WASHINGTON — Sitting down with The Daily Iowan, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, spoke about the Department of Government Efficiency, refugee service funding, and the budget reconciliation process.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Daily Iowan: The Trump administration paused funding on refugee resettlement services, and Iowa has a strong tradition of supporting refugee resettlement. Do you think the pause aligns with the state’s values?
Hinson: I think what’s important is the review of all federal spending and all federal programs.
I believe there is a place for refugee resettlement, and we have been, as you said, in Iowa, a leader on those policies. But what we don’t want to see is dollars going to wasteful spending, and I think that’s what the Trump administration is trying to do.
So, I continue to advocate for spending to go where it needs to go. And I would encourage anybody who’s involved with these resettlement programs in Iowa to reach out to our office to explain what their needs are and what they’re doing with those dollars.
I think it’s really important that we peel back the onion and make sure that every American taxpayer dollar that’s going to something both here at home but also abroad is being used in advancing American interests.
What are your thoughts on the impact of this policy on Iowa families who are currently waiting for relatives abroad?
We have to do these reviews. And sometimes things do take time. And I think it’s really important that, at the end of the day, what I care about is safety for people.
So, if people are in unsafe situations, that’s something that then I would very much like to advocate for speeding up those processes. We have a lot of people who want to come here, and it’s because America is the best country in the world, hands down, and I understand that. It’s why we’ve had so many challenges with an illegal immigration system, right?
So, we have to balance all of those things, and sometimes those things do take time. But I am a strong advocate for reviewing all programs to make sure they are effective and they’re getting people here in a timely fashion that makes sure that they’re safe.
On the topic of reviewing programs, the Department of Government Efficiency has worked to save billions in funding they find wasteful. What is your review of their performance so far?
I think they’re uncovering a lot of things that the American people are appalled by.
I, again, support a full review of government programs and agencies. Many of the agencies right now and some of these departments haven’t been authorized, and they still keep getting funded. And I think that it’s been challenging as an appropriator, sometimes we don’t get all the answers from the administration.
Right now, we have an administration that’s very transparent. The past four years, you know, we would ask questions sometimes even of the State Department, for example, which was not authorized as an agency. It’s not like we’re not going to fund the State Department because they do serve a very important role, important role around the world, but we were not getting clear answers. So, again, I think what they’re uncovering is that some of these taxpayer dollars were going places they shouldn’t.
Every American dollar going abroad to any of these programs should be advancing American interests. And so, I think what we’re doing is refocusing that effort. And so that’s why I applaud what DOGE is doing.
I think, frankly, I’ve heard from a lot of people who when they hear about, for instance, the number of illegal immigrants who had social security cards and numbers that shouldn’t have been happening in the first place, and so correcting some of those major errors that are costing taxpayers billions, if not trillions, of dollars over the course of 10 years, I think it’s high time we do that.
Opponents to DOGE say it could, or has already, started impacting services for Iowans. What is your response to that criticism?
If there are services being impacted, I’m sure people are calling our office.
But I would say this, that you know the IRS, for example, it was already 45-minute wait times if people are having issues with government agencies. That’s what our office does, is to help navigate that and solve those problems for constituents. Constituent service is something I pride myself on, in solving those problems dealing with any government agency.
At the end of the day, though, when you listen to what Elon and his team are talking about with many of the reforms they’re trying to make, we have antiquated systems across many of these agencies that are actually delivering subpar customer service, if we can make it so the computer systems, for example, at all these agencies can talk to each other.
[The Small Business Administration], for example, checks with Social Security to verify the social security number before they issue a loan. Well, if that person on the other end is not actually living, and then that loan is issued, and then it’s fraudulent and never paid back, that’s not good customer service because then that’s taking up dollars that could be going to an actual small business that needs those dollars.
So, in my mind, if we’re laser-focused on fixing a lot of these processes, it’s actually going to end up delivering better customer service for the taxpayer, which is what we all want to see happen.
President Trump has also started the closing of the Department of Education. Would you support its full closure?
What I care about is making sure the programs that are currently housed in our Department of Education are still utilized and accessible to people who need them.
For instance, the services that help disabled kids, the federal student loan program, I don’t care what the name of the agency is at the top, as long as they are still able to provide those important services to students and to taxpayers.
I’m a mom to school-aged kids, public school kids. I’m a product of public school myself. I think at the end of the day, what all parents want is to make sure that those dollars are flowing as much as possible down to the classroom and down to students.
So, I applaud efforts to get it back to the states, because I do think that Iowa has a great ability to lead on education. They’re trying some innovative things. They’re enhancing teacher pay. They’re providing more flexibility.
I see all those things happening at the state level to help bolster education. I think some of those things are best served at the state level, and we can prove why Iowa can be number one again in education.
Many worry the budget reconciliation process would cut Medicaid and SNAP funding. What are your thoughts on those concerns?
I think there’s a lot of fear-mongering out there. We haven’t passed a single cut. And I think the most important thing is, when I talk about reviewing spending, getting out [of] the way from waste, fraud, and abuse, is the number one priority.
And we don’t want to cut benefits, but we want to cut that terrible stuff out of these programs so they can actually go to the people who need them.
I don’t want to see a 29-year-old guy sitting on his couch playing video games, living in his mom’s basement, who’s not trying to get a job get benefits that he shouldn’t be getting. A single mom who’s working really hard and trying to make ends meet and maybe need some assistance with daycare or food benefits or Medicaid, those are the people who should be on these programs.
So, I want to make sure we’re cutting out all the extra fluff that doesn’t need to be there, refocusing these programs after decades of not having a good look, and making sure that we can be as efficient as possible.
At the end of the day, that is our priority as House Republicans. And going through this budget reconciliation process, the other really important part of this bill is the tax cuts that are in this bill. If we don’t do anything to extend the tax cuts, the average Iowa family will see a significant 25 percent tax increase next year, which, if you do the math, is about seven weeks’ worth of groceries.
So, it is imperative that we not only couple the tax cuts with making sure we’re finding legitimate savings and providing those services to people who need them.