Republican Rep.-elect Rich McCormick of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District told Newsmax Saturday that he is "excited," yet "sober" starting his term in the 118th Congress in January, feeling it will be "contentious" due to the smaller than anticipated Republican majority.
"I am excited by and also very sober about what we're heading into," McCormick said during "Saturday Report." "This is going to be a contentious Congress, the 118th Congress."
A military veteran and physician, McCormick said it will be nice to be on a regular schedule and that he plans to be "very focused" on the work in front of him.
"Everybody is talking about inflation, of course, [and] energy costs," he said. "We have some big things coming down the horizon ... energy and inflation are always things that affect our everyday living, obviously safety and security, the southern border — but they're all talking points."
McCormick said that the cost of health care — a subject he knows about from his work as a doctor in an emergency room — is becoming a huge issue as inflation drives up costs and that health care is one of the biggest expenses for individuals and businesses.
"If you look down range, health care is the biggest single inflationary cost Americans have. It's one of the biggest things we spend American money on in taxation," he said. "Privately, it's the second highest expense for most businesses; and it's increasing faster than any other expense we have in America, which means it's a big problem. We have to deal with that in the near future."
McCormick said the GOP must "get our message straight" if it plans to do better in future elections.
"You may win a couple elections; but strategically, we have to get our message straight," he said. "We need to grow ... We need to make sure that we have a loving message, an inclusive message — not because we're compromising our morals, but because we're making friends and we're talking about how we want what's best for everybody. And we need to get that message across in a regular kind of way."
He said he plans on supporting both Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in his bid to become House Speaker and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in his bid for reelection to leadership because he will need their support as a new congressman to get his bills to the floor for a vote and to get his legislation passed.
"The fact of the matter is [McConnell] will be the leader until he decides to retire," he said. "That's just the way it is. Those leadership positions are really entrenched, and it's bad form to vote against somebody who ... is going to be the leader because you're certainly putting yourself in a precarious position if you want to pass something; because the leaders of the Senate and the House, of course, get to decide what is going to be legislatively decided and what's going to be voted on."
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