The national debt is sky-high, grocery store prices continue to create an incredible financial hardship for the people of the Cowboy State and the overreach of the federal government is strangling households throughout Wyoming and the nation. For far too long, the federal government has prioritized short-term remedies without thinking of the burden they place on not only taxpayers now, but for generations to come. Americans gave President Trump a mandate to solve the failures of this country, and he is already delivering on his promises to the American people, starting with creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Elon and Vivek both have a proven track record of success, but more importantly, they are patriotic and incredibly committed to working with President Trump to get our country back on the right track.  

DOGE will work to identify unnecessary spending, scale down the size of the federal government, eliminate fraud and abuse within agencies and restore faith in the competency of our nation. I am thrilled to join the legislative counterpart to the department, the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus, chaired by U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA). This caucus will play an integral role in sniffing out government waste, and I look forward to partnering with my colleagues and President Trump to rein in Biden’s Big Government. 

Happy Trails,

This week, I met with the future Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin. Lee is a longtime colleague and friend, and I have no doubt he will revoke the Biden-Harris administration’s destructive energy and environmental policies. Under his and President Trump’s leadership, we will restore Wyoming’s dominance in coal and natural gas and revitalize American energy!

The Biden-Harris administration continues to cast a shadow on the west by forcing ignorant and radical policies onto Wyoming’s ranchers, farmers and landowners, including in its latest sage-grouse plan. This week, Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, and I sent a letter to Tracy Stone-Manning, Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to advocate for the preservation of our western way of life. The BLM’s final Greater Sage-Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) would severely restrict land use for those who live and work in the affected areas, including in Wyoming. The Biden-Harris administration repeatedly ignores experts in the Cowboy State, and instead chooses to trust unelected D.C. bureaucrats with decisions that will have catastrophic consequences on the west. Rep. Newhouse and I are calling on the BLM to correct this egregious mistake before it is too late. To read the full letter, click here.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is offering federal cost-sharing of up to 25% for large-scale WaterSMART water recycling projects in the western United States. Projects that cost at least $500 million qualify for this program. These initiatives are essential for addressing water shortages by transforming unusable water sources into reliable, drought-resistant supplies.  Funding under this program supports activities across the four stages of large-scale water recycling projects, including the planning, design and construction stages. The final application deadline is April 7, 2025, at 4 p.m. MST. For more information, click here.

Congratulations to long-time Lander resident and former Lander Journal publisher Bill Sniffin on receiving the General James O. Amos Award from the National Newspaper Association. This award is one of the highest and most dignified tributes in community journalism, and is presented to a working or retired publisher who has provided distinguished service and leadership to the community press and their community. Bill began his journalism career at 17 years-old writing for a local Iowa paper, and sixty-one years later, he continues to publish a weekly column in Cowboy State Daily. Thank you, Bill, for your dedication to informing our communities and making local voices heard!

Photo Courtesy of County 10