INTERVIEW: Rep. Mike Simpson on reconciliation wins, and what comes next for Congress post-OBBB

THE LOWDOWN:

• Rep. Mike Simpson (R., Idaho), who has been at the forefront of congressional negotiations with the One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB), spoke with the Washington Reporter about the reconciliation wins, what Congress should do next, and about what matters to him in life.

• For Simpson, the most critical provision in the OBBB — a bill that he said contains “all of [our] campaign promises” — is “making the tax cuts permanent and getting our economy moving again.”

• The OBBB also contained critical border security provisions that Simpson said that Idahoans and Americans in general want. The Democrats who opposed the bill, Simpson said, voted to “stop a lot of the ICE enforcement because we got money in there to secure the border, for the fence, to finish the fence, and also to increase the number of ICE agents we have, and so forth,” while also siding against the popular tax provisions.

• Now, Simpson’s wife Kathy and his staff — namely Nikki Wallace, Lexi Hamel, and Lauren Radford — are helping him avoid homelessness while continuing to work for the people of Idaho. Those same people suffered a tremendous tragedy earlier this month when a lunatic lured firefighters to their death.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R., Idaho) has seen no shortage of fires in his personal or professional lives recently. One of those fires, a blaze that burned down his D.C.-area home, could have killed him if he had been there while it raged.

Simpson, who has been at the forefront of congressional negotiations with the One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB), spoke with the Washington Reporter about the reconciliation wins, what Congress should do next, and about what matters to him in life.

For Simpson, the most critical provision in the OBBB — a bill that he said contains “all of [our] campaign promises” — is “making the tax cuts permanent and getting our economy moving again.”

“What it did prevent is the largest tax increase in American history,” he said. “If these taxes would have gone up, I think that would have been devastating to our economy, and I think Idahoans recognize that, but they also have some concerns about parts of it, and that's okay, too.”

“I really think that the tax stabilization, if you will, is important, as is adding the provision for no tax on tips and no tax on overtime; that is very important to the middle class,” he added.

Simpson brushed back criticisms from Democrats, all of whom voted against the bill, that the OBBB is primarily for the richest Americans.

“When they say this is all for the wealthy,” Simpson said, “I don't know of any wealthy people that actually work on tips or work on overtime. This is actually for the middle class. It will help seniors by increasing the deductions on Social Security so that they're not taxed as high as they were.”

“I think there are a lot of provisions in this that are important, but the important thing about it all is that you’ve got to get the economy growing,” he continued. “The only way to address our deficit is to get the economy growing.”

The OBBB also contained critical border security provisions that Simpson said that Idahoans and Americans in general want. The Democrats who opposed the bill, Simpson said, voted to “stop a lot of the ICE enforcement because we got money in there to secure the border, for the fence, to finish the fence, and also to increase the number of ICE agents we have, and so forth,” while also siding against the popular tax provisions.

In contrast with Simpson’s vision, Democrats have “got a flawed economic perspective on how to get our country back on track again.”

“They really believe that you can tax your way into prosperity,” Simpson warned.

So what should Congress do next? Simpson wants two things tackled: appropriations and immigration, specifically for the agricultural industry that dominates his state.

“We've got to get our appropriation bills done,” he said. “The Senate's got to still do the rescission package and see how they can get that passed. But we've got to get our appropriation bills done today.”

Specifically, Simpson wants to “mark up our energy and water appropriation bill along with several others, but those have been obviously put back, and there's not much time before the end of July for us to get the hearings done.”

“We've done about half so far, but that's going to take a lot of time in committee…,” Simpson said. “Our interior bill keeps getting pushed down the line, but we want to get it done for the end of July.”

Separately, he also wants certainty in the immigration sector — something he previously outlined in an op-ed in the Reporter.

“The Ag Workforce Modernization Act, the H-2A reforms, those need to be done. I know that the president recently said that, in kind of a roundabout way, we're not going to go after those people that have been here for 20 years working on farms. That's the backbone of a lot of our farming economy. And they were very worried that they were going to see ICE agents show up on their farms, or on their dairies, and take these people away that have, like I said, been here for 20 years sometimes, and have been working, have families here and so forth.”

Outside of his work that helped pass the OBBB, Simpson dealt with a pair of fires the struck close to home. Several weeks ago, his D.C. home burned down, but he was thankful that no one was harmed.

“People wonder what it's like when you lose your stuff,” Simpson mused. “And I told them, actually, the day it happened, I was still smiling. And they said, why? I said, no one lost their lives. No one was injured.”

“None of the first responders or myself or my staff that were there or anything else, nobody was injured,” he continued. “So all in all, what could have happened turned out to be a pretty good day, and all we lost is stuff, and stuff you can replace. Will there be some memories in there that are gone? Sure, but you know what? Memories are in your mind more than they are anywhere else.”

“What losing our place in DC did to me,” he explained, “is it really focused me on what's important, and that is that no one was injured or hurt or killed in this type of fire.”

“If it had started in the middle of the night, my district director and I probably wouldn't have gotten out of there,” Simpson said.

Now, Simpson’s wife Kathy and his staff — namely Nikki Wallace, Lexi Hamel, and Lauren Radford — are helping him avoid homelessness while continuing to work for the people of Idaho. Those same people suffered a tremendous tragedy earlier this month when a lunatic lured firefighters to their death.

“I was so proud of the Coeur d'Alene police department that told their people that were looking for this sniper, ‘if you see him, take him out. Let's not capture him and see what his motives were. Take this son of a bitch out. And I would like to see more of that, frankly, because this is and what's happening at our ICE detention centers now, in just the last few days, we can't have that. We've got to get tough with these people and quit trying to understand them and just take them out. That sounds kind of harsh, but it is important.”

Simpson told the Reporter that he’d like to see people who murder first responders of all stripes eligible for the death penalty — if law enforcement isn’t able to take them out first. “Absolutely,” he said when asked.

Now, while Simpson’s home emerges from the ashes in D.C., he has the time and perspective he needs to tackle his next big challenge: congressional appropriations.

But the longtime dentist is likely to do so with a smile — one informed by a series of tragedies that he and his state are working to overcome.

Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Mike Simpson, lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Reporter:

Congressman Simpson, I want to get your thoughts to start off with on the One Big, Beautiful Bill. You were one of its key advocates, and Trump signed it on the Fourth of July. I'm curious what is most exciting for you, both for the people in Idaho’s 2nd District, and what provision nationally that you think is the most consequential?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

There are so many parts of this, and when you look at each one, it's very consequential. So it's hard to pick one, but what I would say is that the thing that I hear the most about, is making the tax cuts permanent and getting our economy moving again. We talk a lot about the biggest tax cut in history etc, etc. The reality is, it's an extension, as you know, of the 2017 tax cuts. When they talk about tax breaks for the very wealthy and all that kind of stuff, the reality is they're going to be paying the same tax rate they did last year because of the extension of this tax cut. What it did prevent is the largest tax increase in American history. If these taxes would have gone up, I think that would have been devastating to our economy, and I think Idahoans recognize that, but they also have some concerns about parts of it, and that's okay, too. We all have some questions about how some parts of it are going to work out. But I really think that the tax stabilization, if you will, is important, as is adding the provision for no tax on tips and no tax on overtime; that is very important to the middle class. And when they say this is all for the wealthy, I don't know of any wealthy people that actually work on tips or work on overtime. This is actually for the middle class. It will help seniors by increasing the deductions on Social Security so that they're not taxed as high as they were. I think there are a lot of provisions in this that are important, but the important thing about it all is that you’ve got to get the economy growing. The only way to address our deficit is to get the economy growing. That's what happened in the late 1990s when Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton had the balanced budget, was because the economy grew. So that's what's important in this. The other thing that Idahoans were very concerned about, and still are concerned about, and I think Americans all across this country are concerned about, was securing our border. They've seen the last four years, and that was one of the main goals that Trump had during his campaign. But it's unusual, you gotta admit, to put all of your campaign promises into one bill and pass it. So it was a big bill. There's a lot to digest for a lot of people there.

Washington Reporter:

What do you think it says about the Democrats, that every single Democrat in Congress voted against this bill, and obviously, as you were saying, if they'd been successful, Americans of all incomes would have seen that largest tax increase in history?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

Well, it would have been that, and it would have also stopped a lot of the ICE enforcement because we got money in there to secure the border, for the fence, to finish the fence, and also to increase the number of ICE agents we have, and so forth. So it doesn't surprise me that they voted against that, particularly when I've seen some of the comments they've made just the last couple days about ICE agents in in some of our larger cities, and the attacks on the ICE facilities. That, I think, is horrendous. And so it tells me a lot about what they think there. But on the tax side, they really believe that you can tax your way into prosperity. I don't believe that's true. And I think history shows that that's not true. So I think they’ve just got a flawed economic perspective on how to get our country back on track again.

Washington Reporter:

You just said that so many of your legislative priorities are in this bill. What are you going to do for the rest of this Congress? What is next to tackle?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

Well, I'm still working on the immigration part of it, the Ag Workforce Modernization Act, the H-2A reforms, those need to be done. I know that the president recently said that, in kind of a roundabout way, we're not going to go after those people that have been here for 20 years working on farms. That's the backbone of a lot of our farming economy. And they were very worried that they were going to see ICE agents show up on their farms, or on their dairies, and take these people away that have, like I said, been here for 20 years sometimes, and have been working, have families here and so forth. I think they're going to take it easier on them, but we still need to do some legislation to legalize the workforce. The ag community, the number one issue any group that I talk to that's involved in agriculture, whether it's the potato growers or the dairy industry, or the sugar beet growers, their number one issue is a legal workforce. And some people think that they they can hire cheaper labor than they would with if they had to hire Americans. That's simply not the case. We have to pay them an average wage rate, and that's determined by the federal government when they come in, so that they're not undercutting the labor market in the area and we've got to reform this program and get it working again, and get a legal workforce for our agricultural community. That's one of the most important things that I will continue to work on. Second part is we've got to get our appropriation bills done. The Senate's got to still do the rescission package and see how they can get that passed. But we've got to get our appropriation bills done today. We were supposed to mark up our energy and water appropriation bill along with several others, but those have been obviously put back, and there's not much time before the end of July for us to get the hearings done. We've done about half so far, but that's going to take a lot of time in committee. Last we were there till around 5 o'clock in the morning trying to finish up these appropriation bills. So that's the biggest thing that we've got to do as a Congress, and we'll continue to work on that. Our interior bill keeps getting pushed down the line, but we want to get it done for the end of July,

Washington Reporter:

Looking closer to home, you've been a strong advocate about the Lava Ridge Wind Project, and keeping that out of your state. Is that something that figures into the appropriations plans that you're talking about?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

There will be some language in our interior bill which will prevent the Lava Ridge Project. I'm not worried about it right now. Even if the language wasn't there, I think it's pretty much stopped. What the administration has told me that it's done, so while we'll still put the language in our bill, it may not be necessary.

Washington Reporter:

Another thing that you've worked on in Idaho, that we've both talked about, and you've published op-eds with us about, is the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. How has working with the Trump administration been on that issue?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

It is one of the biggest untold stories in this country about what's going on with the murder of missing Indigenous women. I thought we had a great hearing on that, which opened a lot of eyes. We are putting more money in our bill into law enforcement on reservations and so forth, trying to help them. But ultimately we've got to have the authorizing committees and the appropriation committees, and really any interested parties, the tribes, the FBI, the Justice Department, all come together. And we've got to solve this issue in terms of jurisdictional issues and other things. It's a more difficult problem than a lot of people think, but it's not just money, it's also the jurisdictional issues, and I'll be working on that, because I do think it's the biggest untold story in this country.

Washington Reporter:

You yourself have had a lot of incidents relating to fire, both in your own life and in your state. Your house in D.C. burned down, but everything there does look like it's going apace. But I'm curious if this experience left you with changed perspective or lessons about possessions. What's important to you?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

It sure did. People wonder what it's like when you lose your stuff. And I told them, actually, the day it happened, I was still smiling. And they said, why? And I said, no one lost their lives. No one was injured. None of the first responders or myself or my staff that were there or anything else, nobody was injured. So all in all, what could have happened turned out to be a pretty good day, and all we lost is stuff, and stuff you can replace. Will there be some memories in there that are gone? Sure, but you know what? Memories are in your mind more than they are anywhere else. What losing our place in DC did to me is it really focused me on what's important, and that is that no one was injured or hurt or killed in this type of fire. If it had started in the middle of the night, my district director and I probably wouldn't have gotten out of there. And so it's traumatic, but what it is, more than anything, is it’s just a pain in the ass, for lack of a better term in that I had to find another place to live. And I was living in a couple B&Bs for a few weeks and that kind of stuff, till we found this place. But Lexi and Nikki and Kathy and everybody else in my office got a place now that I'll be staying at when I get back there, and it'll take about a year to rebuild it, but I think this Friday, we're going to try to go over there and get in and see if there's anything that's salvageable. I kind of doubt it, because it really ripped the inside of it out, but they'll start working on it right away. But what it also focuses my attention on is how great our first responders are. My house was a townhouse, several of them are connected, and it didn't damage any of the townhouses on either side. It could have taken out the whole row of townhouses, and these guys kept it contained to my place, and they did a tremendous job. I've always loved our first responders, but I love them even more now. There they were fantastic, and not only the Arlington Fire Department, but also their police department, and the Capitol Hill police were over there and so was Homeland Security, because they needed to see if this was an intentional fire by someone trying to harm a member Congress. They always check that out. So they were there. But man, they were on top of it in a heartbeat.

Washington Reporter:

Everyone in America saw the horrific murder of these firefighters in Idaho. What’s your message to both current firefighters and first responders in your home state, and also what you would say to people who want to join those services and professions in light of the horrific murders?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

First of all, it is a hero's job that they want. If they want to get into police work or fire work or ICE work or other other types of things that protect all of us, that’s the work of a hero. And to those people who would harm them or start a fire and then start shooting them, these firemen, when they come out there, that's horrific. And I was so proud of the Coeur d'Alene police department that told their people that were looking for this sniper, ‘if you see him, take him out.’ Let's not capture him and see what his motives were. Take this son of a bitch out. And I would like to see more of that, frankly, because this is and what's happening at our ICE detention centers now, in just the last few days, we can't have that. We've got to get tough with these people and quit trying to understand them and just take them out. That sounds kind of harsh, but it is important.

Washington Reporter:

Trump has talked about the need for the death penalty for cop killers specifically, and the need for Congress to to send that as a law to him. Do you think that that premise that he's operating from should be expanded to cover all first responders?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

Absolutely.

Washington Reporter:

I know it's outside of your district, but can you talk about how your state has hopefully come together in the wake of this murder of the firefighters?

Rep. Mike Simpson:

The only thing I can say about that is that people I've talked to are horrified, whether they're on the right or the left. It's not like when people are attacking, say, the ICE agents, they're doing so for a reason, they don't like the deportations etc, etc, etc. But why the hell would you attack a fireman or a policeman or an ambulance that comes out to help somebody or something like that? That's just beyond any reason whatsoever. And these people are sick, literally sick, and that's been kind of the response of Idaho. It's like I say, whether it's on the right or the left, it's not, it's not a partisan issue.

Washington Reporter:

Congressman Simpson, thanks so much for chatting.