INTERVIEW: 15 House Republicans on Trump's first 100 days, DOGE, reconciliation, and more!
“Promises made, promises kept,” is how Reps. John Rose (R., Tenn.), Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.), and Ralph Norman (R., S.C.) all characterized the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.
The Republican trio, alongside twelve of their House GOP colleagues, spoke with the Washington Reporter at a media row organized by Rep. Lisa McClain (R., Mich.), the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference in advance of President Trump’s 100th day in office.
All House Republicans the Reporter spoke with were pleased both by Trump’s performance and with that of one of his top allies, Elon Musk — the billionaire visionary behind the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Trump’s second win, Norman said, was like having “a black veil lifted over the American people.”
And Musk’s work to slash government spending via DOGE received rave reviews.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R., Mo.), who would give Trump an A or an A+ thus far, said that DOGE is so popular that “when I go home and go to church or the grocery stores, that’s the thing that people are most excited about.”
“They want to see Congress do what we haven’t done in decades: cut spending,” Burlison said.
Now, Burlison wants to cement DOGE’s legacy and “take all of the savings identified by DOGE and we need to put them in our appropriations bills.”
“When it comes to reconciliation, we need to make sure that we deliver on what we promised,” he said.
All 15 House Republicans interviewed by the Reporter — including Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.), who chairs the Republican Policy Committee, and Rep. Jason Smith (R., Mo.), who chairs the Ways and Means Committee — believed that Trump will get his wish and that the “big, beautiful bill” he wants via congressional reconciliation will become law.
“It’s the only way forward,” Hern said, adding that “if you look at the border, you look at taxation, there is something in this bill for everyone in the House and Senate.”
Rep. Derek Schmit (R., Kansas) said that “we must get this done.”
“It is the most important thing on our agenda,” Schmit said.
Rep. Pat Harrigan (R., N.C.) predicted that it will get done “within the next 100 days” in part because “we have unity as a party.”
That doesn’t mean that passing reconciliation will be easy, however. Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.) cautioned that while he is “confident [that] it’s going to happen, the onus now is on us to get our act together as a conference.”
“We have the will, we have the mandate, we have the power to do it,” Alford said. “It’s just making sure that the various factions of our conference are willing to see the bigger picture, and that’s going to be something that’s not insurmountable, but it won’t be easy.”
Republicans in Congress also told the Reporter that they love Trump’s fight with higher education — and with Harvard in particular.
“If Harvard wants to allow this [anti-American sentiment and terrorist mentality to grow] they can do it on their own dime,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.) said.
Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.), who both attended Harvard and sits on the Education and Workforce Committee, said that recent activity on campuses is making him consider introducing a national version of a law he passed in the Florida legislature that would punish schools that adopt anti-Semitic Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) policies.
With Trump’s first 100 days in the bag, the lawmakers said they are looking forward to the next 100 days — and then some. Smith said that Trump “is working me to death,” but that he wants Trump to continue apace. Rep. Vince Fong (R., Calif) wants to continue the “momentum” begun by Trump’s “whirlwind” first 100 days.
Trump, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas), said, has “gotten more done in the first 100 days than Biden did in 50 years.”
Van Duyne and her colleagues are eager to continue working with him to accomplish even more.
Below are transcripts of the Washington Reporter’s interviews with 15 House Republicans, lightly edited for clarity.
Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Kevin Hern:
They’re going very well; the president would like to move things a lot quicker, however. President Trump has four years to get things done, but the country was in much worse shape than we originally thought. It’s reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s first term in office following Jimmy Carter. You really have to get aggressive on changing things, and President Trump is doing that. Look at the wars around the world. Look at what he’s done with the Houthis, with Iran, with Hezbollah and him moving a carrier group in, trying to deal with Ukraine. We had weakness under Joe Biden with Afghanistan. The most bipartisan thing in Congress is dealing with China, until you have to deal with China. President Trump is trying to get the Chinese to the table to negotiate a better deal for American manufacturers. It’s very tough to do when you’ve allowed things in the last four years to get so out of whack in favor of the Chinese.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Kevin Hern:
Figure out how we can can put stuff out there to test the waters, and negotiate all the time. President Trump is a consummate dealmaker, he’s going to get the best deal for America.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Kevin Hern:
I am. I’ve been working on this from day one with Chairman Smith and with the Speaker. It’s the only way forward. Our margins have been so small, but they got a little bit bigger with the two Florida folks, and certainly Elise is back, but it’s still going to be very difficult. If you look at the border, you look at taxation, there is something in this bill for everyone in the House and Senate.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Kevin Hern:
History has shown that even if you have the Oversight Committee and Chairman Comer looking at everything, the administration, the agencies, the bureaucrats will just stonewall any kind of investigation or oversight. You need reduction in the spending side, and that’s what DOGE has done. It’s pointed out what everyone has suspected, all of the issues about the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste. Elon Musk and DOGE have pointed this out. The way we got budget surpluses in the 1990s was when President Clinton worked with Congress to cut government workers and get agencies under control.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Kevin Hern:
It’s important. Since I’ve been in Congress, we’ve had professors who have been taking money from China, and we got Confucius Institutes out of the United States, but there’s more to do. The president works hard to make sure that these universities teach American values. If universities want to teach DEI, they should forsake taxpayer dollars, but as long as they’re getting taxpayer dollars, they need to make sure they’re teaching values of America.
Rep. Jason Smith (R., Mo.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Jason Smith:
He’s done more in his first 100 days than Joe Biden did in his first four years. Trillions of dollars of investment are coming back. On the border, we just needed a different president. The numbers speak for themselves. He has focused on making sure that U.S. farmers and manufacturers are treated fairly, and 100 countries have come to the negotiations. I’ve met with 15 countries that are begging for different trade actions, which is absolutely wonderful and welcoming. 96 percent of the world’s consumers are outside of the United States. He is so hands on, very focused, especially on tax and trade policies. We’re going to deliver this one big, beautiful bill, and it’s days away, not months.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Jason Smith:
Continue at the same pace; he’s working me to death. For me, trade, health care, and taxes, are what I’m working on.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Jason Smith:
Yes. I would also note that we have a great relationship with our counterparts in the Senate, and we are working hand in glove to pass this; we just have to deliver on what he promised: permanency of the TCJA to avoid the largest tax increase in American history, no tax on tips, tax relief for seniors, no tax on overtime, and more.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Jason Smith:
The DOGE agenda is exactly what my district is begging for: a smaller and more efficient government. My district is very supportive of reducing the size of government.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Jason Smith:
The White House is acting correctly on this. We’ve seen abuses by universities on multiple levels. The anti-Semitism that they’ve allowed is horrendous. This is not what a tax exempt entity should allow for. You should never allow racism, you should never allow anti-Semitism.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
They’ve been awesome. It’s unprecedented, he’s getting so much done, he had four years to put together a strong strategy and he’s executing on it. He’s had eight years to vet his team, and they are moving and shaking, and we’re not used to seeing government move at the speed of light. He’s gotten more done in the first 100 days than Biden did in 50 years.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
We’ve got to get this one big, beautiful bill across the finish line. We need to secure our border, get regulatory reform.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
Yes. we have been working on this for a very long time. If we don’t extend the TCJA, we’ll see the middle class get hit the hardest.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
People are shocked to have seen where their taxpayer dollars have been going. DOGE helps highlight how government spending is out of control. It gives us more credibility to go after these agencies that seem to be living beyond their means.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
It’s beyond time. The tax policies have been very friendly to these universities, assuming that they are for a public good, but they are creating students who don’t like our country, who don’t understand capitalism, and who can’t get jobs. They are being made whole, and the people who are on the line are the taxpayer-funded loans, so making sure that the tax policy that we put in place is actually influencing these universities to do public good is necessary. These universities have gotten billions of dollars of subsidies and they are creating people who hate our country.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.)
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Marlin Stutzman:
This is the strongest start I have seen in my lifetime, and I was a member of congress before. President Trump is coming out the gate as a strong leader, Speaker Mike Johnson has delivered with a small majority, and they are working hand in hand. There are some big wins on the CR, with reconciliation, and in making sure that our men and women in the military have what they need. If we stay the course and let President Trump put our trade and tariff policy, we are in a great place.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Marlin Stutzman:
Have the committees of jurisdiction work to reduce spending, support President Trump on border patrol, and tax policy has got to be right up there, making sure that we give certainty to small businesses.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Marlin Stutzman:
I am. We’ll be able to codify a lot of his executive orders in the one big beautiful bill. It’s not going to be perfect, but following Speker Johnson and Leader Thune and President Trump, we’ll share the important aspects of these policies across both chambers to get it done.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Marlin Stutzman:
It shined a light on wasteful government spending. We all knew it was there, but to actually have an agency reveal it, a lot of my constituents weren’t shocked. We need to put a stop to this. Our $36 trillion of debt is such a waste and it is such a drag on the American people. If there’s any threat to the United States, it’s our debt and deficits.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Marlin Stutzman:
I’m all behind Trump on this fight with Harvard and with higher education. They have massive endowments and they allow for the development of this anti-American talk and they allow a terrorist mentality to grow right in our homeland. If Harvard wants to allow this they can do it on their own dime.
Rep. Vince Fong (R., Calif.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Vince Fong:
It’s been a whirlwind, but I think that shows President Trump’s cadence. We are working alongside President Trump to make America great again. For me, I look at the border, the focus on bringing manufacturing back to the United States, and building water infrastructure. That’s important for our farmers and ranchers.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Vince Fong:
We’ve just got to continue the momentum. A lot will be focused on the budget reconciliation process. A lot of the big ticket items will go through that. Making sure the tax cuts are permanent, there will be significant investments in permitting. And of course, investing in the border. Every town, every community, is affected by the border. The fentanyl crisis, the human trafficking community, are real in my community. We’ve seen our community get safer since President Trump came back.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Vince Fong:
I am excited to get this done, we have a very aggressive timeline. But this is the first time I’ve served in the majority, and this is what we dream about. This is our moment, and it’s once is a lifetime. I had served in the super minority in the California legislature before this. Reconciliation will help make President Trump probably the most consequential president of my lifetime.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Vince Fong:
We need to find savings. I wish that we had a DOGE effort in California. The amount of waste in California is hard to believe. The DOGE effort will help us rightsize the federal government. We’re approaching a debt crisis as a country. We have to address this and tackle in head on. Trump is tackling every crisis in real time all at once. A lot of people don’t realize the amount of damage that was done under Biden. We have a tremendous amount of work to do, and Trump has been relentless.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Vince Fong:
He has to do this fight. You see the intolerance that currently exists in these college institutions, whether they are Ivy League schools or more broadly. We can’t stand by and allow anti-Semitism to take place. As someone who went to UCLA and Princeton, I am frustrated by their response on how they protected Jewish students, or didn’t do so. Look at what happened at UCLA last year, where you had encampments that took over the entire campus, Jewish students who weren’t able to walk to get to campus. You had the CHP come in with a huge law enforcement presence just to keep students safe; that’s unacceptable,
Rep. John Rose (R., Tenn.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. John Rose:
It’s going really well, I would sum it up as promises made, promises kept. President Trump campaigned on a strong series of agenda items. The most stark contrast is the difference in illegal immigration. We’ve seen apprehensions decline by 94 percent year over year, and that happened without Congress taking action. The southern border was always about presidential leadership, and President Trump communicated a clear policy for our country and telegraphed that to the rest of the world, and we’ve seen pilgrimages stop going to our southern border. President Biden’s failure at the southern border was not a failure of policy; it was his policy to let tens of millions of people into the country. Now, we have to deal with the social, economic, and criminal consequences of Biden’s border policies.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. John Rose:
A number of recissions are coming our way, and using that vehicle to get federal spending under control is important, and advancing the appropriations process is very high on the priority list, rolling back regulations that were put in place by the Biden administration, which put almost 2,000 regulations in, costing trillions of dollars. Congress needs to be walking and chewing gum at the same time, continuing to get our fiscal house in order and setting the stage for the next appropriations process. We also need to pass a Farm Bill, and I say that as a member of the Agriculture Committee. Democrats had not set the stage for the Farm Bill, which should have been done in 2023. We passed it in 2023, but the Democratic Senate failed to get that done last Congress, and showed no appetite to pass it. These are tough times in agriculture right now because of the inflationary spiral set in place by the Biden administration. So many inputs for farmers escalated dramatically and that made it harder for farmers to make ends meet. Interest rates went up during the Biden administration. One of the things that is really remarkable in a bad way is that during the Biden administration, the Biden administration was a net importer of agricultural products. There is no reason for that to happen. The regulatory policies made it more difficult for farmers to do their jobs. President Biden did not lift one finger to help Americans get access to new markets. We have a record trade deficit in the agricultural space which is totally unnecessary and ridiculous. That deficit will come down and return to the surplus we had enjoyed for decades prior to Biden coming to office.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. John Rose:
We are well on the way to getting the one big, beautiful bill passed into law. The Senate can meet us in making significant cuts to federal spending. We have to do this. We simply have to get our fiscal house in order. The budget reconciliation will be the vehicle to do that, it will be the beginning, not the ending of it. This will help us avoid the largest tax increase in American history; if we are unsuccessful, the TCJA will expire and we’ve got to get that done. We’ve also got to provide the additional tax cuts the president promised, like eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. These will put more money back into the pockets of working Americans. This will also provide the resources for the president to finish securing the southern border, and allow for America to become energy independent again.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. John Rose:
We have low taxes in Tennessee and a hospitable business climate. Tennesseans enjoy what America lacks at times, and they enjoy the efforts of DOGE to get the leviathan under control, and they applaud what Elon Musk and the folks at DOGE are doing. My constituents have been horrified to learn about the ridiculous use of their taxpayer dollars to advance the DEI agenda across the country and even beyond our shores where we try to force these on other countries. They welcome DOGE and they would like to see more of it. They would also like to see the president fulfill his promise to eliminate the Department of Education.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. John Rose:
It’s entirely appropriate. During the BIden administration, we saw a proliferation of DEI initiatives. My own view is that equity is nothing more than repackaged racism. What we want in America is to reward merit and accomplishment. Equity, by its very definition, is rewarding groups based on their immutable characteristics, and I think the president is on exactly the right track to get these policies out of our institutions. If an institution goes down that path, it shouldn’t expect to be subsidized by the federal government. Trump is reaching to make sure that institutions like Harvard and other institutions that have been down that path are forced to retrace their steps and return equality to the programs that they run.
Rep. Derek Schmidt (R., Kansas):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Derek Schmidt:
Our country is much better off than it was 100 days ago, and people see that. There’s been a swirl of activity, almost frenetic coming out of the White House. This is such a contrast from what we saw in the past four years. The border today is secure. We have to make some of these changes permanent, especially in case we have a president with a different philosophy. This president accomplished in 100 days what the previous administration didn’t do in four years.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Derek Schmidt:
My top priority is enacting the one big, beautiful bill, which will contain the bulk of the Trump agenda. We will hopefully start to bend the curve downward on federal spending, which has skyrocketed since the pandemic, or ultimately what goes up will come down. We have to lock in some of the border changes and fund some of those changes. We need to make sure that we fund some of our defense needs so that we continue our policy of peace through strength, and we need to have more energy strength and dominance.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Derek Schmidt:
We must get this done, it is the most important thing on our agenda.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Derek Schmidt:
A lot of Americans are looking at things that this administration is finding and they ask how their tax money was spent on this. This is already a tremendous change in how this town approaches issues that Americans care about. It’s done a lot to restore confidence that somebody is actually watching what federal dollars are being used for. Congress is supposed to do this, but it’s not what Congress has done for 10 or 20 or 30 years. When we talk about inside baseball things, things like not being able to get annual appropriations bills done, or minibus bills, what those really mean is that Congress is not able to do its job of focusing on a granular level on where the dollars are going. When you do that a time or two, it’s unfortunate. Over time, this is a problem. This is what DOGE has done: it’s turned over rocks. There were absurd expenditures at USAID, and Americans asked ‘who approved that?’ And that’s the point. Nobody who was elected approved that. As DOGE works its way to its finale, I hope that Congress is able to embed in our processes a reawakening of our role in doing real oversight and of actually controlling the purse strings.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Derek Schmidt:
I’m a great supporter of higher education; it’s part of what gives us a competitive edge over many of our adversaries around the world. I think, however, that we have come to treat much of higher education as if it is a creature separate and apart from this great American experiment that we are all part of. An America First higher education policy is sorely needed, and I commend the administration for bringing it to light. There may be some false starts, but that is very healthy.
Rep. Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
Promises made, promises kept. 77 million American people delivered a message in November about the need to secure the southern border. We don’t need new laws, we just needed a new president.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
Those of us in the House need to partner with President Trump to get his one big, beautiful bill through the House. We need to get things like extend the very successful Trump tax cuts and give him the resources needed to secure the border.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
Yes, this is too important to let get and too important to not do it. It’s too important to secure the southern border, and we can’t hand Americans a $5 trillion tax increase.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
In my district, they’ve loved that we are finally showing some transparency and accountability. There’s been so much waste, fraud, and abuse inside the federal government and DOGE has shined a bright spotlight on that, so we are going to work with the administration to capture those savings.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
The higher education institutions in our nation should be fighting anti-Semitism, not fueling it. Too many have proved that they are okay with anti-Semitism. Jewish students have told me in my office about this. Trump’s Department of Education is a breathe of fresh air. The Biden administration turned a blind eye to this. Every day there is a new story that’s coming out about Jewish students who are targeted on campuses. The Trump administration has been leaning heavily onto this, to the extent that some colleges and universities are already making voluntary changes.
Rep. Pat Harrigan (R., N.C.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Pat Harrigan:
They’ve been pretty incredible. He has followed through on exactly what he said he’d do, starting with securing our southern border. That is 100 percent due to his leadership in allowing our border patrol to do their jobs, putting our military down at our southern border, and the results speak for themselves.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Pat Harrigan:
A continuation of his policies coming into play through executive order, and Congress working alongside him to make sure those become law. I’d like to see GNC off of our military bases, which is something that I’ve been working on. Everyone believes in a free market, but all of us believe that if you choose to sell your company to the Chinese Communist Party, you shouldn’t be allowed to operate on a military base.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Pat Harrigan:
Yes, within the next 100 days. We have unity as a party. Our country and the world are in very precarious places right now, and we need to execute the right things swiftly. With President Trump’s leadership, Congress has been able to stay in line much more easily than when he wasn’t. Between the House, Senate, and the White House, we are pre-coordinating the actions and steps that need to happen. We will get to the right outcome.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Pat Harrigan:
It has saved the American taxpayer a substantial amount of money. They have really shined a light on the waste, fraud, and abuse that exist within government that have been systemic, long term abuses of taxpayer dollars. Curbing this allows for the long term stability of these programs and allows for important programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, that ordinary Americans count on, to be preserved for the people who have earned those benefits.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Pat Harrigan:
Our research institutions and universities have taken a hard left turn and they have become partisan organizations that should have their relationships with the federal government and their tax statuses heavily scrutinized. Harvard hosts a bipartisan seminar for new members of Congress in December on its campus. They have some of the brightest minds from around the world in all sorts of sectors give really incredible briefings about some of the decisions that we’ll face. I found many of those presentations to be incredibly slanted towards the left, and when I went to the men’s restroom on campus there, they had a stack of tampons and maxi pads in the men’s restroom, and that tells you where Harvard is at.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R., Mo.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Eric Burlison:
If I had to give him a grade, I’d give him an A if not an A+. He’s demonstrated tremendous courage with DOGE, he had four years to think about how he’d do it differently, and he’s demonstrating one of the greatest presidencies of my lifetime. I’d give Congress a D, if not an F, and we’ve got to reciprocate his energy and leadership.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Eric Burlison:
I want to make as many of his executives permanent as possible. When it comes to our budget, we need to take all of the savings identified by DOGE and we need to put them in our appropriations bills. When it comes to reconciliation, we need to make sure that we deliver on what we promised.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Eric Burlison:
I do think that it will; I think deadlines like the debt ceiling will create motivation. The American people have given us a lot of motivation to extend, if not make permanent, these tax cuts. In Congress, do we have the political courage to make these cuts permanent?
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Eric Burlison:
When I go home and go to church or the grocery stores, that’s the thing that people are most excited about. They want to see Congress do what we haven’t done in decades: cut spending. The American people have become savvy enough to recognize that Congress spending more than we bring in is what’s causing inflation. Deficit spending is inflationary spending, and the American people recognize that. They are paying $12 for a value meal at McDonald’s right now.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Eric Burlison:
We should not be subsidizing students who go to a university that has such a huge endowment. A simple measure would be requiring that universities use their tuition to bring down tuition or not make it free; that would be interesting. I have the College of the Ozarks in my district, and they do that. They have a free college education and it’s a good college education. It’s a work university, so the students are expected to have a job while they’re on campus. There are 1,000 jobs that students can apply for. These jobs are not paying their tuition, but they’re important. It’s a great model. Harvard does not do that. Students get federally-backed loans while Harvard continues to grow.
Rep. Tim Moore (R., N.C.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Tim Moore:
They’re going very well. The president has actually done what he said he was going to do. He has signed a record number of executive orders and he has dealt with the border incredibly well, illegal crossings and drugs are down, all along it’s like what he said: we just needed a president who would follow the law. The border is the biggest accomplishment of the first 100 days.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Tim Moore:
A lot of it falls on us in Congress to pass a reconciliation bill, to codify as many of the executive orders as possible, to get additional tax relief where we can, to pay down on the national debt. We spend more on interest every year on the national debt than we do on our entire military, so finally having the will and the path to get that done falls on us.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Tim Moore:
Everything that I see and hear tells me that it will and that it should be on time and that it will address the issues that we know are there, the tax cuts, debt, waste, fraud, and abuse, border security, and our military. Really prioritizing what the American people know is important.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Tim Moore:
The DOGE agenda helps the country, because it helps get rid of the waste, fraud, and abuse that’s happening everywhere, and that allows us to keep the tax cuts in place. We had significant damage from Hurricane Helene to my district and we need every dime we can get.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Tim Moore:
It’s fair to require any institution of higher education to follow federal law, that they not allow any members of their student body to be attacked or marginalized because of their religious beliefs or ethnicity or anything like that. The left is so hypocritical and blind to this issue. They are willing to let Jewish students be persecuted on these campuses to appease the radical left. Nobody should stand for this. If it were based on other characteristics, it wouldn’t be tolerated. The president has taken an appropriate stand to protect folks, and these universities will either comply or won’t be getting federal dollars. My alma mater, UNC at Chapel Hill, has made sure that it is safe for everyone; we had some violent Palestinian demonstrators who did a lot of stupid stuff, and North Carolina dealt with these folks. It’s ultimately better for the universities too.
Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Mark Alford:
It is an amazing transformation of America, it is a bit chaotic, I was expecting that. Any time you have a ship about to hit a reef, there have to be dire moves, and it’s going to cause chaos on the deck of the ship, but we were in danger of sinking the ship we call America, and our national debt has a lot to do with that. We’re going to find the savings in reconciliation, we’re going to turn our country around. On issues like illegal immigration, Tom Homan estimates that about 8 percent of our population is here illegally. It’s only going to get better from here. We’ve got to make sure that if someone comes to this country that they do it the right way. Gas prices are down. Confidence is up from the American people in that they know that we are going to have to invest some short term pain for long term gain. The tariffs are causing instability for producers, like some farmers in my district, but Brooke Rollins has now started looking into something called the Commodity Credit Corporation; she might tap that if we need it like we did with the tariffs in 2017.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Mark Alford:
I’d like to see judges staying out of the business of the executive branch, I’d like to pass legislation that would prevent lower-level judges from determining the laws of our nation. Some of these rulings are cheating the American people.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Mark Alford:
I am confident it’s going to happen. The onus now is on us to get our act together as a conference. We have the will, we have the mandate, we have the power to do it. It’s just making sure that the various factions of our conference are willing to see the bigger picture, and that’s going to be something that’s not insurmountable, but it won’t be easy.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Mark Alford:
We don’t have a lot of federal workers in our district, but my constituents are relieved that finally something is being done to trim the waste to detect the fraud and abuse, and to right that. Any time we can shrink the government, that’s a good thing. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth by those who didn’t understand why someone like Elon Musk could have this authority, but he has every authority under the Constitution, and it took all of us by surprise at how fast this was going to move and the level of savings that are being found.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Mark Alford:
I could not believe after October 7th, almost two years ago now, the level of antisemitism that was hiding its ugly head in America. It’s demonic, I think that schools getting federal funding to not defend Jewish students and at least give them the opportunity to go to class is reprehensible, and I don’t think we should be sending more taxpayer dollars to these universities that have a pretty good balance sheet.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
The way to sum them up is promises made, promises kept. 77 million people who voted for him are getting what they voted for. They’re not getting tap dancing around issues. From the unleashing of millions of acres of land for oil exploration to insisting on cuts through reconciliation, we’re making progress. Militarily, he’s put people in positions who are experts. He can’t do it all on his own, but it’s like a black veil has been lifted over the American people.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
More of the same. Keep on the same path. Give him the tools he needs. We have to do that without any Democrats’ help. Mike Johnson has done a good job, but President Trump and the Republican-led House will get the job done.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
I am, it’s going to take some gnashing of teeth. What I’ve learned in DC is that it’s easier to spend peoples’ money than to cut.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
It’s given Americans, young and old, a front-row seat, to how tax dollars are spent. People ask me why I hadn’t done what DOGE is doing, and my answer is Elon Musk is a phenom that hit the American scene. No one had that kind of bandwidth to do what he has done. The problem is, a lot of the money is already out the door and it’s got to stop.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
What they’re teaching now is anti-American. They let pro-Palestinians take over buildings and they still expect the federal government to dole them out with tax dollars. They’ve forgotten their core mission.
Rep. Randy Fine (R., Fla.):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Randy Fine:
Going spectacularly well. People wanted the border to be shut, and they also wanted change, and they wanted a president who did what he said he’d do.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I want more of the same; we need to put these executive orders into law, and I want to see us get the budget under control. This country will collapse in the lifetime of my children if we don’t get that sorted out.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Randy Fine:
I’m the new guy who’s been here for five minutes.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Randy Fine:
There are three ways to solve the budget: raise taxes, I’ll never do that, the other is to cut programs like Social Security, and the last is to cut waste, which is what Elon Musk has done
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Randy Fine:
We don’t have these problems in Florida because of the policies I advanced in Florida. I went to Harvard 35 years ago, Harvard was liberal 30 years ago, but I’d never felt unsafe.
Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R., Texas):
Washington Reporter:
How would you rate President Trump’s first 100 days?
Rep. Nathaniel Moran:
I’d give President Trump an A+. He’s restored common sense and strength to the White House, he’s restored a vision to the White House that the American people have been begging for. In terms of common sense, you see with the DEI policies he’s reversed, how he understands the difference between men and women. On the international stage, we’ve seen 75+ countries willing to renegotiate trade deals, we’re also seeing that strength with 11 heads of state who have visited the White House. We’re making sure that we are reducing the number of illegal immigrants who are coming in and that we are increasing the number that is going out. There’s a 90 percent decrease in one year that we’ve seen in one year. My district is in Northeast Texas, so we are not on the border but we had seen our law enforcement needing to go to the border, which isn’t happening any longer. All of the cartel activity had found its way to my district, and now we’re seeing a real improvement in that area. For a law enforcement officer on the local level, they now know that they’ll get backed up by the federal government. That backup wasn’t there for the past four years under Biden.
Washington Reporter:
What do you want to see from the next 100 days?
Rep. Nathaniel Moran:
I want to see a continuation of the first 100 days. We are only 100 days in, but the breath of the projects that Trump has begun is remarkable. We need to finish some of these trade deals, we need to continue to enforce strong border policies, we need to have executive orders brought to Congress so we can codify them, we need to finish the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, that’s what we’re working on on Ways and Means. If we continue to coordinate with the White House, we will get that done. This year will be one of the most important legislative years of Trump’s presidency. We want to give surety to businesses.
Washington Reporter:
Are you confident that the big, beautiful bill will be signed into law by President Trump?
Rep. Nathaniel Moran:
I am confident in the one big beautiful bill getting passed and signed in to law, but only because there’s been a lot of work by the committees of jurisdiction, the leadership of Mike Hohnson cannot be overstated, he’s done great job, and President Trump was the Trump card we needed. Without a strong voice in the White House like his, I don’t know if we could get this passed.
Washington Reporter:
How has the DOGE agenda helped your district?
Rep. Nathaniel Moran:
The DOGE agenda is going to help every district, because it identifies waste that shouldn’t be there. It also hopefully will refer a number of items through rescission with Congress and we can give that money back to the taxpayers. Those are items that are very key that DOGE has done that are going to be impactful to our district. The goal is to return taxpayer funds to the taxpayer, it’s their money. We need to cut out wasteful spending, bring financial security to the federal level, that will come to the local and state levels.
Washington Reporter:
President Trump has picked high-profile fights with American colleges and universities, like Harvard — threatening to cut billions of dollars in funds if they do not make substantial, yet common sense, reforms. What is your perspective on that?
Rep. Nathaniel Moran:
I tell my 8 year old son all the time that his decisions have consequences. Good decisions lead to good consequences, and bad decisions lead to bad consequences. We’ve got a lot of universities in the United States that have made bad decisions, so I think it’s completely appropriate that there are bad consequences, they need to get back to educating students and enforcing their policies.
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