TEXAS, USA — The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that federal agents can cut some of the razor wire installed by the state in Eagle Pass along the border with Mexico.
Since then, some Republicans have called for Gov. Greg Abbott and the state of Texas to ignore the ruling.
While appearing on Inside Texas Politics, Congressman Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie, did not go that far.
“It is unfortunate. But the Supreme Court has made its ruling. We can’t pick and choose what the Supreme Court does,” Ellzey said. “And I think that a couple of conservatives joining with the liberals on the court to say that we must take down that razor wire is definitely unfortunate. I would have liked to have seen that go the other way.”
As for the federal purse, lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House continue to negotiate specific funding levels for agencies, though there is an agreement in place to cap the overall spending at $1.66 trillion.
The next deadlines to avoid a federal government shutdown are March 1 and March 8 for different agencies.
Ellzey says the government has to function because we haven’t lived in a world like this since 1938, and if it shuts down, neither the military nor border patrol agents get paid.
“The world is on fire right now. And a shutdown, at this point, nobody has ever explained to me what good a shutdown does. It is a knee-jerk reaction to things that they’re upset about. But in reality, a shutdown harms this country far more than it helps anything else going on,” Ellzey argued on Inside Texas Politics.
And now that Iowa and New Hampshire are in the rearview mirror, former President Donald Trump appears to be well on his way to once again winning the GOP nomination for president.
As for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who finished a distant second in New Hampshire, her chances of winning, a long shot to begin with, are quickly falling toward zero.
Ellzey says Haley is likely now waking up and wondering if she even has a path forward.
“I would say that most folks would be advising her right now that she doesn’t. Having been someone who was suggested that I had no chance of winning either, and I proved them wrong, I’m sure she might be living on that kind of talk,” Ellzey said.