A Christmas Lifeline to Rural Idaho Counties

After a two-year lapse, Congress finally passed my legislation, S. 356, to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program.  This vital legislation will restore funding to rural counties that steward large tracts of untaxed federal lands.  President Trump signed the bill into law on December 18, 2025.

Passage of the bill comes on the heels of a bipartisan, bicameral letter I led.  Eighty-eight additional lawmakers signed the letter to U.S. House of Representatives leadership.  We underscored the devastating impacts on rural counties absent funding from the SRS program and called for passage of the bill before the end of the year.  The Senate unanimously passed the bill in June 2025, and also at the end of the previous Congress in December 2024.  Read more about the letter HERE.

Thirty-four of Idaho’s 44 counties received SRS payments in 2023.  My bill, which became law on December 18, provides lapsed payments for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025 and funds the program through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2026.  The SRS program is rooted in century-old federal land management policy and, without it, many counties in Idaho and across the country would fall short of the financial means to provide for integral community functions for local residents and visitors alike.

Read more from the Idaho delegation here.

A Missed Opportunity for Real Health Care Reform

As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I joined Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D., to introduce the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act, which would lower health care costs and give money directly to families to control their own care. 

Our proposal was an alternative to extending temporary Obamacare COVID bonuses, which send billions of tax dollars to giant insurance companies without lowering insurance premiums.  With taxpayers footing the bill, these subsidies give insurance companies every single reason they need to keep hiking premiums.  An extension of this program will do nothing to lower costs or premiums or protect taxpayers.

Democrats blocked our proposal, which required 60 votes to advance, by a vote of 51-48.

CLICK HEREor the image below to watch my speech on the Senate floor before the vote, urging my colleagues to support the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act.  You can read excerpts of the speech HERE. 

You can read or watch my speech earlier in the week on the failures of Obamacare HERE.

Although this proposal failed, our work is not done.  Health care costs are increasing for all Americans, not just those on Obamacare, and I welcome bipartisan cooperation on both short-term and long-term solutions.  For example, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and I recently re-introduced pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform legislation, the PBM Price Transparency and Accountability Act.   This bipartisan bill would fix market distortions and increase transparency in federal prescription drug programs to lower patient costs at the pharmacy counter. 

It is time to lay the groundwork for giving Americans more control over their health care choices and truly making quality health care more affordable.

Supporting America’s Armed Forces

On December 17, 2025, the U.S. Senate passed, by a vote of 77-20, the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), fulfilling Congress’s constitutional duty to “provide for the common defense.”

The FY 2026 NDAA includes a number of wins for Idaho and America.  It provides our servicemembers a well-deserved pay raise and strengthens operational readiness to defend against foreign adversaries at home and abroad.  Read more about this year’s NDAA here.

Bringing Home Missing Servicemembers

In October, Idaho welcomed home 2^nd Lt. Charles Atteberry following 80 years missing in action after being killed in World War II.  Unfortunately, 359 Idahoans remain unaccounted for from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts.

We cannot give up on our efforts to identify and bring home every remaining missing servicemember.

I joined U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) to reintroduce the Bring Our Heroes Home Act that would eliminate bureaucratic obstacles preventing families and caseworkers from accessing records needed for recovery of America’s prisoners of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIA). 

We owe their families and loved ones the assurances they have not been forgotten.  Read more on my website HEREor in the Idaho Capital Sun HERE.

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