Fedorchak emphasizes reforms to cut regulations, extend tax cuts during second Fedorchak Forum: Conversations with Constituents

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak (R-ND) hosted her second statewide Fedorchak Forum, a conversation with North Dakota constituents to discuss issues, answer questions, and hear concerns directly from the public. During the forum, she engaged with nearly two thousand North Dakotans on topics ranging from federal funding and extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Actto landowner rights and the Farm Bill.

Throughout the discussion she emphasized Republican efforts to fix the fundamental problems in Washington including runaway spending, unaccountable bureaucracy, and regulatory overreach. She also repeated her commitment to extending current tax policy that, if allowed to expire in December, will increase rates on every tax bracket and result in the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

On the direction of the country:

Fedorchak applauded President Trump's leadership to address a wide variety of problems facing our nation, citing his decisive action on reversing burdensome regulations, securing our borders, and tackling rising inflation. These are fundamentals that policy makers must address, and she urged North Dakotans to be patient. "These problems won't get fixed overnight," Fedorchak said.

She pointed to the commonsense solutions Congressional Republicans are leading on to advance President Trump's agenda: "We're trying to get our energy policy in line, and we're trying to tear back the regulatory overreach that has been strangling our businesses. We have to extend the current tax policy-it will be the largest tax increase in US history if we don't-and it isn't just going to affect millionaires and billionaires, it will affect 95 percent of all Americans."

On extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts:

Fedorchak laid out the disastrous consequences of letting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Actexpire: The lowest tax bracket would see a 50 percent increase in their tax burden, the child tax credit and death tax exemption would be slashed in half, and North Dakotans would see an average tax increase of 23 percent.

She pushed back on the false claims by Congressional Democrats that argue the 2017 Trump tax cuts only benefit the rich: "This is not just helping millionaires and billionaires. This is helping middle class America, this is helping small businesses, [and it will have] a huge impact on farmers and ranchers. So, I'm getting kind of tired of the lies that are being spread by folks on the left who are saying that all we care about is the rich people. That is not true."

On tax certainty for farmers:

If Congress doesn't act, farmers and producers could see a nearly 50 percent tax hike. Fedorchak highlighted the need to lock in tax provisions that North Dakota producers rely on. That includes extending the 199A deduction on qualified business income and elimination of the death tax. "We want to create that certainty for you," Fedorchak added.

On federal funding reforms:

Fedorchak sounded the alarm on the consequences of our current national debt, which is quickly approaching $37 trillion: "This is contributing to inflationary pressure, contributing to increased prices, and it's not sustainable, so we have to get after that."

She also expressed support for smart, deliberate reforms-especially when it comes to sudden federal funding changes that affect North Dakota. Fedorchak understands the challenges caused by sudden changes that can be disruptive for agencies and communities that are counting on federal funds that were promised for various projects. She has been in touch with federal agencies and the White House for clarity on decision-making processes and funding delays.

On tariffs and trade:

Fedorchak expressed her support for President Trump's commitment to securing fair trade deals with our partners. "We are part of a lot of bad trade deals-deals that aren't free or fair for Americans, and for our businesses and for our farmers. There are non-tariff trade barriers that have been constructed by trading partners all over the globe [...] President Trump is working to remove those," she said. She also pointed out that 70 countries have already come to the table to renegotiate trade deals, which is good news for North Dakota businesses and producers.

Fedorchak stressed the need to bring supply chains and jobs back from China. "I fully support President Trump trying to level this playing field, bring more manufacturing back to the US, and get our trading partners more in line with the free trade that we have advocated for," Fedorchak said.

On the Farm Bill:

Fedorchak provided an update on her discussionswith Secretary Rollins during her recent visitto North Dakota and the virtual roundtableshe hosted for North Dakota producers with House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-PA).

Fedorchak said she's pushing for a strong Farm Bill with higher reference prices and better crop insurance. "The minute we're done with this reconciliation process, we need to get the administration, the White House, the House, and the Senate really focused on the Farm Bill so we can get that piece of certainty finalized for our farmers this year. It's been kicked down the street too many times, and farmers just don't deserve that," she added.

On her bill to support landowners:

Fedorchak laid out the issues North Dakota landowners currently face: "Many landowners in our state have been tied up and locked into easements that were signed-they're perpetual easements, there's no end to them [...] and they're obligated to follow the requirements of these easements, which have actually grown over time. [...] All of those prohibitions on the use of those lands that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife has are restricting our landowners' ability to operate their own land and use it for production."

She touted her legislation, the Landowner Easement Rights Act, which she introduced with Rep. Hageman (R-WY) to restore property rights for landowners. The bill would cap new federal conservation easements at 30 years and give landowners the right to renegotiate, renew, or buy back their easements.

On Medicaid:

Fedorchak highlighted that Medicaid spending is growing-and reform is needed to protect the program for those it is intended to help. "This program isn't sustainable on its current path," she said. Fedorchak emphasized that House Republicans are focused on reforming the program to make it sustainable so it can continue serving the elderly, those living with disabilities, and pregnant mothers.

Reforms under consideration include audits to make sure only eligible individuals are enrolled in the program and adding work requirements for able-bodied adults. "What we spend on Medicaid tomorrow is going to be more than what we spend today. And in fact, if we realize the full $880 billion worth of [spending] reforms that the Energy and Commerce Committee has been tasked with finding, Medicaid spending increases will outpace the projects made in 2021 by almost 7% over the course of the next five years," Fedorchak underscored.

On the border:

Fedorchak was clear when addressing the Biden border crisis: "There are laws in place that were completely ignored by the last administration, and as a result, we had a lot of people enter our country. We have drug dealers and human traffickers. We have criminals that came from other countries that have done great harm."

She shared the tragic stories of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, who were murdered by undocumented illegal migrants, noting how President Trump is leading to make our communities safer and restore orderat the southern border.

On the recent Keystone pipeline leak:

Fedorchak emphasized the need to use the smartest evaluation tools to monitor the pipeline and discussed her recent call with company executives. "I expressed my concerns and asked them to keep me updated on what they find, what their response is going to be, how they're going to double down and make sure this pipe is safe," Fedorchak said in regard to her conversation with the pipeline's owner, South Bow.

She also noted that root cause analysis being conducted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) administration is key to identifying any ongoing flaws in the pipeline that must be fixed to protect public safety.

Fedorchak plans to host Fedorchak Forumsregularly to keep North Dakotans updated on the work she is doing on their behalf in Washington D.C. The next telephone town hall date will be announced soon, and people will be able to sign up to participate here.

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