Friends,

 

I hope you’re enjoying a safe and restful Memorial Day Weekend. Though many of us will be relaxing over the long weekend, it’s important to remember what we’re commemorating.

 

Freedom is not free, and it’s imperative we never forget the millions of Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our liberties. Our nation owes them an eternal debt of gratitude.

 

Last week, the House passed President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. This is a significant accomplishment and represents a major step toward getting our country back on the right track.

 

Though that was the big news out of Washington last week, I also introduced my first piece of legislation as a U.S. Representative, aimed at protecting taxpayers from frivolous lawsuits.

Last week, the House passed H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

 

This bill delivers much of President Trump’s America First agenda, which a large majority of Kansans in our district favor. After a long negotiation process, we passed a legislative package that features major wins for middle-class Kansans, small businesses, and family farms.

 

Some of the wins we secured include:

• preventing a $1,147 tax increase on middle-class Kansas families;
• fully funding border security and the deportation of illegal aliens;
• eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs;
• unleashing U.S. energy dominance;
• reforming the federal regulatory system to ensure accountability;
• codifying several of President Trump’s executive orders;
• investing in clean air;
• advancing significant portions of the long-overdue Farm Bill, and;
• repealing the Green New Deal’s tax breaks for big corporations and billionaires.

Notably, we strengthened federal safety net programs by requiring healthy, able-bodied adults to work to receive public benefits and enforcing the prohibition on illegal aliens receiving public benefits. We also increased payments to rural hospitals and other healthcare providers in states like Kansas that declined to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.

 

Additionally, we fulfilled several of our important promises to the American people, including no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on car loans to buy American-made vehicles, and tax relief for seniors who receive Social Security.

 

This bill is not perfect; no legislation is. Our gross national debt now surpasses $36 trillion and there is much more work to be done to adequately reduce our level of federal spending, but this is a start. In fact, this legislation represents the largest reduction of federal spending growth in U.S. history.

 

I will continue working to cut spending, reduce deficits, and institute financially responsible policies until we can fully back our nation away from the fiscal cliff we’re looking over. Failure to do so would be a disaster for generations of Kansans to come; that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.

Like many Kansans, I was horrified to learn two Israeli Embassy staffers were murdered on Wednesday evening in a horrific act of terror. ​Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were a young couple with their entire lives ahead of them, gunned down in cold blood by a radicalized criminal. Their deaths are particularly painful for Kansas: Sarah is from Johnson County and graduated from the University of Kansas.

 

Their murder was an antisemitic act of hatred carried out against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Plain and simple. Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues on the House Floor to celebrate May as Jewish American Heritage Month, where I stressed the importance of elected officials, community leaders, and everyday Americans calling out and rejecting antisemitism and hatred.

Wednesday night’s act of terror is – unfortunately – not an isolated incident. Our nation has seen a sharp and extremely concerning rise in antisemitic incidents over the past two years. It’s never been more important to vocally and forcefully support the Jewish people and our ally Israel.

Last week, I introduced my first bill as a Member of Congress, the Wrongful Injunction Accountability Act.

In March, President Trump issued a memorandum directing federal agency heads to enforce existing federal court rules that require parties seeking injunctions to be completely liable for the cost of these injunctions if they’re found to be wrongful. Though the rules already exist in federal court, they aren’t always enforced. My legislation would mandate enforcement.

 

Several weeks ago, I supported legislation to limit the use of nationwide injunctions, ensuring this extraordinary tool is used as it’s intended: rarely. While my legislation applies to all injunctions filed against the federal government, the principle remains the same: no single person or organization should be able to weaponize our judicial system to grind the gears of self-government to a halt and waste an enormous amount of taxpayer dollars over a policy disagreement.

Far too often, activist groups shop their case around the federal court system until they find a judge who they believe will rule favorably. These judges are often part of the courts that don’t enforce these rules. With this legislation, we’re aiming to reform that vulnerable part of our judicial system to protect Americans’ tax dollars from frivolous injunctions.

 

Thank you to my colleague Harriet Hageman from Wyoming for joining me on this important effort!

Thank you to the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, and Kansas House Majority Leader Chris Croft for visiting with me in Washington last week! I also received the official seal of the United States Marine Corps to display in my office; the Army, of course, was the first to send their seal.

The One Big Beautiful Bill now heads to the Senate. Following passage there, the two chambers will come together to reconcile differences in the bill and send it to the President’s desk.

 

In the meantime, Congress will turn our attention to codifying President Trump’s executive orders, particularly the commonsense border security measures he’s put into place. The American people made it clear they want change in Washington; we’re working to institute it.