Frederica Freyberg:
As we mentioned, the U.S. House passed a budget resolution that seeks major tax and spending cuts. The spending cuts are already underway at the hands of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. We asked 1st Congressional District Republican U.S. Representative Brian Steil for his take. Thanks very much for being here.

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
Thanks for having me on.

Frederica Freyberg:
So you voted in favor of the House budget resolution, extending tax cuts and raising the debt limit by $4 trillion paired with potential cuts to Medicaid. Does this resolution envision cutting Medicaid by more than $800 billion?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
Following four years of reckless spending in the Biden administration, this is our opportunity to get spending under control in Washington. Frustratingly, there's a lot of misinformation out there. The budget resolution that passed last night actually has the word Medicaid in it zero times. What this is really an opportunity to do is get broader spending under control and make sure that we're being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. In addition, we have an opportunity to make sure that we're extending the tax cuts that really grew the economy, in particular, as we came into the COVID pandemic. So this is about rightsizing Washington, D.C., controlling spending, and making sure that we're protecting those tax reforms that are really generating the economic growth we saw during the Trump administration's first term.

Frederica Freyberg:
And so are you suggesting that the Democrats, who are decrying cuts to Medicaid to the tune of more than $800 billion, are just about talking points on this?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
Well, there's a lot of fear mongering. That shouldn't be lost on anyone. Usually the fear mongering points by some of my colleagues on the left focus in on veterans or Social Security — both false. We've actually, last Congress, protected veterans and Social Security. I think what we have an opportunity to do is make sure that we are rightsizing spending writ large in Washington, D.C.. The focus as it relates to Medicaid — an important program that provides health care to many of the least amongst us in our country — which is separate from Medicare, which provides care to our seniors. But in Medicaid, what we have a real opportunity to do is to help people and lift them out of the need for the program. What do I mean by that? Instead of measuring simply by the inputs — how much money are we spending on some of our welfare programs — what we need to be focused in on is how do we help individuals get good or better paying jobs such that they're able to be self-sustainable? If we're successful in doing that, what we'll do is two things. We'll help the individual whose currently finding themselves on government support, but also be in a position to reduce the burden on the federal government. And so I think the fear mongering is disappointing, it's dangerous, and we have a real opportunity in front of us to rightsize the federal government.

Frederica Freyberg:
Are you saying that you would oppose significant cuts to Medicaid?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
I think there's true savings. So let's dissect that a little bit. So if we look at the state of California, for example, in Medicaid, 37% of the population of the state of California is on Medicaid. But the state of California has made a policy choice to provide Medicaid to, for example, illegal aliens, or they, in the past, have waived an asset test, meaning kind of a crazy scenario where somebody could win the lottery but still be eligible for Medicaid. And so there are opportunities to make sure that the programs are there for the least amongst us, people that fall on hard times, for children in our country. I would oppose cuts in those areas, but I do think there's reasonable reforms that we can make sure individuals, in particular individuals who are childless, able-bodied adults, both have skin in the game. We help lift them up such that they're self-sustainable and not dependent on government programs.

Frederica Freyberg:
So you spoke to a California example — what about in Wisconsin?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
Well, we could look back to the resolution that passed in the state of Wisconsin overwhelmingly, where voters in the state of Wisconsin said if an individual wants to receive federal government benefits and they are a childless, able-bodied adult, that they should have skin in the game. They should be looking for a job or they should be working. And I think that the American people understand that, yes, we do need to have social safety net programs for individuals that find themselves on hard time or for children who might not be in a position to help themselves. But at the same time, we expect people to be able to step up and be self-sustainable when they can. And so this is about preventing the fear mongering but really looking at these programs and determining ways that we can help people lift themselves up, become self-sustainable, and not simply measure our welfare and safety net programs by the inputs, how much money we spend, but instead measure them by how well they're operating and are they truly designed and effective at lifting people out of poverty sustainably.

Frederica Freyberg:
As to this budget blueprint, former Wisconsin congressman Reid Ribble, Republican, said this — he said, "Math is hard." He said, "To get to a balanced budget, as Trump promised in his campaign, would require tax revenue to be equal to spending. You cannot extend 4.5 trillion in tax cuts while only cutting about 1.5 trillion in spending." How do you reconcile that gap that he speaks to?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
The budget situation in Washington, D.C. for decades has been wildly out of control. Washington has spent way beyond its means for a long time. The spending process in Washington, D.C. is completely broken and needs to be absolutely rewritten. That said, we need to take steps forward, and so, no, the budget resolution that moved forward doesn't solve the problem in one day. It is not a silver bullet, and unfortunately, the problem in Washington, D.C. is so significant, no single action will probably solve it unilaterally. That doesn't mean we shouldn't take a step in the right direction. And so the step this is taking is making sure that we're growing the economy so individuals can get good and better paying jobs, and at the same time begin the process of truly reigning in reckless government spending that really brought forward the inflation that we saw during the Biden administration.

Frederica Freyberg:
Why raise the debt limit with so many concerns around the debt?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
So the debt limit is a really important issue, and what happens to the borrowing rate for the federal government if the debt ceiling was actually triggered, if the debt limit was actually triggered, would be a higher borrowing cost. In the long run, what that will do is actually cost the federal government more. So instead of going out and getting loans at 3.5%, federal government might find themselves at double that rate. We're already paying roughly a trillion dollars a year for interest payments on the debt alone. To double that would be draconian. And so unfortunately the federal government is in the situation it's in due to decades of reckless spending in Washington. But it would be, economically, a disaster and a disaster for a lot of workers if we were in a position where the federal government actually tripped over the debt ceiling.

Frederica Freyberg:
As to additional savings, spending cuts, Elon Musk wielded a chainsaw at a Republican political conference. What's your response to what he's been doing?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
We always should be looking at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, not only in the federal government, but at government entities across the country. I think some of the examination has shown some of the real abuse and reckless spending that we saw during the Biden administration. There were areas that were highlighted, for example, where an inappropriate comic book was written with funds from USAID. This is all a broader statement that we need to go in and examine how the federal government is spending taxpayer dollars and to make sure that it's a prudent use of those tax dollars, because we are in a spot where we don't have extra money to spend. And the extra money that has been spent has had the negative impact of increasing cost, of the cost of living for Wisconsinites and folks across the country.

Frederica Freyberg:
Wouldn't there be another way to do what DOGE is doing?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
I think there's a lot of ways that things can be done, but I think everybody's supportive of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. I think as we look back over the four years of the Biden administration is spending dramatically increased in Washington. I think we all recognize there's a real opportunity to make sure that we're preventing a misuse of taxpayer dollars.

Frederica Freyberg:
What kind of response have you gotten from your constituents about either what Elon Musk is doing or the Republican budget resolution?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
I've held listening sessions across southeast Wisconsin, crisscrossing the district, talking with folks, and I hear two things. One, I think there's a real understanding by the American people and people in southeast Wisconsin, in particular, that recognize that the reckless spending of the Biden administration brought forward inflation and they're ready to turn that around. I think people, when they fully understand what this budget process is going to look like, what the final product will hold, will be a real opportunity for us to bring down that reckless spending and lower the cost so families can afford the things that they need. The biggest challenge that I hear from people across the district is people find it very difficult to get true, factual information about what's going on in Washington, D.C. without bias and hyperbole. And so one of the things that I do through my listening sessions and other means is go and speak to folks about what is actually taking place in Washington and have an adult conversation about the challenges we face, about the gap between the massive amount of spending that we have and how we bring down the debt and deficit, and have that adult conversation. I think there's a broad frustration, society-wide, about how people obtain good, factual information. In many ways, that's why your program and programs like it are so important.

Frederica Freyberg:
How do you see the moves on the part of the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans helping Wisconsinites?

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
I think we've seen a lot of progress very quickly with the Trump administration. I think the number one thing that I would commend the president on doing is securing the US-Mexico border. Right out of the gates, we reinstated Stay in Mexico, restarted border wall construction, ended abuse of the parole system, and stopped catch and release. The impact of that has been a dramatic decrease on illegal immigration into the United States. That has a big impact in the state of Wisconsin, in particular, as it relates to either human trafficking, but in particular, the flow of illegal drugs, and in particular, fentanyl. Fentanyl, just in, for example, in Kenosha County alone, killed over 50 people last year, and statewide, has killed hundreds. And so the president's action to secure the border has been very positive. And the work now to get spending under control in Washington, while we've made some incremental progress, we have a lot of work to get done to ultimately, at the end of the day, have the goal of reducing the cost of living so Americans can afford what they need.

Frederica Freyberg:
We'll leave it there, Congressman Brian Steil, thanks very much.

U.S. Rep Bryan Steil:
Thank you.