Arrington says House Republican conference is united, ready to get back to work on crucial policy under Johnson

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives is back in session. Following 22 chaotic days without a speaker, House Republicans on Wednesday elected Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., to the position. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, told the Avalanche-Journal last week the "painful process" produced the "right leader" and helped to unify the oft-divided Republican conference.

"We have challenges that are immense here on the home front, and the lights were off in the United States House," Arrington said. "The good news is the process has produced a more united Republican conference — one that's more focused on our mission and on why the people sent us here and gave us the majority."

Arrington said he and Johnson, who were both first elected to Congress in 2016, are good friends and that he trusts him completely to get the House moving in the right direction again.

"I think we've got the right leader now, who has the complete trust of the conference. He got all the votes, which is not easy to do," Arrington said. "We have a leader that we all trust as a conference and who shares the same values as the people I represent in West Texas. … Western Louisiana isn't that much different than West Texas.

"I can say from personal experience and without exception, he is a man of the highest integrity and of the highest resolve to do the things that we've got to do so that we can ensure our kids have a bright future ahead of them," Arrington added.

Arrington explained he feels Johnson — a relatively unknown congressman from Shreveport — was able to secure the speakership precisely because of his relative obscurity, noting many in the Republican conference have grown tired of its longstanding conventional leadership.

"You saw a lot of the conference leaders attempt to become the next speaker and fail because our members don't want the same-old-same-old business as usual in our conference," Arrington said. "They want transparency. They want to be empowered. They want a bottom-up approach, where we have regular order and the policy agenda is being driven by the members at a committee level."

"They wanted something new and different, and he definitely represents that."

More: Arrington's Budget Committee looks beyond shutdown deadline, OKs plan aimed at debt reduction

Now that the House is back to work, Arrington said legislative priorities include funding the federal government, curbing inflation, securing the southern border, passing a farm bill and addressing geopolitical conflicts in other parts of the world.

"The first thing we have to do is focus on the funding side, get our work done, and send it over to the United States Senate. I mean, that's what made (Kevin McCarthy's speakership) implode ultimately, was that we didn't have all 12 appropriations bills done," Arrington said. "Then, when you think about West Texas being the largest production agriculture region in the country, and you think about our food supply and the fact that food security is national security, we've got to get to work on the farm bill and complete it before the end of the year. That's going to be a tall order … but our producers are counting on us."

Arrington said the House also will need to move to "hold Iran accountable and do things to keep them at bay, and to cut the supply of resources that they use to support the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah" while standing strong with Israel.

"I know (choosing a speaker has) been a painful and frustrating process for all of my constituents, and quite frankly, if it would have gone any further, it would have been a dangerous situation for the country," Arrington concluded. "But I'm grateful that our conference is better for this experience, closer knit as a team and more committed to the cause, and the agenda, and the policies that we believe will promote a safer and stronger, more prosperous future for our country."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Arrington says House Republican conference is united, ready to get busy