Exclusive: Rep. Ogles Backs McCarthy’s Spending Plan, Is ‘Very Pleased’ with Speaker’s Leadership

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) plans to vote for the House’s proposed debt ceiling bill and credits House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with working with Republicans to build consensus around it.

Ogles, a freshman member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, provided his remarks during an appearance this weekend on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Saturday, saying the debt ceiling bill contains many of the provisions the Freedom Caucus began pushing for last month.

“It’s a good plan for America,” Ogles said, lauding the spending cuts it would result in over the next ten years.

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McCarthy introduced the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 last week as Republicans’ answer to the debt limit, which the nation is expected to reach in the coming months.

The legislation would work to avert what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned would be an “economic catastrophe” if the U.S. cannot increase its borrowing limit.

It would raise the debt ceiling through about March of next year in exchange for a sweeping plan to reduce spending that includes blocking President Joe Biden’s student loan bailout, taking back any unspent money allocated toward coronavirus, expanding work requirements for welfare recipients, and limiting discretionary spending growth to one percent per year.

“We’ve got to get our fiscal house in order, so this starts that process of getting us there,” Ogles said. “This is really the framework that we laid out, the Freedom Caucus laid out just a few weeks ago, and so as long as it stays in its current form, unmolested, I plan to vote for it. … Now, we’ve just got to push forward, get 218, and then put pressure on the Senate and the White House to do the right thing for America.”

Ogles was one of about 20 members to hold out on voting for McCarthy in the historic 15-ballot speaker race at the start of the year, but said he has been pleased thus far with McCarthy’s ability to rally consensus around key bills with a razor-thin GOP majority.

“He’s putting together the five major factions within the House Republicans, getting everybody at the table, getting feedback and input,” Ogles said.

He added, “Obviously sometimes there’s a tug of war there, but that’s his job, is to find a path, a consensus to get to 218, so I’m very pleased with Kevin McCarthy’s leadership. I’m very pleased with how he’s managed the House Republicans to this point, and I expect big things out of the speaker and what we can accomplish on the House side of Congress.”