On the Chris Salcedo Show this week, Rep. Wesley Hunt laid bare what many Americans already suspect: the Washington establishment has grown cozy with a sprawling permanent bureaucracy that answers to no one. Hunt didn’t mince words, telling viewers that “we the people” deserve fighters who will take on the deep state, not more placating insiders who kowtow to career bureaucrats.
Hunt’s message matters because he’s not just a talker — he’s an Army veteran and a fresh conservative voice who’s built a reputation for toughness and principle in Congress. His critics in the Beltway may sneer at his relative youth in office, but Republican strategists increasingly see Hunt as the kind of candidate who can unite grass‑roots conservatives and pragmatic voters across Texas.
The real scandal isn’t merely bad policy; it’s an attitude. Establishment Republicans and feckless leaders have allowed a permanent administrative class to operate above accountability, using levers of power that ought to be under citizen control. Hunt’s blunt assessment on Salcedo’s program — that too many in Washington are “squishy” when faced with the deep state — is exactly the kind of clarity voters deserve from their representatives.
Conservatives who want results should stop tolerating half‑measures and performative gestures from the inside the Beltway and demand officials who will actually prosecute corruption, roll back rogue bureaucracy, and restore constitutional checks. Hunt has already taken a stand defending conservative media and pushing back when corporate gatekeepers try to silence alternative voices, showing he’s willing to fight cultural and institutional bias, not just critique it from the sidelines.
The stakes are obvious: if Republicans keep nominating the same career politicians who belong to the problem, the left will keep exploiting every institutional advantage to expand its power. That’s why Republican voters and grassroots activists should pay attention when a candidate like Hunt promises to take the fight to the permanent class rather than appease it — rhetoric alone won’t cut it, but neither will another insider who quietly hands more power to unelected bureaucrats.
Washington can only be tamed by leaders who refuse to normalize the norm of unaccountable government. Wesley Hunt’s appearance on Salcedo’s show was a reminder that principled, muscular conservatism is not a fad but a necessity for anyone serious about liberty. If Republicans truly want to reclaim the machinery of government for the people, they should elevate and support those who will stand and fight — not those who will soothe and surrender.
