A Conversation with Pfluger

While in the midst of ongoing negotiations for the budget reconciliation bill and other general chaos in Washington, D.C., Congressman August Pfluger (R-TX-11) graciously took time for a phone call with The Texan last week. 

Among the topics we discussed was one I’ve noodled on throughout various editions of The 40 since January: how has Trump impacted the dynamic of the 119th Congress? 

Of course, no president has come and gone without leaving behind a signature mark on the legislature during his term — but Trump takes a unique position, as folks on either party would agree, but not on whether it’s been a positive impact. He’s been vocal in sharing how he would like Congress to legislate, which members he wants to see ousted (complete with colorful epithets and descriptions), and his perception of Congress members’ duty to fulfill his agenda.  

Pfluger said that Trump has indeed “impacted it in every way, shape and form.” He acknowledged that “We look at the election on November 5 as a mandate, for the things that 77 million people who voted for him demanded needed to be changed.”

Pfluger said Trump’s influence spans over “the whole gamut of issues,” following a Congress that was “under a  government that we lost trust and faith in, a government that was bloated and insanely expensive … Overreaching agencies that were overreaching into Americans lives, an energy landscape where the Biden administration wanted to basically assault fossil fuels — it spans over the entirety of it.”

“Trump has brought a real sense of urgency to change the way that we do business,” Pfluger added, “to hit the reset button in Washington, D.C., to hit the reset button button in the international system, to hit the reset button with our military.”

He added that Trump’s urgent tone “has prompted and prodded Congress to move quickly.”  

“You see that with this ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ (OBBB) that just passed this morning on the House floor, that he is driving an agenda to get our country back on track, and Congress is legislating to codify many of the executive actions that he has taken,” Pfluger concluded.

Pfluger’s legislative record over the past few months is emblematic of this prodding from Trump for haste — as Pfluger has passed the most legislation in the House of Representatives since the start of the 119th Congress. 

Stay posted next week for an update on the OBB’s inclusion of border security reimbursement provisions and Pfluger’s inside analysis of it.