Local Congressman Stops in Stevens County

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) said he has had his differences with the president on such matters as tariffs and Donald Trump’s criticisms of the pope. But the first term congressman painted an optimistic picture on May 4 during a visit to Kettle Falls, which was part of a weeklong campaign through 12 counties in his district. “I think we’re doing well in Washington, D.C.,” Baumgartner told his audience of 15, several of them local government officials and not many more people than he will face in the Aug. 4 primary election. By week’s end, a dozen challengers, including seven Democrats and five Independents, had filed to run against Baumgartner, according to Washington Secretary of State records. The incumbent has raised more than $1.4 million, according to Federal Election Commission files, nearly as much as he raised to win his office in 2024. In Kettle Falls, Baumgartner talked about growing up in Colton and his background as a forester. During his visit, lasting less than 30 minutes, he asked as many questions as he received, inquiring about education in Kettle Falls and inviting his audience to tell him what issues were important to them. “Got anything you need help with?” he asked the group. Attendees inquired about why Washingtonians are paying some of the nation’s highest gas prices, and Baumgartner responded by blaming Democrats in state government. “There’s this really stupid law that Olympia passed, the Climate Commitment Act,” Baumgartner said. “It’s killing rural Washington, what they have done. The reason they did it is, they want to make it so expensive for you to drive a gas-powered vehicle that you have to go to an electric vehicle – that’s why they did it. In the meantime, they can take the money and give it away to their friends.” Baumgartner also said that Trump has reduced regulatory red tape. “I do think the Trump administration has done a lot, particularly on environmental stuff,” the congressman said. “Frankly, we’ve got to get back to Congress. The Obama and Biden administrations did so much in the descent of environmental regulations, in our view stretching things like the Clean Air Act beyond their original intention. We peeled a lot of that back. We have some more work to do. One of my favorite things we did in Congress is, Washington had joined Oregon in trying to ban the sale of gas vehicles by 2031. We repealed that, and so that was a big deal.” Forests, Baumgartner said, have suffered from lawsuits filed under environmental laws. “There has been a stretching of some old laws with environmental lawsuits that have really tied up our federal forest with higher fuel loads than we should have,” he said. When an audience member asked about federal money helping with housing and other projects that could entice private investment and convince young people to stay in the area, Baumgartner noted that the federal debt stands at $39 trillion while deficit spending continues. “Obviously, the federal government spends a lot of money, and there is a role for all that rather than a country that’s $39 trillion in debt and running a 20% deficit subsidize,” he said. “I’d rather allow you guys to harvest more of your timber and mine more of your mineral resources and build your tax base.” Baumgartner was also asked about whether Congress should vote on whether to continue the Iran war, to which he defended the president. “I’m a big fan of Iran not having nuclear weapons,” he said. “I mean, Iran having nuclear weapons would be like Osama bin Laden or Hitler having nuclear weapons, so we need to do everything we can to keep that from happening…I support what the president is doing, so I’m comfortable with it.” As a state senator, Baumgartner in 2012 supported Initiative 502, which legalized recreational marijuana in Washington state. Trump recently rescheduled marijuana so that the federal government no longer considers it a dangerous drug with no legitimate medical use. When asked whether federal law should align with state law and allow cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses and use the banking system like other businesses, the congressman said the potency of marijuana and its potential effect on young people should be considered. “Any change in that respect I would like to see come through Congress rather than be by exec (executive) decision so we could have hearings on it, then decide, and that would be my preference,” he said. When discussing whether he would support allowing cannabis businesses to use the banking system and federal tax code like other businesses, Baumgarner did not answer yes or no. “You’re the first person who’s asked me, so I don’t have a great answer for you right now,” the congressman said. “It gives me pause on the whole enterprise, just the potency of the marijuana, and that’s what I want to understand.”