| Big Radio News |
U.S. Congressman Bryan Steil points to Wisconsin’s supposedly nonpartisan state Supreme Court race as a sign out-of-state money and national politics are flooding state elections.
During a live town hall broadcast on Big Radio on Monday, Steil touched on a wide set of topics including campaign spending, student loan debt, and Congressional term limits.
One caller asked the Republican Steil how he feels about White House advisor Elon Musk paying Wisconsinites $1-million checks to vote for Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel.
Steil says he supports Schimel because he thinks the state Supreme Court race has become an ideological mission by Democrats to thwart the impact of some of the Trump administration’s changes.
But Steil says he’d like to see less campaign spending, though he gave no specific details on how he’d address the issue.
“I’d love to see the money get out of politics,” Steil said. “I get frustrated big-picture with all the money that’s spent in all of our elections. And this (Wisconsin) Supreme Court race is going to be the most expensive, not only in the state of Wisconsin…but in the history of our country.”
Although Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race is officially nonpartisan, Schimel is favored and has seen millions of dollars of campaign support from Musk and conservative groups Musk is aligned with.
Schimel’s opponent Susan Crawford has been backed largely by liberals, including campaign cash from Democrat Illinois Governor and billionaire JB Pritzker.
Together, the two Wisconsin judges have hauled in more than $50 million in campaign gifts — a record for spending on a state Supreme Court race.
Other callers asked Steil what he thinks of Trump mentioning that he’d seek a third term as President. And one person asked Steil for his stance on Congressional term limits.
Steil says at the moment, he sees no need for any president to seek a third term in office. He points out that in order to impose term limits for lawmakers, Congress would need to amend the Constitution. Steil suggests Congress could first consider a more incremental, less direct change.
Steil suggests a Congressional bill that would limit how long lawmakers can serve in leadership roles on Capitol Hill.
“For example, you are the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a really important committee in the House of Representatives. After six years, you’re no longer allowed to be chairman of the judiciary committee. You go to the back of the bench,” Steil said. “You’re not allowed to be there forever.”
Steil says such a limit might make it less likely for internal bureaucracies to form within major House and Senate committees. He says Republicans already follow such limits, but Democrats tend to base leadership roles on seniority.
Others who called in to Steil’s town hall asked the lawmaker if Congress should produce bills that echo President Trump’s flurry of executive orders on everything from immigration to public education.
Steil says he thinks Congress should give serious consideration to the bipartisan-backed SAVE Act. That bill would require voters to provide documented proof of citizenship to vote.
Supporters say it would pare back on non-citizens unlawfully voting in elections. Steil says the bill is designed to “make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat.”
Opponents of the SAVE Act say it would make it harder for some eligible voters to vote. They say that is because millions of Americans have no access to citizenship documents the bill would require — including a birth certificate or passport.
The SAVE Act has no impact on Tuesday’s election.
