U.S. Rep. Arrington talks about his to-do list before leaving Washington

By Mateo Rosiles
March 17, 2026
AS SEE IN THE LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

As West Texas voters still work to decide who will represent them in Congress come next year, U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington said he doesn't intend to be a lame duck in his final months in office.

Arrington, R-Lubbock, has less than a year left representing U.S. House 19 district after he opted not to seek re-election, putting a clock on what he can accomplish before leaving Washington, D.C.

"I've taken on this job as a sacred trust from West Texans, and I hope they're as proud as I am with the results of our 10 years of leadership and representation," Arrington said. "But there's always more work to do to preserve the Republic."

Annabelle Gordon/ REUTERS

His to-do list is far from a collection of small bills he wants to pass. At the top of Arrington's list is his Reconciliation 2.0 bill.

Following up on the One Big Beautiful Bill

Many might remember hearing that word — "reconciliation" — as it refers to the process the House Budget Committee, the one that Arrington chairs, that combines the normal separate funding/spending bills into one bill for easier passage.

This is done for multiple political and procedural reasons, but most recently was done for President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill in 2025 — a bill that Arrington championed.

"I feel like there's a tremendous opportunity to build on the first one," Arrington said. "I'm hopeful that we can address some of the other affordability issues in the country."

The so-called Reconciliation 2.0 bill would focus on codifying Trump's America First trade agenda and rooting out what Arrington and his colleagues call waste, fraud and abuse in federal programs.

Mateo Rosiles/ Avalanche-Journal

But there is another issue the bill would focus on that Arrington has championed previously — cutting the cost of healthcare in America.

"It actually fixes the problems with Obamacare, which is which has increased by 200% premiums and deductibles since 2014," Arrington said. "The Reconciliation 2.0 bill has provisions that will close loopholes, that will repeal mandates so that the cost comes down.

Arrington said one of those provisions — the cost-sharing reduction provision — would reduce premiums by over 10% according to the Congressional Budget Office, and that the same provision would save taxpayers $30 billion.

Improvements to healthcare

Other provisions would foster healthcare insurance competition, increase transparency requirements from the healthcare system, while also pulling back on government intervention.

Mateo Rosiles/ Avalanche-Journal

But Arrington doesn't want to stop there, he wants to transform healthcare so that health savings accounts are the foundation of patient-centered systems and not an afterthought

"If we don't have tax-free health savings accounts where families can keep more of their money, then it distorts the entire healthcare market, and it allows monopoly forces to gouge our hard-working families," Arrington said. "So that the idea is, instead of sending money to big insurance like Obamacare does, let's redirect those resources, and let's build out even more money with a health savings account."

Arrington recently told Punchbowl News in early March that he will mark up a budget resolution within the next 30 days.

Addressing the nation's debt

While still on the topic of budgets, Arrington said he hopes to also pass another balanced budget framework out of the House Budget Committee, but also set up a new budget commission.

"I want to establish a bipartisan debt commission so that Democrats and Republicans can come up with a plan to address our trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities, mainly in entitlement programs, because I think ultimately it's going to require Republicans and Democrats to work together on that," Arrington said.

Mateo Rosiles/ Avalanche-Journal

Other bills Arrington said he is looking at are related to:

• The Farm Bill — help not only cotton producers with greater risk management tools when it comes to weather volatility, but it also incentivizes them to bring their crops to harvest.
• Rural health care — help the small rural hospitals become sustainable.
• Ports-to-Plains — securing more funding for the I-27 portion of the project.
• Dyes Air Force Base — securing funding for critical infrastructure around security gates to operate the B21 bomber.

With a long to-do list and his term ending in January 2027, Arrington said he is grateful for the opportunity to have represented the people of West Texas for nearly a decade.

"I fully expect that whoever succeeds me will continue the good work of restoring fiscal sanity in our nation's capital and making sure that our children inherent strong country, and with all the freedom and opportunities that we've enjoyed," Arrington said.