(WIVT/WBGH) – Congressman Marc Molinaro says he’s angry at his fellow Republicans who voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, but he says it’s time to move forward.

The freshman Republican says it’s imperative that the new House Speaker accept the reality that a bi-partisan agreement will have to be reached in order to pass a new federal budget that Democrats, who control the Senate and the White House, will agree to.

Molinaro says he played a prominent role in pushing through the continuing resolution that averted a government shutdown at the end of last week. He says the focus now is on agreeing on a process.

“I was very instrumental in trying to agree to that. Move the bills forward, have the debate, let’s take the votes up or down, and let’s keep moving forward this very important responsibility to be respectful to taxpayers, to drive down federal spending, to secure our border and to have a government that respects the people that it serves,” said Molinaro.

Molinaro says lawmakers owe it to their constituents to keep the government functioning.