Spokane Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner acknowledged what he called a "butt-kicking" that his party was given by voters last week.
He shared some thoughts Saturday about what led to some of the wave that will sweep Democrats into control in both houses of Congress as well as nearly swept him from office. But he remains supportive of the war against Iran, which has proven unpopular with the American public.
"The president did not do a very good job of explaining to the American people in a consistent and serious way the Iranian threat," Baumgartner said in a news conference declaring victory along Cliff Drive overlooking downtown Spokane. "Part of it's not just the policy, but it needs to be more focused. And then, of course, when you're also talking about the threat from Iran, and then talking about renaming the Kennedy Center, it distracts from the message. So there needs to be some consistency of seriousness on that issue."
Americans of all political stripes sent a message with the way they voted, he said.
"You had some traditional Republican voters that I think were angry and frustrated that the president has been focusing on things, like renaming the Kennedy Center, and some of the things that they don't feel are core functions to their life," Baumgartner said.
He said he's focused on improving the everyday lives of residents in Eastern Washington, particularly in the wake of the devastating Spokane Complex fires.
The congressman said he will work with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, to funnel resources to the families affected by the devastating wildfires that engulfed Spokane more than three months ago.
Baumgartner defeated Democrat Carmela Conroy in last week's election. In Friday's count, he led by only 3 percentage points even though he won two years ago by more than 20. Conroy was a critic of President Donald Trump's decision to go to war in Iran, highlighting the spike in gas prices that followed the war.
But Baumgartner maintains it's "really important that we not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." He said there's a terrorist regime in Iran and added that when he worked in Iraq as a diplomat, he dealt with the "Iranian terrorist -supporting groups."
The Iranians almost killed him on "a couple occasions" and more than 1,000 Americans were killed in Iraq while he was there between 2007 and 2008, he said.
On Friday, Stephen Miller, who's known as the architect of Trump's mass deportation campaign, was appointed by the president to be the new White House chief of staff.
Baumgartner said he doesn't know Miller well or what skill set he will bring.
"I think he's seen as somebody that is pretty aggressive on immigration enforcement," Baumgartner said. "So I think in Congress, we need to have a lawful but also civically decent immigration enforcement process, and we'll see what he does. But I haven't had a chance to really dig into it yet."
Baumgartner said the country needs a secure border. While the Trump administration has made good progress on that front, there's been "a lot of justified frustration at some of the theatrics of the way ICE, particularly under Kristi Noem's leadership, was carrying out immigration raids," he said.
"I think a lot of people thought it was heartless, you know, verging on cruel in some areas. We need to make sure that everybody has due process and everybody is treated with dignity as we enforce our laws."
He also said Congress needs to start passing immigration laws instead of doing it by presidential edict and that effort "obviously starts with securing the border."
A Cato Institute survey of 4,150 registered voters found that 75% of participants said tariffs were important to their vote during the midterm elections.
"I think the tariffs have been too high," he said. "It's not just the height of the tariffs; it's the unpredictability. You know, businesses need to plan."
Baumgartner hosted the Canadian consul general in Spokane a couple months ago to talk with local business about repairing the American-Canadian relationship.
On the campaign trail Conroy repeatedly highlighted Baumgartner's voting record on tariffs,
despite his stated reservations on Trump's policy.
Baumgartner noted that Republicans will continue to control Congress through the end of the year and pointed to a topic that will be discussed Wednesday by the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, on which he serves as vice chair.
"Everybody has a casino in their pocket right now, and we're seeing a real concerning rise in sports gaming amongst particularly young males on college campuses," Baumgartner said. "We're trying to learn more and get the background out to see if there should be any regulation or legislation that should come out of that."
He began the news conference by acknowledging the difficult week for law enforcement in Eastern Washington, beginning with the funeral for Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers and then the killing of two Spokane County sheriff's deputies on Tuesday.
Baumgartner said he used to work out with one of the deputies who died in last week's shooting near Spangle,. and that deputy's wife gave his children piano lessons. He added he has been in contact with Sheriff John Nowels about the incident.
"The thing he said is how tough it is on the other deputies that they don't get the opportunity to take time off and grieve their friends and colleagues," Baumgartner said. "So he asked me just to ask people if they would share comments to support law enforcement right now."
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