U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins’ work in Washington ranges from the lofty, driving goal of reviving constitutional government in Washington, D.C., to the painstaking, bureaucratic task of opening district offices.
As The Advertiser reports, it’s been a whirlwind start for the freshman Republican congressman, who won Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District seat in a Dec. 10 runoff. He still sleeps on an air mattress on his office floor on Capitol Hill, showering and working out in the basement gym in the early morning. He still returns to his desk every night, studying position papers and doing prep work that makes every vote count the next day.
Higgins insists he works within the congressional framework, which includes meetings with Louisiana’s delegation, time with party leadership and committee work—three committees, six subcommittees.
The Louisiana delegation, he insisted to the Acadiana regional chamber of commerce on Tuesday, is “powerful,” including both House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Cedric Richmond, who leads the Black Caucus.
Higgins adds that the delegation is largely of one mind, although it must serve many constituencies. There’s deep respect and civility across the delegation, he says, even when members disagree.
“I didn’t step in there to be a bomb thrower,” he says. But Higgins is pushing for his principles, which include restoring to Washington a constitutional approach to government. That means that law arises from the people’s elected Congress, not from unelected, executive agency bureaucrats who impose rules without ever facing voters.
