Congressman August Pfluger of Texas’ 11th District appeared on Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria” to discuss several ongoing issues, including the recent Middle East peace efforts and the federal government shutdown.
During the interview, Rep. Pfluger addressed Phase 1 of President Trump’s Gaza Peace Deal. He said, “Well, Maria, this is obviously historic. There’s only one leader in the world who could have orchestrated that deal. It’s Donald Trump. He brings together world leaders. He puts this negotiation into place. It’s very similar to what he did with the Abraham Accords. This is a very important phase of the deal right now. It’s a trust but verify phase. The hostages do need to be released. We do need to see trust built up, and specifically by Hamas… But let me just make this point right now. While Democrats are in full meltdown mode, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is still busy working on behalf of the American people… It wouldn’t have been possible without Donald Trump’s actions inside Iran that set the conditions to allow this to happen.”
When asked about Syria and Lebanon potentially joining future peace agreements in the region, Pfluger noted his own military experience in Syria and commented on regional leadership changes: “Well, it’s an important moment for Syria… Bashar al-Assad was a domestic terrorist who killed his own citizens. We have a new president in Syria. There’s a new moment for Lebanon… Let’s join the world community and be a good partner and show that, in good faith, you can actually help the solution and not be a part of the problem… I think this is a moment that we’ll look back on 50, 60, 70 years from now…”
Regarding ongoing tensions over the government shutdown—which has entered its ninth day—Pfluger criticized Congressional Democrats: “Unfortunately, House Democrats, Senate Democrats are all about a viral moment… We’ve done our job… House Republicans weeks ago passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to pay our military… Senate Democrats have voted six times to defund those agencies.” He further claimed that opposition from Democrats was hindering progress.
Discussing prospects for bipartisan support on Middle East policy in Congress, Pfluger said: “You wonder what that tipping point is going to be for the Democrats to have a reality check to do the right thing and put the American public over their petty politics… There are national security issues that are out there…” He expressed concern about military readiness amid budget uncertainty.
August Pfluger has represented Texas’ 11th District since 2021 after succeeding Mike Conaway as U.S. Representative (https://www.congress.gov/member/august-pfluger/P000619). In 2020, he won election against Jon Mark Hogg with nearly 80% of votes.
