Sen. Crapo talks Trump, tariffs, inflation, Canada and how DOGE will affect Idaho

IDAHO FALLS — There’s been a whirlwind of activity in Washington, D.C. since President Donald Trump took office two months ago.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has played a significant role in confirmation hearings for some of Trump’s cabinet members, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy. Crapo is a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and and a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Crapo stopped by EastIdahoNews.com Tuesday to discuss a variety of issues. Here is a lightly edited transcript of his 20-minute interview with reporter Nate Eaton. Watch the entire conversation in the video player above.

Nate Eaton: How would you say the first two months of President Trump’s administration are going?

Sen. Crapo: I think they’re going very well. As I think everyone in America knows, the fight is on. The folks who don’t like President Trump are out in full force, so it’s been a very controversial few months, both with regard to his executive orders and the things that he’s doing through DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and other activities.

The majority of what we have done in the Senate in the first few months is just to work as hard as we can. (There have been) no breaks in the Senate for the last ten weeks. We work as hard as we can to get his nominees in place to give them his team.

We just got his cabinet and his sub-cabinet all confirmed ahead of the timeframe of Joe Biden, ahead of the timeframe from President Trump’s first presidency and ahead of what Barack Obama got in his presidency.

So President Trump’s team is in place and that’s what we’ve been doing.

Eaton: You presided over a couple of fiery confirmation hearings – for example, RFK and Dr. Oz. What was that experience like and have you had you presided over things like that in the past?

Crapo: Yeah. We’ve had those kinds of battles in the past, but the intensity level today and frankly, the anger level and the meanness are much higher than anything we’ve ever seen before. As you know, we had several outbursts in some of our hearings where we had to have the Capitol Police just remind people that outbursts like that are not appropriate.

The protests are very, very aggressive and we have a very aggressive vetting process in the finance committee for the nominees. They go through a thorough scrubbing of their entire life tax policy, businesses, business activities, everything they’ve done in their life and the Democrats have made trouble over things that ordinarily would not have caused trouble in a nomination hearing.

We’ve just had, what I would call, really brutal battles.

Eaton: Let’s talk about one of the most controversial things that we’ve seen come up over the last few weeks. Tariffs. In 2018, during Trump’s first term, retaliatory tariffs cost Idaho $15.4 million in potato exports, $14.4 million in cheese and about $1.1 million in pork and ham. Canada is Idaho’s top export partner. Will Trump’s proposals for these tariffs hurt Idaho?

Crapo: I believe it’ll be similar to what happened last time, but the whole story needs to be told. There were impacts on our agriculture community in his last round and Congress, with President Trump’s encouragement, provided some additional assistance to deal with those tariff impacts for our agriculture community. But remember what happened. President Trump put those tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China because he felt that their trade policies toward us were anti-competitive and were hurting our markets.

And they worked. It brought Canada and Mexico to the table to improve the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) and improve our trade posture. And it brought China to the table. Now, President Trump didn’t have time to finish it up with China because he didn’t win his second election at that point. Those tariffs were then removed and our whole agriculture, as well as many other parts of our economy, were in a better trade policy with Canada and Mexico.

I hope that’s how it’s going to turn out this time.

Eaton: Is President Trump overextending his power in the executive branch by just issuing these executive orders about the tariffs?

Crapo: I don’t believe so. There are those who claim that he has to have congressional authorization for tariffs and that is true. A president needs to have authorization from Congress in different areas to impose tariffs and Congress has given the president authority to issue tariffs in many different circumstances. President Trump is using a statute that gives him the authority to issue tariffs if he considers it to be a national security issue.

That’s a broad phrase and President Trump is interpreting it aggressively. There are those who say that’s beyond the intention of the statute. I think that he is within the intention of the statute and he’s making that argument.

Eaton: One of my Canadian friends said I need to ask if you think Canada should be our 51st state.

Crapo: No, I don’t go that far, but I’ll tell you what. Canada is our top trading partner and our closest ally in many, many different ways. We have co-chairs of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group and I’m actually the Republican chair. We work with the Canadian Parliament as well as working with our own colleagues in the Congress. They are great allies and great friends, and I believe we need to boost that relationship as much as we can and as often as we can.

Eaton: What can be done about inflation and, specifically, the price of eggs?

Crapo: If you look at inflation, it’s actually come down some and President Trump’s policies are going to help it come back to normal, especially if we can get this tax bill that’s expiring extended. I’ll go back to 2017 when we were also facing high inflation when President Trump took office. After we had his tax bill, the Tax Code and Jobs Act, we passed that and it had about a year to be implemented. Our inflation rate came down to 2%, which is the target…and I think we got down to 1.5%, which was one of the lowest inflation rates in decades.

I believe that we will get there this time. We’re already seeing that President Trump’s actions are driving down inflation and I think people are seeing that everywhere. Look at the pump. The price of gas has gone down dramatically.

As far as eggs, I can’t predict exactly what’s going on there because we have a supply problem going on. That has nothing to do with Trump’s politics…A lot of people are seeing that there are not as many eggs on the shelves in grocery stores. That doesn’t have anything to do with fiscal policy, it’s got to do with an issue with regard to the safety of eggs.

Eaton: I was driving through Idaho Falls the other day and was amazed at how many multi-home structures are going up. Housing affordability is a big issue for families. Is this the new normal – townhomes and apartments everywhere – or can something be done to help bring down or at least stabilize the housing market?

Crapo: Yes, something can be done. We have a housing crisis across the country, and it is primarily for the workforce where the biggest problem seems to be those who want to move to a community or live in a community for a job can’t find housing. What you’re describing is happening across the country.

There are things that can be done. We want to grow the job market and I think that what we’re doing is going to increase pressure with more people getting jobs and more employment needed across the country and growing the economy. That growing the economy and the policy we are working to implement can address the housing crisis.

There are a lot of reasons for the housing crisis and, frankly, government regulation at the federal level, the state level and local level are a big part of the problem. We are working at the federal level to address that and President Trump will be very helpful on that just to reduce the cost of regulation. Secondly, we’re working with our state and local communities to help them understand that a lot of their policies are impacting this as well.

Finally, as I mentioned, we are working on a really aggressive tax bill to help keep people’s taxes low. Part of that is to provide extra funding for projects that help get access to capital into the housing industry, like the low-income housing tax credit, which is something that could be a phenomenal boost to getting the housing that we need.

Eaton: Let’s talk about DOGE. How do you think the department has been operating?

Crapo: DOGE is doing exactly what I think most of the American people want to see. They are identifying where there are inefficiencies, where there’s waste, and frankly, where there is fraud. You’ve probably seen the stories about people who get Social Security numbers who are over 130 years old.

There are millions of people illegally in the United States now who are getting a Social Security number or otherwise just getting put on to the rolls of different programs like Medicaid and food stamps and other safety net programs. But they don’t qualify because they’re not US citizens. DOGE has been identifying situations like that need to be addressed so we can reduce the spending.

Now, many people are saying that DOGE is going beyond its authority because some programs DOGE is seeking to either end or reduce dramatically are under the management of congressional decision making or under the management of the president’s cabinet working with Congress with in regard to legal changes that need to be made in order to reduce or end those programs.

In that context, there was a bit of controversy about whether DOGE had been overstepping those boundaries. But the president made it very clear that DOGE is going to be an advisor to his cabinet, and they are going to give him the advice that he needs that he can do through executive action alone, and give his cabinet and the Congress the advice that they need to do their job.

So I believe that we’ll be staying within the bounds of the law. But we are seeing a very, very aggressive scrubbing of our entire federal spending system and our revenue system, frankly, that I think is way past.

Eaton: Is it going to affect the INL?

Crapo: It definitely will. I can’t tell you how many different ways it will. Idaho participates in most, if not all, of the federal programs, whether it’s the housing programs or whether it’s the food stamp programs or Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, all sorts of programs. Idaho citizens participate in all of them. I think that all of them, ultimately, if we do this right, and my hope is that we will do it right, will benefit from the fact that waste, fraud and abuse, which we talk about a lot but don’t ever specifically identify, we will identify and remove that from the programs.

Idaho citizens will see a benefit from that in those respective programs. Take Social Security for example. If we can eliminate Social Security fraud, then the trust fund for Social Security will be more stable and people won’t need to worry about the impact on their earned benefits from Social Security. The same thing applies to Medicaid, Medicare, and other things.

I know a lot of attacks have been made on Medicaid saying the Republicans are going to cut your Medicaid benefits. President Trump has made it clear we’re going to look for fraud, waste, and abuse, but we are not going to cut benefits. That’s what I think you will see play out from the Idaho people.

Eaton: You mentioned Social Security. I was just reading a story this morning where former and current administration employees of Social Security are concerned that the cuts are being made with a chainsaw rather than a scalpel and it could affect payouts. Are you concerned at all?

Crapo: Well, let’s put it this way. I’m not concerned that is happening. I am concerned to make sure that it doesn’t happen. I can assure you of this. People’s access to benefits in Social Security will not be reduced. President Trump has made that absolutely clear and nobody in the Republican Congress is seeking to do that.

In fact, everything that we are seeking to do is to eliminate what I just said – those wasteful or fraudulent pieces of every program that actually reduce the potential for true recipients of the benefits of these programs to get the full benefits they need. I know the attack has been made. It’s consistently made and I don’t expect it’ll be stopped where they will say, oh, they’re going to cut your Medicare, they’re going to cut your Medicaid, they’re going to get rid of your Social Security.

I consider this to be the politics of fear. And that is what the Democrats are pursuing. They don’t have legitimate arguments so they’re trying to scare people into being afraid of what President Trump and the Republican Congress are doing. I’ll just state it again: we’re not going to cut benefits in Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security.

Eaton: What are your interactions like with President Trump in private?

Crapo: President Trump is incredibly intelligent. I think everybody knows how he talks and how he speaks. He’s not any different in private meetings than he is in public engagements, but he is very engaged. I just had an opportunity to spend three hours with him last week in the White House in the Cabinet Room with my Republican Finance Committee member colleagues working on this tax bill. He engaged with us on that at every level with full understanding.

He understands these things and with full ability to engage on the issues with our respective colleagues. It was in that meeting, by the way, where he made it very clear again that he wasn’t cutting Medicaid, he wasn’t cutting Medicare, and he wasn’t cutting Social Security. But we got engaged in those kinds of things And, like you might guess, he’s very direct. He’s very strong but he also was willing to engage and negotiate as issues are raised.

Eaton: You spoke at a Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday in Garden City and there were protesters asking you to hold town halls. Do you plan to hold more and why haven’t you done any?

Crapo: Well, I’ve done over 200 town halls over the last decade in Idaho in every single incorporated town in Idaho and in about 30 or 40 of the 200 unincorporated towns. I haven’t done as many recently, but that doesn’t mean my engagement with the people of Idaho has slowed down. I don’t know about every person who was in that protest, but those who are protesting have full access to me in my office.

They actually are meeting with my staff and Senator Risch’s staff in Boise on a regular weekly basis. Not all of them, obviously, but people who want to come (can) engage in our office and I engage with them through my social media and other interactions on a daily basis. I get a readout every day of what every Idahoan has said to me.

What I think many of them want is a rally to attack President Trump and I’m not inclined to offer them that forum.

Eaton: We have seen in other parts of the country where GOP lawmakers hold town halls and get shouted down.

Crapo: It turns into basically an attack Trump meeting. I’m very willing to talk, as we have talked about President Trump’s policies and what we’re doing in Congress, But I think that they have a different agenda.

Eaton: So no immediate town hall planned for now?

Crapo: Correct.

Eaton:Let’s talk about Russia and Ukraine. Do you believe the United States should continue to support Ukraine?

Crapo: Yes. I am a very strong supporter of Ukraine and I believe President Trump is a very strong supporter of Ukraine. President Trump fully understands the threat that Russia poses and that we must not allow Russia to succeed in its efforts in Ukraine. But I also think that President Trump recognizes that we need to end the war, and he’s getting a lot of support for that across the United States and frankly, I think he’s getting a lot of support for that across Europe. My perspective on this is that we should let President Trump work this issue through, but understand that we are supportive of Ukraine.

Eaton: What are your priorities for the next year going forward?

Crapo: My very first priority, which I’ve referenced a couple of times, is to get through the extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This is a phenomenally huge issue. This bill was passed when President Trump was president the first time and was a massive reorientation of our tax policy to give everybody in America a tax cut and to boost the strength of our economy and our businesses.

What happened was it stopped the inversion of corporations that were just leaving the United States because of our tax policy. It kept them here. In fact, corporate inversions ended and every single American got a tax cut. The unemployment rate went down to historic lows. The inflation rate went down to historic lows. Our economy became the strongest economy that we had seen in our lifetimes.

That bill is now expiring because it only had a ten-year lifespan. My number one objective is to get that bill put back into place and extended for at least another ten years. I’m fighting to make it a permanent law. If we do so, the business community of America has told me, whether it’s the corporate world or the small business world, we will maintain those kinds of record influences on our economy and that we could expect to see strong growth, low inflation, high employment, low unemployment and move forward very aggressively.

So that’s a huge battle. If we don’t succeed in this and have the reverse side, the negative side, we will see a $4.3 trillion tax increase on America, and $2.6 trillion of that tax increase will be on people making less than $400,000. Most of that $2.6 trillion is people making under $100,000 or $200,000. In addition, you will see corporate capital formation move offices. You will again see our economy start to slow. The bottom line here is we cannot let America face a $2.6 trillion tax increase. That’s $2,500 on average for every family, every middle-income or lower-income family.

We can’t let that happen.

Eaton: Senator Crapo, thank you for coming.

Crapo: It’s a privilege. Thanks for having me.

EastIdahoNews.com comment boards are a place for open, honest, and civil communication between readers regarding the news of the day and issues facing our communities. We encourage commenters to stay on topic, use positive and constructive language, and be empathetic to the feelings of other commenters. THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Click here for more details on our commenting rules.