My latest Reason Interview is with Chip Roy, a Republican member of Congress from Texas. He’s a vocal and principled budget hawk whom President Trump has said should be primaried for daring to question the wild-spending ways of the current administration. Yet Roy also ultimately caved and voted for Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which adds trillions in new debt to our existing debt. Only two House Republicans voted against the bill (all Democrats did) and just three GOP senators chose to say no. In his defense, Roy says he ultimately voted aye because of the bill’s cuts to Medicaid.
We talk about a lot of topics, including definitions of the American Dream, the current redistricting drama playing out in Texas (not exactly unprecedented but it’s extremely rare for legislatures to do so in mid-decade), and how Roy’s calls for restrictions on immigration square up with his belief that the government should not be telling employers what sorts of people they can and cannot hire. He’s also refreshingly outspoken in denouncing his party for failing to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare when it had the opportunity it claimed it was waiting for.
Roy isn’t a libertarian but he is a sensible and principled conservative—it’s a shame there aren’t more people like him in Congress.
Here’s Reason’s writeup of the episode, followed by links to YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and SoundCloud versions.
Today's guest is Rep. Chip Roy (R–Texas), a fiscal hawk whose commitment to balancing the budget has led President Donald Trump to call for primary challenges against him.
Nick Gillespie sits down with Roy to talk about why he ultimately voted for the president's budget-busting One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), whether the controversial redistricting plan going on in Texas is legit, the expansion of the federal government under both major parties, and where libertarians and conservatives can work together to reduce the size, scope, and spending of the state.
0:00—Intro
0:41—Why we must control government spending
4:20—The OBBBA and the national debt
6:30—Facing off with Trump
9:25—The Federal Reserve's existence and independence
11:00—Reforming the health care system
14:21—Victories from the OBBBA
19:16—The influence of Ron Paul
24:51—Immigration, labor, and assimilation
35:17—Is there a new GOP consensus on foreign policy?
41:50—Texas redistricting
44:28—Cultural identity of Texas
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