July 2, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: Rep. Ben Cline said in a June newsletter: “The House took important steps to restore fiscal responsibility by passing a historic rescissions package …” But according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the bill would “add $2.4 trillion to primary deficits over the coming decade, adding $3.0 trillion to the debt including interest.” That’s the opposite of fiscal responsibility.
Cline also claimed that “the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered billions in waste …” This is an improvement on Cline’s earlier claim that DOGE eliminated “waste, fraud, and abuse.” The Trump administration has provided no evidence of relevant fraud or abuse, and “waste” includes cancer research, rural health care access, AIDS prevention, mine safety, hurricane warnings, housing, STEM education, job training, food banks, and school lunch programs.
Cline did make one reasonable claim: “the federal government has no business dictating what kind of car you can drive.” But he follows it with a non sequitur: “Yet Democrats in Virginia were on track to follow California’s extreme mandate banning gaspowered cars by 2035.” Virginia is not the federal government. He then brags about the federal government overriding states: “I was proud to vote for the resolution signed into law by President Trump last week that blocks these electric vehicle mandates …” If the federal government has no business dictating about cars, why did Cline support a federal law protecting gas-powered cars?
Cline concludes with a hypocritical pledge: “I’ll keep fighting to stop federal overreach …” We have not seen this level of presidential overreach since FDR expanded his powers in the face of the Great Depression. Today the economy remains strong, yet Trump has falsely declared multiple power-expanding “emergencies,” which Cline has applauded. He supports federal overreach as long as the federal government is Republican. CHRIS GAVALER Lexington
