Newly elected GOP Congressman Derek Schmidt told Fox News Digital that the efforts of DOGE will be critical in the next Congress and explained why he is optimistic that Republicans will be on the same page in January to push through President-elect Trump’s agenda.
"It's no more business as usual," Schmidt, elected in November to represent Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District, told Fox News about the impact of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the two lobbied against a 1,500 page continuing resolution that was being debated in the House and opposed by some conservatives for containing too much "pork."
"Look, that was the top-line message from the voters last November. They want us to make progress on some of these issues, and we're not going to make progress by continuing to do the same things and expecting a different result. So, you know, it's going to be messy. It's going to be tumultuous, but that's what it takes in order to get this country back on track."
Schmidt told Fox News Digital that DOGE reforms are part of what Trump ran on.
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"That's what President Trump promised. That's what many of us ran on. And that's what I at least intend to be part of accomplishing," Schmidt said.
"So anything that helps put the genie back in the bottle, that helps move us back in the direction of this, you know, this federal system, this remarkable system of self-government that our founders gave us and that we have drifted so far from, especially since the New Deal, I think is something I want to be part of trying to help fix. I want to leave this country better for my kids than I found it, and that will not be true if we don't start getting a handle on runaway federal spending. And on this, the sprawling, grotesque federal bureaucracy that is unaccountable to voters."
Despite a net loss of two seats in the 435-member House in November, Republicans will hold a fragile 220-215 majority when the new Congress convenes next month giving them a razor-thin margin for error when attempting to advance Trump’s agenda.
Schmidt told Fox News Digital that he expects some "dissension" in the next Congress, which he called "the nature of Democratic self-government" but says he feels confident Republicans will unite on the big issues.
"I think we're going to get the president's agenda adopted, look, I think a couple of things are true. One, to the extent that I've met my fellow incoming class members in the House and to the extent I've talked with current House members, there seems to be a broad sense that everybody knows we've got to deliver," Schmidt, who served as Kansas attorney general for over a decade, said.
"We have this trifecta, so-called, that the voters have given us. They've trusted us to do what we said we're going to do, and everybody, even though they may have different perspective disagreements, understands we've got to deliver, and that means we've got to find ways to hang together."
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Schmidt continued, "Number two. What's different now from, you know, a few times in the past when things have lined up is we have a strong Republican president. President Trump pulled no punches. He was very clear on the campaign trail the direction he wants to take the country, the types of policies that he wants enacted, and the voters approve that, not with just a win in the Electoral College, not with just a win for him in the popular vote, but also with the trifecta to help deliver that so we don't have to figure out what the agenda is. We have to listen to what the voters said by electing President Trump, what he articulated on the voter's behalf. And we have to step up, hang together and deliver results."
After winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote, Schmidt told Fox News Digital it is clear that Trump has a "mandate" from the American people and that House Republicans understand that a deadlock in Congress won't be something the voters are content with.
"I think the voters knew what they were choosing, and they made that decision and I also think it's very important, you know, to keep in line what I believe was the top line message, which is do something, make progress on these issues," Schmidt said.
"If we don't like as the electorate, if we don't like what you've done, will judge that two years, four years, six years down the road. But do something. This sort of deadlock of accomplishing very little is an unacceptable way to lead the greatest nation on earth. And so I think that sense is pretty widely accepted among at least most of us who are entered into public office, and we've got a spirit of let's get together and act."
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Fox News Digital asked Schmidt what he is most looking forward to when serving in Congress, and he outlined his excitement about taking part in what he called the "extraordinary experiment" of American governance.
"I don't I don't mean to sound like Mr. Smith goes to Washington, but there is a certain element of truth in the idea that each of us who is allowed to represent a group of Americans has an opportunity to be part of this extraordinary experiment in self-government that is still going despite all of its warts and imperfections," Schmidt said.
"A lot of people who came before us paid great price at great personal expense to build this country into what it is today. We have an opportunity, those of us serving, myself included, to be part of rewriting or writing the next chapter in the American story. And I get excited about that every single morning. Whatever my service in public office ends, whether it's in two years, ten years or somewhere down the road, I want to be able to look back and say, I made a difference. I left America better than I found it. And so few people have that opportunity and a direct way. I will never lose sight of what I've been entrusted with."
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
