U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse appeared to walk a fine line when he addressed a packed ballroom Aug. 27 at the Pasco Red Lion while protestors lined the street outside.  

He told those attending the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce that a lot of good things are going on in the country. The passage of House Resolution 1, better known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, prevented “one of the largest tax increases in history,” added agriculture-related provisions and tax credits related to nuclear power that he said he fought to keep in.  

“I was able to take them off the cutting room floor and put them back in the bill,” the Republican congressman said to applause.  

But he also acknowledged the challenge of addressing the flood of executive orders and changes coming at rapid speed from the White House. He said there is an appearance of the administration’s actions at times seeming “clumsy and awkward and confused.” And he said Congress needs to do more to maintain its check on presidential power.  

“You know my voting record. You know I’m not afraid to tell the president when he’s wrong,” Newhouse said, alluding to his vote to impeach Trump following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters in January 2020.  

Newhouse has rarely appeared at large public gatherings in recent years. However, it is an annual tradition for him to provide a congressional update to the regional chamber during its August luncheon.   

This year’s event saw an extensive security and law enforcement presence and organizers announced at the beginning that the congressman would not take questions from the floor and that attendees were to not be disruptive.  

“This is a chamber luncheon, not a town hall,” said Lori Mattson, the chamber’s president and CEO.   

Newhouse said that “unlike (Trump’s) first term, the president and his team have come in ready and anxious to get work done.”   

While calling the moniker for H.R. 1 “silly,” he said the tax cuts it preserved will allow small businesses to grow and hire more people. He praised Trump for ensuring hydroelectric power has a role to play in the country’s future. And because the president is addressing the issue of border security, it has opened the door to make sure the agriculture industry has the labor it needs.  

“This is the best chance to fix agriculture worker visas in a long, long time,” Newhouse said.    

The congressman also received applause when he mentioned the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic that is expected to be built in the Tri-Cities, though no site or groundbreaking date has been announced.   

He stood by the changes to Medicaid that were recently signed into law, stressing that no one who qualifies will lose their access to care. He said he understands change is hard but it is necessary to keep the federal health care program for low-income people viable and ensure that able-bodied people are not taking advantage of the system.  

“Forty percent of my constituents utilize Medicaid so this is important to me,” Newhouse said, adding “we respect and revere the work ethic. We want people to be productive, we need people to be productive.”   

Peppered throughout the congressman’s remarks was some less praiseworthy commentary on the Trump administration and Congress.   

“He’s a disruptor, and it’s up to us to put things back together in a way that works – and that’s difficult,” Newhouse said.   

He said he’s heard from those in the agriculture industry that the tariffs are taking a toll. Newhouse ascribed the trade challenges to Trump’s preference for one-on-one deals with countries rather than multilateral agreements. However, the congressman hinted that “there’s some good news coming up” related to trade with Canada, Korea, Japan and Mexico.  

He said he suspects the president may be overstepping in trying to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve. He defended Trump deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C., saying, “I can tell you from personal experience, I don’t ride the Metro after 9 p.m.” But he noted that the president needs to be invited first before doing this elsewhere in the nation.  

“Now if he says, ‘Chicago we’re coming for you next,’ I don’t think so,” Newhouse said.  

Newhouse said Congress has given up too much of its authority to the executive branch and that he challenges Republicans who seek to give Trump more unilateral power.   

“I’m a Republican, and I want to support a Republican president but I’m also an institutionalist,” he said, adding that he’s posited to his colleagues that the Democrats could have the White House in three years and that president would then have all that new authority.  

Despite a ban allowing questions from those in attendance, one audience member shouted to Newhouse, “Do you support the release of the Epstein files?” Newhouse addressed the question, saying he wants transparency but adding that the administration should have the opportunity to review it so that “innocent people” aren’t targeted.  

And Newhouse doesn’t see the question about federal budgets being answered anytime soon. With half of the federal appropriation bills remaining to be voted on before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, he expects there to be a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded through the end of 2025.