Arrington and Pfluger: Republicans Must Strike Now on Second Reconciliation Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington warned that Republicans must act now to pass a second reconciliation bill focused on affordability or risk losing the Republican majority in November.

In an exclusive episode of the Republican Study Committee's (RSC) Right to the Point podcast, Arrington joined RSC Chairman August Pfluger to make the case for immediate action on delivering victories and on the mandate for the American people.

The two West Texas members emphasized that the RSC's Reconciliation 2.0 frameworkis key to unlocking the American Dream by expanding access to homeownership, putting patients back in charge of their healthcare, and removing the bureaucratic red tape delaying energy projects.

Chairman Arrington and Chairman Pfluger also stressed that it would be political malpractice to not utilize the reconciliation process to lower costs for hardworking Americans as Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House in Washington.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

KEY QUOTES FROM THE EPISODE:

Budget Committee Chairman Arrington on the RSC’s Framework:
“You have a great framework. I stood shoulder to shoulder with you as a member of RSC, and this is truly an historic opportunity. We are at an inflection point, and by the grace of God and the good people of this country, we got Republican leadership across the board. It gives us a special tool, reconciliation. It's just a fancy way of saying we can enact policies without and dispense the filibuster, which requires sixty votes in the Senate, not a simple majority, unless you use reconciliation. We don't have to consult with Democrats who, unfortunately, at this point, want to use healthcare and affordability. Ironically, since they dropped the unaffordability bomb on this country with four years of unbridled spending and failed economic policies, but they're putting this on us, and they're challenging us, especially in healthcare, on the issue of affordability.”

RSC Chairman Pfluger on the Need for a Second Reconciliation Bill:
“As we enter into 2026 I think it would be political malpractice for us not to as Republicans, not to pursue policies that we know are good policies, and by the way, in pursuing those policies, and the RSC has has released a framework that is all about affordability, whether it's housing or energy or healthcare, it would be political malpractice for us not to proceed with that, and Democrats are going to have a very tough time not voting for many of these provisions.”

Budget Committee Chairman Arrington on the True Meaning of Conservatism:
“It's to believe that this experiment is not an accident, but this experiment that has created the most powerful, most generous nation in human history and the most prosperous happened because we put a premium on freedom, and it's because we believe, as conservatives, that to conserve the Constitution. A constitutional framework that empowers people and unleashes them to maximize their God given talent is why we have the largest middle class. It's why we have the best standard of living and quality of life. It's why we are the laboratory of innovation. Freedom drives that and to conserve and protect and preserve our freedom, and I think that that is fundamental and central to being a conservative.”

RSC Chairman Pfluger on RSC’s Framework to Lower Healthcare Costs:
“[Obamacare is] more expensive, it's less accessible. The quality of care is worse for every single one and group out there, including our constituents, complain about how expensive healthcare is, and we know that insurance companies were hand-in-hand with Obama writing Obamacare, and the President has rightfully articulated that there are hundreds of billions of dollars that are going directly into the insurance companies pockets that should be going back into our constituents, into every American in our community's pockets. So one of the tenets of this bill is transparency and its competitiveness, and we've got several pieces of legislation that would bypass those insurance companies and would allow every American to start a health savings account in a tax-advantaged way, start an account where you have the choice to pay who you want to pay.”