Facing a national debt that has exploded past $40 trillion, Missouri Rep.Eric Burlison isn't holding back on his own colleagues—accusing Washington lawmakers on both sides of the aisle of being "drunk on spending" while working-class families pay the price.Burlison recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital to discuss fiscal prudence, healthcare, inflation, and how Republicans can lift their fortunes ahead of midterm elections just six weeks away.CONGRESSMAN ERIC BURLISON: IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, 'THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE PRISON' U.S.
Representative Eric Burlison (R-MO) speaks during a news conference on the declassification of federal secrets related to unidentified aerial phenomena on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 9, 2026.(Eric Lee/Reuters)"Most of my colleagues like to spend money…they like to spend other people's money.
They're drunk on spending other people's money, even Republicans, unfortunately, and there's few people up here like myself who were willing to make significant spending reductions. "And so we had to fight tooth and nail to get any spending reductions in the Big, Beautiful Bill.And we were demonized by the left, obviously, but we had to fight members even on our own side of the aisle to make those spending reductions."But, look, at some point the party is going to be over and we are all gonna wake up in a drunken stupor with a hangover and it's going to be painful and we're going to have to figure out how to get our way out of that. "All of these sins of overspending are haunting us.
And now we're seeing…inflation that we can't control.We're seeing the interest rates go through the roof.
At some point, you can't keep borrowing money…Sadly, my colleagues that weren't willing to cut spending are going to be forced to cut spending."House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty )Despite seeking to portray themselves as the party of affor...