Beneath the screaming and the shouting — the “noise” — lawmakers have been able to accomplish more than what the public realizes, Rep. Derek Schmidt said Thursday.
Schmidt, who represents Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representative, attended Thursday’s Iola Area Chamber of Commerce annual awards dinner, and spoke briefly afterwards with the Register.
“It’s a noisy time in our national discourse,” Schmidt said. “But underneath the noise, there’s actually some real progress.”
He pointed to the appropriations bills that essentially keep the government open. Congress has approved 11 of the 12 appropriations, the first time that many appropriations bills have been done at the same time since Bill Clinton was in office.
The 12th, funding Homeland Security, isn’t far away.
“There’s a path to getting that one done, hopefully next week or the week after that,” he said.
There are other examples: Schmidt is confident a farm bill, which is three years overdue, will be approved sometime this year.
A service transportation bill may also get done this year, “but I wouldn’t bet the farm on that one this year. But at least there are serious discussions about getting it done.
“The system is starting to work more like it is supposed to,” he said. “And that’s a good thing.”
SCHMIDT is hopeful a tentative ceasefire between the United States and Iran leads to a long-term peace deal.
“I don’t have tremendous insight beyond what’s reported publicly on what the future might hold,” he said.
“The administration has played its strategic cards fairly close to the vest. But the public indicators look promising from these last two or three days. I’m sort of hopeful.”
If peace does not hold, Schmidt expects a war powers resolution to come up before Congress.
“I hope the administration is able to stay focused on the mission, which is to degrade, or deny, Iran’s ability to build or have delivered from outside of its borders, a nuclear warhead.
“We need to focus on that mission, accomplish it, and come home,” he continued. “Don’t let this grow into something larger. That’s the advice we continue to give the administration, both publicly and privately.”
SCHMIDT, who served a dozen years as state attorney general and in the Kansas Senate for a decade, was elected to the 2nd District seat in 2024 following retirement of U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner. He unsuccessfully challenged Laura Kelly in the 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election.
