Fox News "Your World" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Andy Biggs

Interview

CAVUTO: Sure.

All right, I'm sure there's a minivan and a Mini-Cooper. Yes, so I could see where you're going with this.

Brilliant, my friend. Brilliant, as always, Chad Pergram.

Let's get the read from Republican Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs.

Congressman, I don't know if you brought any props with you here.

REP. ANDY BIGGS, R-ARIZ.: No.

(LAUGHTER)

CAVUTO: But could you explain the likelihood of a shutdown. I'm told, given everything Republicans are trying to do, they don't want that on them, so it's not going to happen. What do you say?

BIGGS: Well, I think it's highly unlikely.

I would stand with the president, if that's what he wanted to get the border wall funding. But I don't think that's going to happen.

You're going to see -- basically, this is same old, same old, where we're going to kick it down the road. We're going to do probably a two- or three-month minibus that's basically a C.R. It's going to last for a short term, and it's -- then they're going to say, oh, it's done for the midterm election.

And that's not good for anybody, quite frankly. And that's not good for -- there's nothing I really want to see.

CAVUTO: You know what's so weird? I mean, even people who might be of one political persuasion vs. another -- and you and I have discussed this, Congressman.

Republicans always get the blame for these shutdowns.

BIGGS: Yes.

CAVUTO: In other words, they are the ones who are stubborn, insisting we control spending, no fault on the part of Democrats if they are just as insistent that we continue spending. It is what it is.

I understand that. But a lot of your colleagues are sick of getting that rap, and it opens the way for deals that call for more spending and what will likely be a trillion-dollar deficit.

So, some of your hard-line conservatives say, you have got to stand up to this and not let the Democrats write the narrative. You say?

BIGGS: I say that's exactly right.

I mean, I'm so tired of us looking and sounding -- we say we don't want to spend money, but we have federal revenue that is setting records, and we still are going to have a trillion-dollar deficit, because we won't cut spending.

And we don't do long-term spending plans. We don't do the budget the way it's supposed to be done. So, here we are at the end of the fiscal year again. We're just a couple weeks out.

And we're going to be saying, OK, instead of doing this maxibus, like we did a few months ago, now we're going to do a couple of minibuses. And it's basically -- basically, you're opening up a box of sneakers, except it's in several boxes, instead of one big box.

So you're still doing the massive spending. And you're not taking care of what you should be doing. And that's the real problem. And Republicans always get the blame for it.

And maybe, in some respects, we should, because we're supposed to be the party that's fiscally responsible. We're not really showing that as much as we should.

CAVUTO: You think it's going to cost you control of the House?

BIGGS: Well, I think that there are some things that might cost us, but if we kept our promises, and if we do keep our promises, I think we win the House.

If we don't keep our promises, we're not going to win the House back.

CAVUTO: All right, well, it doesn't sound you're going to keep this promise.

(LAUGHTER)

BIGGS: Well, I'm hoping that we do keep the promise. I'm an optimist, Neil. You know that. I'm an optimist.

CAVUTO: All right, sir, thank you very, very much. Always good seeing you.

BIGGS: Good to see you.

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