Washington Update
DOGE comes to Washington
The Biden Administration’s over-the-top spending has left Arkansans with higher prices and emptier wallets due to crushing inflation. Their heavy hand of government saddled hardworking business owners with unnecessary and burdensome regulations that cost trillions every year. The American people demanded change on November 5.
President Trump plans to deliver on that change partly by creating the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. This week, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy visited with my House Republican colleagues and me to discuss their plans to lead DOGE through three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings—all of which I’ve consistently supported since I started serving in Congress.
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, my colleagues and I have worked to roll back costly regulations, cut waste, protect taxpayer dollars, and ensure the government is doing its job for the American people. I’m grateful President Trump created DOGE to make this effort a central focus of his Administration.
Bills of the week
Here’s an update on two pieces of legislation I supported this week, both of which passed the House:
- Crucial Communism Teaching Act: Directs the independent Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation to provide a civic education curriculum and educational materials for middle and high school students about the dangers of communism and totalitarianism, teaching how these systems are against American ideals and founding principles.
- Prove It Act: Requires greater transparency from agencies on regulatory decisions that affect small businesses and empowers small business owners to petition the SBA to review proposed regulations and their economic impact by amending the Regulatory Flexibility Act, strengthening American innovation and putting small businesses before burdensome regulations.
Picture highlights from the week
You never know who you’ll see in the halls of the Capitol! I had the good fortune of running into two NASA astronauts willing to share their experience living and working at the International Space Station for 6 months with Third District Arkansas. Tune into this week’s Comment from the Capitol HERE to hear firsthand about what it was like to blast off into space and what led them to follow their childhood dreams of becoming astronauts.
I had the honor of welcoming Portuguese Ambassador Francisco Duarte Lopes to my office to talk about ways to strengthen the relationship between Arkansas and Portugal through the National Guard’s State Partnership Program. I shared the unique characteristics that make Arkansas and the Arkansas National Guard an excellent fit for a partnership with Portugal—including the F-35 FMS training mission in Fort Smith, maneuver training space, force structure, and our successful partnership with the Guatemalan Armed Forces.
It was great to meet with Judd Semingson, the CEO of Community Clinic NWA, and his colleagues from the Community Health Centers of Arkansas to hear about their efforts in preventative care. Judd and his team are focused on providing folks quality and accessible care, keeping families healthy and out of the emergency room. I’m incredibly grateful for their work in Northwest Arkansas and across the Natural State.
Pet food manufacturers deal with a confusing, costly, and conflicting dual regulatory system that has yet to be updated in nearly 100 years. Scott Soloman, President of Simmons Pet Food, came by to talk about the bill I helped introduce, the PURR Act, which addresses this issue. This legislation would streamline the outdated system by granting sole authority to the FDA to regulate the labeling and marketing of pet food while eliminating the state-by-state regulatory patchwork. With many pet owners and pet food makers in Arkansas’ Third District, I continue to work to meet their daily needs.
The Farmington Cardinals are facing the Parkview Patriots tonight in the 5A state title game. I recorded a pregame message, so they know they have our support from fans across the state and even in our nation’s capital.
Good luck to the Cardinals as well as the Bentonville Tigers, the Shiloh Christian Saints, and the Greenwood Bulldogs who are all competing for a state title this weekend!
I updated Third District Arkansans about where I think we stand in terms of government funding ahead of the December 20 deadline to pass fiscal year 2025 appropriations. It looks like we will be punting our duties into the new year by passing a funding extension, or a continuing resolution, while avoiding a harmful government shutdown. Tune in to hear more HERE!
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Have a great weekend ahead, and I hope to see you around! Be sure to check out my website, Twitter, and Instagram pages in the meantime.
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