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Dear ,

Happy Monday! Below, please find a few updates on my work last week for the residents of Arizona’s First Congressional District.

I delivered my weekly House Floor speech highlighting the urgent fiscal crisis facing the United States, with a focus on the nation’s skyrocketing debt, unsustainable spending patterns, and demographic challenges. The potential of debt exceeding 155 percent of GDP by 2035, with annual interest payments alone surpassing $2 trillion, should petrify every American. The risk posed by rising interest rates could result in 45 percent of all U.S. tax revenues going just toward interest payments. Let's not forget the potential of an additional $6.8 trillion in debt including interest if we were to extend the 2017 tax reform without offsetting it. Fiscal responsibility is a moral obligation to future generations, or else we will leave our children and grandchildren with the potential of economic collapse, interest burdens, and demographic decline. Click the video above to view the full speech or see below for some highlights.

Let's Talk About Tax Reform

On Thursday, February 6, I was honored to be the keynote speaker for Bloomberg's 'Tax Policy Perspectives in 2025' fireside chat alongside Chris Cioffi, a senior reporter for Bloomberg Government. We had an incredibly important conversation surrounding expiration of key Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions and additional promises from President Trump. I warned against using debt to finance extensions of the 2017 tax cuts, emphasizing that there are no free options of implementing intellectually honest tax policy. I have expressed concern with using the current policy baseline to downplay the tax law's projected $4.6 trillion cost over 10 years. We need a comprehensive, mathematically balanced combination of both spending cuts as well as growth-measures to be able to pay for the upcoming tax reform. Again, I want to thank Bloomberg for hosting such an important event and allowing me to stress the importance of engaging in difficult conversations.

You can actually watch this conversation on Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m. EST. Sign up here to tune in!

February is American Heart Month

Fueled by ongoing increases in high blood pressure, obesity, and other major risk factors, cardiovascular disease continues to kill more people in the United States than any other cause. Every year, CVD accounts for about 40 percent of deaths and 11 percent of total U.S. health expenditures.[1] Specifically, cardiovascular disease leads to over 940,000 deaths and costs the U.S. health care system $254 billion and $168 billion in lost job productivity.[2]

As a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, the American Heart Association works to advance public policies that improve cardiovascular health for all by expanding access to affordable, high-quality care, promoting nutrition security and physical activity, preventing tobacco use, bolstering medical research, and strengthening public health.

We hope you will join us in the fight against heart disease and stroke as we celebrate American Heart Month. This month encourages people nationwide to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease and share ways to improve heart and brain health. 

Recognizing Some Amazing Citizens of AZ-01 

A couple weeks back, my staff was invited to attend Lucid Motors Track Day to observe the fastest zero to sixty car in the world. Lucid is working toward adapting to the Tesla Superchargers in a few months, while another model of theirs, the Lucid Gravity, can actively utilize Tesla chargers now.
Lucid Motors is currently the only car manufacturer in the country with the entire supply chain residing in one state, and that state is none other than our beautiful Arizona. I'm looking forward to seeing how the team moves while working on a less expensive version of an everyday Lucid vehicle. Thank you for letting my team in on a little slice of the innovation!

Upcoming Mobile Office Hours with My District Office

My district casework team is here to assist residents of Arizona’s First Congressional District with applications and claims pertaining to federal agencies and benefits. Staff from my district office may be in your neighborhood to offer one-on-one casework help. Check dates and times below or call the district office at (480) 946-2411 for immediate assistance with the IRS, Passports, Medicare, Social Security, VA and other federal benefits. 

Health is Wealth: 2025 Recipes from The Juice Lady

This week's recipe is exciting, as in incorporates a little bit of Arizona into the mix. We are excited to tell you about Spread the Love Foods, a small business in Scottsdale. Their team sent nutritionist Cherie "some of the best nut butters she’s ever tried. They were so creamy and delicious." She especially loved the fact that they are clean, organic, and with no unhealthy seed oils added. Check them out at spreadthelovefoods.com 

Almond Butter Balls
 
Ingredients:
16 oz. almond butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. stevia or 1/4 cup Monk fruit or add sweetener to taste
2 cups rolled oats or oat flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut flakes or finely chopped nuts, or 1/2 cup each
 
Instructions:
1. Mix almond butter, cinnamon, and sweetener together in a bowl. Use oats as they are or blend them until they assume a powder-like texture or use oat flour.

2. Add oats to the nut butter/sweetener mixture and mix until combined, working with hands. Adjust consistency if necessary.

3. Roll nut butter mixture into small balls. Wet hands often to prevent mixture from sticking to hands.

4. Roll balls in coconut flakes or chopped nuts.

5. Chill and eat! Makes 40 balls.

Notes: This recipe yields a lot, so you can freeze the almond butter balls and grab a few when
you need a snack or are craving something sweet. It’s worthwhile to make them all at once and freeze them or keep them in the fridge for up to ten days.

**A note from the nutritionist: "Almonds are a big plus for heart health! They are rich in monounsaturated fatty acid that are known to lower LDL cholesterol and raise good HDL cholesterol." -Cherie Calbom, MS

What I’m Reading & Why It Matters

Continuing on the topic of tax reform, the Washington Post published an article highlighting various methods that the GOP could utilize when working through tax reform. President Donald Trump’s proposed budget aims to significantly reduce the national debt through a combination of spending cuts and policy reforms, including substantial reductions in funding for federal agencies, particularly those focused on environmental regulation and social services. The budget also proposes reforms to entitlement programs, with the goal of decreasing long-term expenditures. These proposals have sparked considerable debate among policymakers and the public, with discussions focusing on the potential impacts on various sectors and the feasibility of achieving the desired debt reduction.

Not too long ago, we thought we were witnessing a great American food revolution—not in health trends, but in snacks. Bloomberg explains the current trendiness of all-day snacking, expanding upon the future of the American diet being bite-sized. Major companies capitalized on the growing popularity of snacking. For example, Kellogg, now called Kellanova, switched focus toward snack brands like Pringles and Cheez-It, leading to even bigger Mars buying them for $36 billion. Smucker bought Hostess for $5.6 billion, and Mondelez even made a play for Hershey. Kellanova, Hershey, Smucker, even PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay are all reporting weaker numbers, even though 86 percent of consumers say they snack as much or more than last year. The problem is what people are snacking on has evolved.
Consumers are shifting to nutrient-dense, protein-packed mini-meals like charcuterie plates, meat sticks, and even cottage cheese. Sales of refrigerated meats, cheeses, and even frozen handheld items like burritos are up double digits. TikTok trends, ‘girl dinners,’ and health-conscious habits are driving this.

Finally, a collection of examples provided by The Liberty Beacon inspire through for cutting government waste in untraditional, outside-the-box methods. Long before DOGE, there was Senator Rand Paul’s annual Festivus Report, where he highlights some of the most absurd examples of government waste. Now, DOGE has essentially created their own version with ideas on reducing spending:
1. $12 Million for Pickleball Courts in Las Vegas
2. $10 Billion on Empty Federal Office Space
3. $288,000 for DEI Initiatives in Birdwatching Clubs
4. $20 Million to Improve Fertilizer Use in Foreign Countries
5. $365,000 to Promote Circus Performances in city parks

Thank you for taking the time to read this update on my latest work in Washington, D.C. and Arizona’s First Congressional District! If you have any comments or concerns, I encourage you to reach out to my office.

Sincerely,

David Schweikert

Bookmark Debt Dashboard - United States Joint Economic Committee to stay updated on our growing fiscal crisis.