Interview: Speed dating with eleven House Republicans on immigration, agriculture, Joe Biden’s legacy, big tech, and more!

House Republicans discuss everything from immigration to the Farm Bill to the future of TikTok, and much more!

The Washington Reporter spoke with eleven House Republicans during a Rep. Lisa McClain-organized (R., Mich.) media row after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. In this issue, House Republicans discuss everything from President Joe Biden’s legacy to immigration to agriculture to how Jar Jar Binks would fit in the U.S. Congress.

Rep. Burgess Owens (R., Utah) sees a major opportunity for Republicans to work together because of their small majority and Rep. John Rose (R., Tenn.), who has been in the majority and minority, sees the next few months as an opportunity to take a “second bite at the apple, a new lease on life, and I am excited to see the president hit the ground running.”

Lawmakers are interested in issues such as immigration and unleashing American energy. Some, like Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas), said that “the left is currently losing its mind” as Republicans figure out their agenda.

Others, like Rep. Russell Fry (R., S.C.) expect the left to reorganize fairly quickly. “Democrats are having internal squabbles and fights amongst themselves, but there is no doubt that they will get organized again, and that they will be challenging the president again,” he said. “They are already filing lawsuits to try and stop some of these executive orders. I expect more of the same.”

For more on what House Republicans expect on reconciliation, foreign policy, and this weekend’s Super Bowl, read our Monday edition with those questions and more.

Below are transcripts of our interviews with House GOP lawmakers, lightly edited for clarity.

Agriculture:

Rep. John Rose (R., Tenn.): The Biden administration’s regulatory regime has strangled American farmers. They’ve cut them off from many of the inputs, they’ve elevated many of the costs of those inputs, they put in regulations that restrict access to labor and that make it difficult for farmers to grow the crops that they need. This is true not just with farmers but across the entire landscape.

Rep. Tracey Mann (R., Kansas): When it comes to the Farm Bill, one of my top priorities is crop insurance, which is the most cost-effective way to guarantee a robust safe, steady, food supply. Another is oversight. We’ve got to make sure we have oversight of these programs and we’ve got to make sure that we're opening up other markets for our ag products. There's an understanding that the American farmer feeds the world. President Trump repeatedly talked about how much he loves and appreciate farmers on the campaign trail, whereas we never heard that a single time from Joe Biden.

Rep. Tim Moore (R., N.C.): President Trump has made it clear that he stands by all Americans and that includes those in agriculture. The Biden administration on the other hand left office attempting to restrict cigarettes. That was nonsense. Biden was making it easier for drugs to flow across our southern border while trying to implement this ban. It makes zero sense.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.): The Farm bill is going to be a huge priority on the domestic front for me. On the Agriculture Committee I was just announced as the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry. People say food security is national security, and I mean it. You’ve got to be able to feed your population or you are by definition dependent on another nation. We’ve got to get the Farm Bill through, I want to get the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act through. I’m excited about Lee Zeldin going to the EPA, we want to get E15 available year round, they’ve been signing these emergency authorizations for the use of E15 for five years in a row; if you’ve been doing something for five years in a row under emergency authorization, I don’t think it’s an emergency any longer. We’ve got to decrease the regulatory burden, we’ve got to decrease the input costs too, which covers things like energy. We all know Donald Trump is going to crank up the level on energy.

Immigration:

Rep. Russell Fry (R., S.C.): The border hits everybody. People look at crime, the things that are happening within their communities, and we've said this for two years because it's true, that every city and every county right now is a border town, just because of the sheer numbers of migrants and things that are happening.

Rep. Bob Onder (R., Mo.): We need to talk about how much illegal immigration is a problem. In fact, back in my own district, two young women were sexually assaulted by an illegal alien who was a Lyft driver.

Rep. Tracey Mann (R., Kansas): First and foremost, we’ve got to get the border secured. That’s what Trump ran on. Then we need to reassert American energy dominance. Thirdly, now's not the time raise taxes on people. We've got to keep reminding folks that if Congress doesn't act, everyone in this country is going to get a tax hike, and now is not the time to do that. Beyond that, the Farm Bill and getting the train back on tracks to reducing the size of government are other priorities I have.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas): In addition to this one big, beautiful bill, another priority of mine is the border. We just introduced a bill that goes after sanctuary cities. If you are a sanctuary city and you are unwilling to work with federal law enforcement, there need to be consequences.

Military:

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.): We're going to make sure you have every piece of equipment. We're going to make sure you have every authority that you need to end the enemy. We will only be sending young men and women to war if we have to. We're going to give you everything so you come back victorious. We know that we're going to have men and women killed in combat, which is a very, very unfortunate side effect of my former vocation. Our men and women accept that danger. But the only way we can expect them to go fight their fight is if we give them everything they need. I’m also on the Veterans Affairs Committee, and I chair a subcommittee for economic opportunity, s so we're going to take care of you, young frog men, and your families, for the life cycle of the sale; we’re trying to integrate the system, because the DoD doesn’t talk to the VA. I want the life cycle of the sailor taken care of, so that if you go off and get killed, unfortunately, you know your family's going to be taken care of. I never was concerned about my physical safety, ever, in any of my combat roles or trainings. I was always worried about my family. What would happen if I were killed? Would they be taken care of? And at that point, that was a very reasonable question. All these things have been avoided by the Biden administration. I was worried about my family here being physically safe. That's why I love our police officers, because they were protecting my family while I was overseas fighting for this nation. That's the symbiotic relationship the military has with the police.

Trump administration:

Rep. Bob Onder (R., Mo.): We all know Sean Duffy from his appearances on Fox, he’s a former member of Congress, a former federal prosecutor, but Donald Trump chose him, and I’m all for him.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas): There are so many regulations that are duplicative in the federal government. I saw this firsthand when I was working in the first Trump administration. But we still have staff who enforce them.

Big tech:

Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas): When it comes to TikTok, it was refreshing to see that the Supreme Court’s ruling; this was a bipartisan effort. How many things in Congress can you say pass the House Energy and Commerce Committee with zero bailouts? On the side, all parties came together because of our security is so important. If TikTok decides to go to a country we can trust and actually show us the analytics and the data and back end algorithm, then they’re not going to have any problems, but if they’re made in China under the watchful eye of the CCP, then they will have problems. Same goes for North Korea, Iran, and Russia. We decided that we are not going to do any business on platform, that’s not just TikTok, if they are controlled by those countries. Americans need to understand that currently, using TikTok is like walking into a store and telling everybody your address, your phone number, where you live, and giving them your bank account. So if you're comfortable doing that, keep going down that path, but we're trying to say, ‘look, that’s not okay, we want to protect Americans’ data privacy and their right to free speech from big tech that would suppress that.’

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R., Wis.): My office was just vandalized by someone frustrated about the ‘ban’ on TikTok. From my perspective, what’s fortunate is that somebody saw it. My office is in a strip mall that backs away from the main street. This guy didn’t even know who his congressman was, he had to look it up. What the guy did was he took some gasoline, he tried to break the front and failed, then he got in the back and got some gas. He drove 40 miles to my office. He was found sitting in the car and said he was the one who did it. Ironically, if he had waited 48 hours, he wouldn’t have had to do it given what Trump has done.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.): I met Mark Zuckerberg for the first time at the inauguration…I hope they’re there because they want to do what they should have been doing all along. What Elon did, I really believe, helped save free speech in this country. I hope the others are genuine and that the others want to follow our constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech.

Joe Biden’s legacy:

Rep. John Rose (R., Tenn.): It was absolutely inexcusable to see how Biden’s decline was covered up. And frankly, the press deserves a fair amount of blame. We have the First Amendment for a reason: to protect the press, but as with all rights and privileges and freedoms, it comes with responsibility. The press was complicit in this sad and dark chapter. They and the government actively suppressed the truth.

Rep. Tracey Mann (R., Kansas): Why in the world would Joe Biden grant clemency to 37 people on death row? Why in the world would he issue pardons to members of his own family 15 minutes before his term expires? This is corruption. It’s flat wrong, but not surprising. Time will tell what Biden’s legacy is; I think it will be very poor, but try and point to a single accomplishment that any American can be proud of: record disapproval ratings, and I ask myself who are the 37 percent who approve of Biden? He is the worst president of my lifetime, and that is saying something.

Rep. Tim Moore (R., N.C.): In coming to North Carolina as president, Trump showed the same thing he showed in the campaign, even before he was present. He spent more time on the ground that President Biden did. He came firsthand to talk to folks, he saw what was happening, he was engaged and offered to be of assistance. And he said I’m not going to forget you and we’ll be back. The man kept his word.

Fun facts:

Rep. Russell Fry (R., S.C.): I am a huge Star Wars fan, and I like them in the order that they were released. Of the spinoffs, I like Ahsoka. If I had to pick a favorite character, I’d pick Han Solo; I’ll note it’s clear to me that Jar Jar Binks would fit in probably really well in Congress: he says a lot of things really annoyingly, isn’t productive at all, was a part-time senator, and he even launched the First Empire.

Rep. August Pfluger (R., Texas): A fun fact is I'm an avid volleyball fan. I have three daughters who love to play, and so I go to tournaments all the time and watch those girls play. They're amazing. We haven't had to watch any biological men play against my daughters, but I’d be furious if the situation came up.

Rep. Bob Onder (R., Mo.): I’m a father of six, I’ve been married 29 years and I’m a private pilot; I’ve put in about 700 hours but I haven't yet flown my plane to D.C.

Rep. Tracey Mann (R., Kansas): I am actually in the fifth generation of my family that grew up in my house. It’s been in my family for well over 100 years. My great-great-grandfather ordered it from a catalog, so it came on the train and that’s where my folks will sleep tonight.

Rep. Burgess Owens (R., Utah): Up until I joined the NFL, I was an introvert, an extreme introvert. I used to read a lot, because it was a way I could avoid talking to people. There’s a football card I have that says ‘Burgess Owens reads on road trips.’ I read books like How to Win Friends and Influence People, Think and Grow Rich, Skill with People, and all of a sudden, I’m still a bit introverted but it’s more manageable. I recently saw the photo of A.J. Brown on the Eagles reading a book on the sideline, and while I never read on the sidelines, I’ll tell you what: that’s a great habit, because he wasn’t trying to be seen, it’s what he was thinking. He’s thinking ‘every second of my day, I’m going to work.’ Keep this in mind, it’s important to think about how are you using every second of your day.

Rep. John Rose (R., Tenn.): I had my first set of twin calves when I was two years old. I'm the youngest of four siblings and when I was two and my sister was 12, my parents decided that the way to pay for our college was to give us each a cow. They did it when I was two, so my 12 year old sister got one, all of my other siblings got one, and my cow proceeded to have three sets of twins and I was able to raise them on the farm, so I started ten years ahead of my siblings and I got six times ahead of my sister in terms of the number of cows I actually got.

Rep. Tim Moore (R., N.C.): I’m a small town guy, I was born and raised in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. I love being there. Most of my hobbies from back home like hiking are hard to do in the cold of Washington, D.C. right now.

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R., Wis.): I like oldies music, which band I prefer depends on how I feel on any given day.