Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss House Republicans unifying around a strong agenda to be ready to hit the ground running in January. Leader Scalise previewed the House Republican meeting with DOGE this afternoon and also shared how House Republicans will use the reconciliation process to target excess federal spending, prevent tax hikes on Americans, lower energy costs by reasserting American energy dominance, and secure the border.
  
On working with DOGE:

“I'm very optimistic. And in fact, you know, one of the things we're going to be talking about with Elon [Musk] and Vivek [Ramaswamy] today, a lot of our members have ideas, have been working on various committees on things to do just that, to cut government waste, to identify and root out a lot of inefficiencies in government. And we're going to be working hand in hand. And, you know, we want to share a lot of those ideas, the things that we've uncovered along the way. We also want to make sure that as they're identifying things, they're getting those to us quickly so that we can put some of those items into law because there will be some things President Trump can do on his own through executive order. There will be some other things that we're probably going to need Congress to pass through, let's say, budget reconciliation, which is a bill we're working on already for January with President Trump's transition team, so that conversation has been going on for months. 

“But you know, this addition with DOGE, I think so many people are very encouraged by the idea. Look, it's a refreshing idea that we're going to actually make government work better and make your taxpayers go further. There are probably 75% of federal employees here in Washington that still are not showing up to work under the excuse of COVID. COVID's been over for years, and yet you might wait right now, months and months, to get a passport renewed. Some people are waiting years to get a tax return process from three years ago because those employees aren't showing up for work, so it's hurting families all across this country. You know, those are the kind of inefficiencies we're going to be looking at all across the board.”

On the tight margins in the House:

“Right, you know, we're going to settle in probably at 221 Republicans in the House. We have the majority, you know, whether it's a two-seat, you know, some months because of people that are going to be pulled out of the House into the administration, it'll narrow down probably for a few months to about a one-seat majority. And we're already working on recognizing that. By the way earlier this year we were at a one-seat majority, and we still took care of our business back then. So this isn't new for Speaker Johnson, myself, the rest of our leadership team. It makes it challenging, make no mistake. I mean, you know, we'd all take a 20-seat majority, but that's just not realistic. I wish states like California would learn how to count, like every other state where you can get the results of the election on Election Night, not three weeks later, they're still counting. But at the same time, whatever the final number is going to be, Republicans will have the majority in the House and Senate. President Trump will be in the White House, and we're already working with President Trump. I was on a call with Senator Thune, the new majority leader, coming in. We're all working in sync to make sure we deliver for the American people.”

On House Republicans preparing to hit the ground running in January:

“Look, we're already having some of those meetings now for what's going to happen in January. We're not going to wait until then to start working through what we know are going to be real challenges, but we're listening not just to Freedom Caucus members. You know, we have on the other side of the spectrum, you know, we have members in those swing districts, the 50/50 districts that have different views on some of these issues. We're hearing all of them right now, listening to them. But we're also making it clear to everybody, you know, let's say when we're at a one-seat majority for a few months in February, March, April, we're all in this together or it doesn't happen. And we talked about very specific things that we will deliver on for the American people, like lowering energy costs, lowering food costs, securing America's border, all of those things we deliver if we all vote together if three people think they've got a better idea and they're just going to vote their own way, then it won't happen.

“And so I think everybody realizes, okay, look, now's the time to put your ideas on the table if you have a different approach. But at the end of the day, we're going to all come together. And President Trump is the leader of our party. And President Trump has a very clear plan. He ran on very specific things. And frankly, most of us ran on those exact same things in our districts. So all across the country, I think you're going to see, you know the mandate that was carried out by voters on November 5th is going to be carried out by this new Congress starting in January, we're going to hit the ground running.”

On strong candidates to fill committee chairman openings:

“Look, [Congressman] Andy [Barr]'s in the mix [for the Financial Services Committee]. You know [Congressman] French [Hill] as well as [Congressman] Bill Huizenga and [Congressman] Frank Lucas. So, you know, you've got four great members that are on the committee today that are running for the chairman with [Congressman] Patrick McHenry retiring. The good news is we've got great choices. We're going to make that pick hopefully next week. The Steering Committee is going to be meeting next week, and that'll be one of the first ones we take up. 

“Energy and Commerce is one of the other big committees that has an opening, you know, and these openings don't come around often, although at least on our side, on the Republican side, we have six-year term limits for chairmen. On the Democrat side, you might serve 20 years. And so, you know, the younger members see no path to becoming a chairman. Here, you've got some real vibrant, energetic members that now have a chance to get the gavel on a real important committee, like Financial Services.”

On President Trump looking outside of Washington to build an effective cabinet:

“But you know, if you look at the people that President Trump has picked, you know some of them are more traditional people that have the kind of background you would expect. But then some people are folks that President Trump is pulling out of different walks of life, and that's what's made him so successful in business. President Trump, remember, came here in 2017 as a businessman, was not in government at all. And he brought a lot of different people that helped us get things done, get the economy moving again, that understood the economy surely better than some of the kind of typical Washington people. 

“So, you know, when he makes some of those picks, you know, I think you see some of the people that have been around Washington for 30 years kind of scratch your head and go, ‘Oh, gee whiz, that's not somebody who I see walking around the halls of Congress every day.’ That doesn't mean they're not going to make really good cabinet secretaries. And so what everybody should do is just hear them out. And that's what they're doing right now. They're going around meeting with senators, all of these picks, are meeting with senators and having one-on-one conversations so that the questions asked, the tough questions, share the vision and recognize that, you know, you've got a lot of different people from very different walks of life that are going to add to this Trump administration. But the ultimate goal is to get the country back on track, to get the economy moving again, to lower inflation and lower costs for families, and secure the border. That's our focus, that's everybody's focus.”

On the Republican Conference under Speaker Johnson’s strong leadership:

“And, you know, Speaker Johnson's been a very effective leader and has the respect of our members. He listens a lot, which is an important trait for a leader. And with our conference, especially all the different factions, you know, to keep us together on really big critical things, you know, for all the you mentioned it earlier, we had our challenges. But we also delivered very big things. H.R. 1, a great energy bill. H.R. 2, a great border security bill. H.R. 5, a great bill for Parents’ Bill of Rights. We're going to keep delivering for the American people. We'll have our differences. The Democrats do, too. But we come together and deliver for the American people. And now, with the unified government in January, we're going to get this country back on track.

“[The Democrats] just got defeated because they were solid in the wrong direction.”

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