, on January 19th. That’s when funding for four major functions of the federal government is set to expire: Agriculture, Transportation, Energy, and Veterans Affairs. Everything else needs to be dealt with by February 2nd. 

Yet true to form, Congress is still on vacation this week. And we’ll continue to stay out on vacation until Tuesday of NEXT WEEK.

With conservatives and liberals so far apart on spending priorities, our massive deficit spending and crippling national debt, January is going to be another chaotic month in Congress.

At the start of this new year, let me reiterate my long-standing position on government spending. It is NOT my job to keep non-essential functions of the government “open” no matter the cost. We’re almost $34 trillion in debt. Every second of the day, the federal government’s DEFICIT is more than $140,000. Again, that’s $140K added to our debt EVERY SECOND. We cannot possibly tax our way out of this disaster.

As I’ve said repeatedly, I simply will not support any appropriations bill that doesn’t contain meaningful, responsible spending reductions to keep us on a trajectory to balance the budget within the next 9-10 years. Nobody wants a shutdown, but it’s the Washington establishment who would induce a government shutdown – and all the pain that entails – rather than do the responsible thing and curb our out-of-control spending.