- Andy Ogles consistently advocates for reducing federal spending, balancing the budget, and shrinking the role of the federal government, aligning with fiscal conservative principles and House Freedom Caucus priorities (Tennessean, Chattanooga Times Free Press).
- He has a strong voting record against federal spending increases, regularly supporting spending cuts and opposing stopgap funding measures—insisting instead on passing all appropriations bills and returning spending to pre-pandemic levels (Tennessean, Commercial Appeal, Knoxville News-Sentinel).
- Ogles has proposed amendments to defund the D.C. Statehood Commission and bar funding for D.C. congressional delegate elections, actions that have drawn criticism from local D.C. officials (Columbia Daily Herald).
- He has voiced criticism of debt ceiling deals he considers insufficiently aggressive in reducing spending, and has called for reassigning or eliminating new IRS hires from recent federal legislation (Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tennessee Lookout).
- While Ogles promotes increased fiscal discipline, he supports targeted federal block grants for state infrastructure and has noted the country’s high national debt as a concern (Columbia Daily Herald).
- Vulnerability: Despite his message of fiscal restraint, Ogles has spent over $335,000 on taxpayer-funded mailers and incurred additional expense reimbursements, opening him to criticism on government spending consistency (Columbia Daily Herald).
August 2022: Andy Ogles Advocated For Reducing Federal Spending According to Tennessee Lookout, "When I think about this budget, we’ve been on a spending spree for too long, and as someone who was endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus, we’ve got to get into this budget and we’ve got to break it. We’ve got to tear it down. We don’t need to be spending money," Ogles continued. [Tennessee Lookout, 8/5/22]
2022-2024: Andy Ogles Voted Against Federal Spending Increases And Supported Spending Cuts According to Tennessean, "Elected on a platform of ‘cutting wasteful government spending' and has voted against measures to increase federal spending, and supported legislation to implement certain spending cuts." [Tennessean, 7/24/24]
2024: Ogles Proposed Amendment To Defund D.C. Statehood Commission According to Columbia Daily Herald, "Ogles has proposed an amendment to the federal budget seeking to end funding for statehood efforts for Washington, D.C., and defund local elections for the city's unseated representation in Congress. An budget amendment filed by Ogles would bar federal and local funds from going to the New Columbia Statehood Commission, which coordinates D.C. statehood efforts, and also bar funding from being used for D.C.'s delegate elections." [Columbia Daily Herald, 7/21/24]
2024: D.C. Shadow Representative Oye Owolewa Criticized Ogles' Proposal Against D.C. Elections According to Columbia Daily Herald, "I'm shocked and dismayed by the continued antics shown by Mr. Ogles," Oye said in a statement. "Rather than focusing on the needs of his constituents in Tennessee, Mr. Ogles is spending his time meddling with DC Voters. For no good reason, Mr. Ogles is trying to cancel my upcoming election after a successful primary. Something like this has never happened before." [Columbia Daily Herald, 7/21/24]
July 2024: Ogles Proposed Defunding D.C. Statehood Commission And Local Delegate Elections According to Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Ogles has proposed an amendment to the federal budget seeking to end funding for statehood efforts for Washington, D.C., and defund local elections for the city's unseated representation in Congress. An budget amendment filed by Ogles would bar federal and local funds from going to the New Columbia Statehood Commission, which coordinates D.C. statehood efforts, and also bar funding from being used for D.C.'s delegate elections." [Knoxville News-Sentinel, 7/21/24]
Ogles Supported Legislation To Cut Federal Spending And Opposed Spending Increases According to Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), "Elected on a platform of ʻcutting wasteful government spendingʼ and has voted against measures to increase federal spending, and supported legislation to implement certain spending cuts." [Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), 7/26/24]
Americans For Prosperity Gave Ogles A 100% Performance Score According to Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), "Still, Americans for Prosperity - which endorsed his ʻfight to stop out-of-control spendingʼ - awards him a 100% perfect performance score." [Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), 7/26/24]
May 2023: Ogles Criticized Scope Of Debt Limit Deal Cuts According to Chattanooga Times Free Press, "Ogles, for instance, said Republicans, who have a slim, nine-seat margin in the House, had 'all the leverage.' But he said the cap they negotiated for discretionary spending, the work requirements negotiated for those who receive federal benefits and the cuts in new Internal Revenue Service hires all were insufficient." [Chattanooga Times Free Press, 6/2/23]
August 2023: Andy Ogles Voiced Support For Federal Block Grants To Strengthen Infrastructure According to Columbia Daily Herald, "Ogles said he is a 'big fan' of the federal block grant system to disseminate funding for state and county projects to bolster infrastructure, for example, predicting that electrification systems will need to be strengthened in the near future." [Columbia Daily Herald, 8/17/23]
September 2023: Ogles Called For Congress To Pass All Appropriations Bills Without Stopgap According to Daily News Journal, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Daily News Journal, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Ogles Called For Passing Appropriations Bills Instead Of Continuing Resolution According to The Leaf-Chronicle, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Leaf-Chronicle, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Publicly Rejected The Continuing Resolution Approach According to Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), 9/26/23]
2023: Ogles Sought To Limit Federal Spending To Pre-Pandemic Levels According to Commercial Appeal, "Ogles is one of a cabal of right-wing conservatives seeking to reduce overall federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee), 10/2/23]
August 2022: Ogles Proposed Reassigning Or Firing 87,000 IRS Agents Citing Border Policy According to Tennessee Lookout, "Ogles also said in an August tweet he would propose reassigning 87,000 new IRS agents to the Border Patrol or else fire them in reaction to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act." [Tennessee Lookout, 10/4/22]
August 2023: Andy Ogles Said He Was Not Afraid Of A Government Shutdown According to Columbia Daily Herald, "He added he is 'not afraid of a government shut-down.' 'If government shuts down, they aren't spending your money,' Ogles said." [Columbia Daily Herald, 8/17/23]
May 2023: Ogles Objected To IRS Agent Reductions In Debt Deal According to Chattanooga Times Free Press, "Of the last, he said the bill deletes only 1,740 of the 87,000 agents Democrats added in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act they passed in 2022." [Chattanooga Times Free Press, 6/2/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Opposed Stopgap Spending Measure To Avoid Federal Government Shutdown According to Daily News Journal, "Tennessee U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Daily News Journal, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Ogles Opposed Stopgap Spending Measure To Avoid Government Shutdown According to The Leaf-Chronicle, "Tennessee U.s. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Leaf-Chronicle, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Opposed Stopgap Measure To Prevent Government Shutdown According to Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), "With a federal government shutdown looming as Congress continues to negotiate spending bills, Tennessee U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), 9/26/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Joined Hardline Conservatives To Block Government Spending Bills According to Nashville Post, "U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles has broken with the Republican party to join a small group of hardline conservatives in blocking government spending bills." [Nashville Post, 9/29/23]
September 2023: Ogles Voted Against McCarthy’s Compromise Stopgap Spending Bill According to Nashville Post, "On Friday afternoon, Ogles joined Democrats in voting against a compromise bill offered by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy." [Nashville Post, 9/29/23]
September 2023: Ogles Expressed Frustration With Continuing Resolution Process According to Nashville Post, "'There continues to be this push for a continuing resolution, which frustrates me,' Ogles told right-wing media site the Tennessee Star on Monday. 'We said we'd pass 12 appropriations bills, and we should pass 12 appropriations bills. If that means the government shuts down for four or five days, that's fine.'" [Nashville Post, 9/29/23]
September 2023: Ogles Opposed Stopgap Spending Measure To Avoid Federal Government Shutdown According to The Commercial Appeal, "Tennessee U.s. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [The Commercial Appeal, 9/23/23]
September 2023: Ogles Called For Congress To Pass Appropriations Bills Instead Of Continuing Resolution According to The Commercial Appeal, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [The Commercial Appeal, 9/23/23]
September 2023: Ogles Opposed House Stopgap Spending Measure To Avoid Shutdown According to Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Ogles, Burchett oppose stopgap measure to avoid federal government shutdown. With a federal government shutdown looming as Congress continues to negotiate spending bills, Tennessee U.s. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Knoxville News-Sentinel, 9/24/23]
September 2023: Ogles Advocated Passing Appropriations Bills Without Continuing Resolution According to Knoxville News-Sentinel, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Knoxville News-Sentinel, 9/24/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Opposed Stopgap Spending Measure To Avoid Shutdown According to Tennessean, "Tennessee U.s. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Tennessean, 9/24/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Called For Passage Of All Appropriations Bills Without Continuing Resolution According to Tennessean, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Tennessean, 9/24/23]
September 2023: Andy Ogles Opposed House Stopgap Spending Measure According to Commercial Appeal, "Ogles, Burchett oppose stopgap measure to avoid federal government shutdown [...] Tennessee U.s. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Commercial Appeal, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Ogles Called For Congress To Pass Appropriations Bills Instead Of Continuing Resolution According to Commercial Appeal, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Commercial Appeal, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Ogles Opposed Congressional Stopgap Spending Measure According to Jackson Sun, "Tennessee U.s. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, and Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, are two of the 18 conservative Republicans opposing a stopgap spending measure, in an effort to drive federal spending to pre-pandemic levels." [Jackson Sun, 9/25/23]
September 2023: Ogles Advocated For Passing All Appropriations Bills Instead of Continuing Resolution According to Jackson Sun, "'No CR,' Ogles wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. 'We in Congress need to stay late, work weekends until we have passed all approps bills. Enough is enough!!!'" [Jackson Sun, 9/25/23]
2022: Andy Ogles Pledged To Cut Federal Spending, Balance Budget, And Limit Federal Education Role According to an opinion piece by David Plazas in Tennessean, Andy Ogles stated, "I can make the most significant impact on Tennessee's fifth congressional district by reducing the size and scope of the federal government wherever and whenever possible. This also means reducing our total federal spending as a share of GDP and balancing the budget. Getting the federal government out of education and letting families have control over how their children are taught." [David Plazas - Tennessean, 7/15/22]
August 2022: Ogles Advocated Fiscal Conservatism And Breaking Federal Budget According to Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee), "When I think about this budget, we've been on a spending spree for too long, and as someone who was endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus, we've got to get into this budget and we've got to break it. We've got to tear it down. We don't need to be spending money," Ogles continued. [Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee), 8/7/22]
August 2023: Andy Ogles Highlighted Concern Over $32.5 Trillion National Debt According to Columbia Daily Herald, "Ogles also cited the $32.5 trillion national debt as an area of concern." [Columbia Daily Herald, 8/17/23]
August 2023: Andy Ogles Supported Less Government Spending And Protecting Gun Rights According to Columbia Daily Herald, "Sticking to conservative Republican ideals, Ogles lauded less government, less federal spending and protecting gun rights." [Columbia Daily Herald, 8/17/23]
Ogles Spent Over $335,000 On Taxpayer-Funded Mailers Since Taking Office According to Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), "Ogles has spent $335,000 on taxpayer-funded mailers to tout his records, and another $30,00 in travel and expense reimbursements since taking office." [Columbia Daily Herald (Tennessee), 7/26/24]