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Fifth District Indiana Congresswoman Victoria Spartz took to social media Monday to say she refuses to go to meetings for committees or the GOP caucus.
“I will stay as a registered Republican but will not sit on committees or participate in the caucus until I see that Republican leadership in Congress is governing. I do not need to be involved in circuses. I would rather spend more of my time helping @DOGE and @RepThomasMassie to save our Republic, as was mandated by the American people.”
DOGE is the acronym for the Department of Government Efficiency, which incoming President Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to run. It has no binding or legislative powers.
Spartz staffer JP Etchison sent a statement to the Capital Chronicle saying, “Rep. Spartz will be working harder than ever to draft and deliver real policies — not spectacles and presentations in committees. Unfortunately, no real work is done in committees. Governing means delivering policy solutions through passing bills into laws and overseeing and authorizing spending – not delivering talking points and messaging bills.”
Spartz announced in February 2023 she would not be seeking another term, and Republicans lined up to replace her. Then, a few days before the filing deadline she about-faced. She won her primary and general elections.
Spartz was first elected to the 5th District in 2020. The district covers parts of Hamilton, Delaware and Madison counties.
Just last week, LegiStorm reported that staff turnover Spartz has reached a new personal high.
“Following the recent departure of Communications Director Corinne King and three other staffers, Spartz’s 2024 staff turnover is now the highest it’s been in her four-year career as a member. Her 2024 staff turnover rate is nearly 3.5 times the 2024 House average. This turnover rate understates the matter, as one of these former staffers joined and left the office after a salary disclosure deadline for the House, which means they are not yet counted against LegiStorm’s turnover metric.”
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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“I do not need to be involved in circuses. I would rather spend more of my time helping @DOGE”
Um … more time with the unelected bureaucrats, less time doing the job taxpayers pay her to do.
Great job by Indiana Republicans re-drawing the 5th district to protect it. I’m sure this is exactly what they had in mind.
note: DOGE isn’t an unelected bureacracy…it’s not even a real part of the government. It has no authority. It’s a Presidential Advisory Board. So for this clown Congresswoman to say she’ll focus her efforts there shows just how useless she is. A Russian troll planted in Congress, working against her family and friends back in Ukraine to further the ambitions of Putin.
But to her credit, she appears to be winning the “worst Congressperson for whom to work” award by a substantial margin. If you can’t be effective, at least be an antagonizing, unpleasant, witch.
Russia clearly got to our Ukrainian congresswoman.
Is this what you elected her to do, Indiana? Who the actual f does she think she is?!
I think they got to her long before she got to the US…
Read Wikipedia. When first she ran, the Wiki article talked about her father dying of cancer, and her mother re-marrying. Now it says she lived with her grandparents. I recall she attended some school in Moscow after graduating in Ukraine. Then she met Spartz on a train from Moscow to Kiev, and the magic happened.
I think her bio has been sanitized…
You have to hand it to the Republicans. They have assembled the weirdest collection of personalities outside of a freak show.
But you’re willing to defend the unusual personalities and behavior of the Democrats? That makes a lot of sense.
I think Newton’s Third Law applies here. For every Rashida Tlaib, there’s a Victoria Spartz on the opposite side of the aisle.
You get what you vote for. Congrats 5th district.
What an absolute loser. She has mislead the voters since she was first elected. Then she said she wasn’t going to run again so she could spend more time with kids and family. Well, she figured out how to that. Let the government support her and her family while not having to any work. She said she’s not going to be on any committees. So there is nothing for her to do. I recommend that the first cut that DOGE makes is to reduce her pay and benefits to $0.
I agree. If you don’t do the job you don’t earn the pay.
Republicans are going to learn that elections have consequences. Serious jobs require serious people.
Ran for a position of public trust in which she has no interest, nor trust. And abuses her staff in addition. Her arrogance and incompetence by contrast are ample.
Government is broken. Elected officials decide to not work and just sit on the sidelines. The leaders of DOGE are not accepting a salary, Trump is not accepting a salary. Maybe Spartz should voluntarily give back a portion of her salary for sitting on the sidelines. Get with the program and if you are going to represent this great State, then freaking represent it!
It’s not really fair to say that Trump “didn’t accept a salary.” He did, and he donated most of it (except for the last six months of his first Admin), but he also funneled millions of dollars of taxpayer money into his hotels and properties. I don’t think suggesting he had no income during his Presidency is a good-faith argument. DOGE isn’t any kind of government bureaucracy, so of course they wouldn’t get any kind of income from it. That’s not them acting in a charitable fashion.
If you don’t want to be part of a circus, stop acting like a clown.
First comment was spot on. Gerrymandering by the GOP has led to this idiocy.
Russian Puppet!
Are you really facile enough to think that a Ukrainian would be a Russian Puppet?
Dear Dominic: Ukraine is split between Ukrainain Ukrainians and Russian Ukrainians. The Ukraine was an integral part of the old USSR. The Orange Revolution of 2004-2005 was a battle between pro-Russian Ukrainians and pro-Ukrainian Ukrainians. The latter are favorably disposed towards Western Europe, the EU, and NATO.
The pro-Ukrainian Ukrainians won, and that led in 2014 to Putin occupying Crimea, and a few years to fomenting problems in the areas adjacent to Russia, culminating in the 2022 invasion.
There are lots of Pro-Russian, Pro-Putin Ukrainian puppets. I suspect Ms. Spartz is one of them…she just can’t say so. But neither her words or actions are supportive of a free Ukraine.
By contrast, imagine if you can a Russian invasion of Poland. Polish-American politicians would be up in arms, making speeches, pushing for support of their country. Working to have more US military involvement. Seen anything like that from Ms. Spartz? She’s all but thrown her countrymen under the Putin bus.
And if you really want a contrast, imagine Russia (or event Great Britain) invading Ireland…
What the heck is wrong with her ? She is flipped and a lose gun. She always comes up with these crazy ideas. Meds might be appropriate, after psychiatrist visit.
Perhaps she’s joining DOGE to prevent those two rich guys (three if you count Trump) from raiding Social Security. (That’s sarcasm, of course.)
Looks more and more like she ran only to get the extra 2 years to qualify for the congressional pension that vests after 3 terms.
A thought for Spartz, and Trump and the MAGAts…
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Those are the words of leadership that made America great…a dedication to a foundational principle that liberty isn’t just for citizens of the US, but for everyone on the planet, and that as the shining beacon of liberty’s light, we’ll accept the obligation to do our best to ensure its survival.
The foe is Putin and Russia. The friend is the people of Ukraine fighting to set their own path in the world. Shall the US be a leader, or a transactional whore?
Trump sure didn’t write that.