Idaho’s congressmen have big plans, but why bother if Trump can overturn them? | Opinion

We can’t help but chuckle at the naked naivete demonstrated by the press releases and op-eds being sent out by Idaho’s Republican congressional delegation.

“I …plan to work directly with the Trump administration to protect critical programs vital to states and local communities, such as fully funding Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) — a lifeline for our rural communities,” U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson writes in a recent op-ed in the Washington Reporter, yet another far-right partisan media outlet (do we really need another one?).

Better not let Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency find out about these PILT payments.

Musk and DOGE, at the behest of President Donald Trump, are running roughshod over the federal budget and agencies, dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, halting already approved federal grants, dismissing and offering buyouts to federal workers, cutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and indiscriminately cutting payments for National Institutes of Health grants.

Also, since when is the Trump administration interested in handing out lifelines?

“Additionally, while the Fiscal Year 2025 House Interior Bill permanently increased pay for our brave federal wildland firefighters, we still need to get this across the finish line,” Simpson writes. “The provisions included in the bill will improve firefighter recruitment and retention and provide financial certainty to the men and women protecting our communities from catastrophic wildfire. I look forward to working with the administration to make this a reality.”

Are you joking?

More money for the federal government?

In case you hadn’t noticed, that’s not what Trump is empowering Musk and DOGE to do.

It’s especially naive when Simpson’s comments come at the same time that 3,400 Forest Service people are getting laid off, which Simpson says nothing about.

In keeping with the arbitrary nature of Musk’s cuts so far, those layoffs have nothing to do with competence or need. It’s just the newest hires who don’t have full civil service protections, so they’re the people they can fire without it being illegal. Many national forests are way understaffed, and a lot of those positions play important roles in fire suppression, just not as frontline firefighters.

Similarly, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo is striking a business-as-usual tone during these opening weeks of this new era of the U.S. oligarchy.

“On February 3, 2025, I introduced the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025 to extend Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act (SRS) payments through Fiscal Year 2026,” Crapo announced, as if this were still 1992, when he first went to Congress. “SRS payments, along with Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), have been instrumental to Idaho counties with limited revenue because they are home to large amounts of federally-managed land. The SRS program has helped ensure the counties are able to provide for schools, road maintenance, public safety and search and rescue operations.”

How quaint. Good luck with that.

“The (Secure Rural Schools) program is rooted in century-old federal policy,” Crapo writes.

Good Lord, senator, invoking history and established precedent? You don’t think those things still matter, do you?

No, no, we are in a new era of doing business around here, in case you hadn’t heard.

Crapo, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, also sent out a press release in January about how he’s fighting for Idaho interests in legislation to “approve and implement foreign trade agreements.” (Emphasis in bold by Crapo.)

And yet, those trade agreements go up in smoke when Trump announces 25% tariffs on goods from trade partners like Canada and Mexico.

Those tariffs, and the ensuing retaliatory tariffs, will hurt Idaho businesses, farmers and citizens.

It is silly and kind of sad to watch people like Simpson and Crapo stand by while Trump and Musk dismantle congressionally approved programs and funding, and then send out naive statements about their spending priorities for rural schools and wildland firefighters.

If the unelected Musk doesn’t like it, he’s just going to cut it. Why bother trying to get any of your priorities passed if the president can just turn around and unilaterally kill it, under the guise that the American people “voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” according to Musk in a weird Oval Office press conference.

But here’s the nasty little secret that Republican lawmakers seem to be ignoring: Even if Trump doesn’t undo their plans, the next president can undo absolutely anything they value. If a president can simply refuse to spend appropriated money, the next Democrat can just cancel PILT, SRS and any other program that doesn’t benefit blue states.

In the meantime, Trump will continue to usurp power from Congress, regardless of how many press releases and op-eds our gutless congressmen write. Because Republican politicians like Crapo and Simpson have already sent the clear signal: We won’t stand in your way.