Kevin Kiley says he wants to get things done in DC. How will he do it?
Kevin Kiley says he wants to be a coalition-builder in Congress, one of the young, new faces that helps cut through the gridlock that threatens to paralyze Washington for the next two years.
The Rocklin Republican, who begins his term as a congressman Jan. 3, comes to Washington probably best known as the firebrand who received a boost from former President Donald Trump and for helping lead last year’s unsuccessful fight to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom..
So which Kevin Kiley will emerge? Can he be both a healer and a fierce partisan?
Kiley, 37, told The Bee he’s not trying to be a polarizing figure. He doesn’t hesitate to say he’ll support Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy for speaker. At the moment, he’s not joining the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, some of whose members oppose McCarthy, or the more center-right Republican Governance Group.
Kiley won his seat in November with 53.6%, and earned more votes than any California Republican congressional candidate. Yet he represents an area that could swing Democratic, where Trump won in 2020 with about half the vote.
“Kiley’s problem is his district is increasingly Democratic,” said Wesley Hussey, professor of political science at California State University, Sacramento
Placer County, the heart of the newly-drawn 3rd congressional district that Kiley will represent, is witnessing the same trends as other areas increasingly populated by college educated, middle class whites. Kiley won the county easily, but Hussey said that it will be a “tough base for him.”
When The Bee asked Kiley to discuss what he saw as his greatest challenge as he enters Congress, he quickly said overcoming the gridlock.
He vowed to “try to build bridges wherever I can, build coalitions whatever way I can, to find allies who are interested in advancing constructive solutions and making our government more accountable.”
Kiley and inflation
Asked for his policy priorities, Kiley offered a long list, but seemed most passionate about tackling economic issues.
He said 2022’s steep price increases were “set off through misguided fiscal policy, a product of Nancy Pelosi’s Congress and the Biden administration which spent unprecedented amounts of money over the past few years.”
He cited the February, 2021 warning of Larry Summers, Clinton administration Treasury secretary and top economic adviser to President Barack Obama. Congress was considering President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, aimed at providing economic relief as the Covid pandemic continued.
Summers argued there was a chance the package “will set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation, with consequences for the value of the dollar and financial stability.”
This summer, prices rose at their steepest pace in more than 40 years, prompting the Federal Reserve to raise its key interest rate seven times. Many economists predict a recession in 2023.
Kiley’s views are in line with those of Republican leaders. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, the top Republican on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, told reporters recently that she will seek a spending agreement that among other things “cut wasteful spending (and) reduces inflation.”
Kiley had similar ideas, saying “I’m gonna be very actively pushing for legislation that will reign in spending and other steps.”
It won’t be easy. Government spending will require the approval of Biden and a Democrat-controlled Senate that has much different priorities.
Some of what Kiley wants to do would undo their initiatives. Kiley cited as a target for cuts the Democratic-authored plan to fund about 87,000 Internal Revenue Service jobs.
“What we’re concerned about is what these 87,000 agents are gonna be up to,” Kiley said. “There certainly aren’t enough billionaires to keep them busy. We worry they’ll find ways to harass ordinary taxpayers and small business owners.” .
IRS officials insisted there will be no army of 87,000 agents about to be unleashed on the public.
The 87,000 figure is from Treasury’s 2021 “American Family Plan Tax Compliance Agenda,” a plan for modernizing the IRS. On page 16, it says $80 billion could be used for “hiring new specialized enforcement staff, modernizing antiquated information technology, and investing in meaningful taxpayer service.”
It says that could mean 86,582 jobs by 2031. Not all jobs will be filled by agents, and many of the jobs will be filling those vacated by retirees or people who left.
In August, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote Charles Rettig, then the IRS commissioner, to assure him that “small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited.”
Kiley was unconvinced. “I’ve seen it in California, how they go after whoever they can.” .
New Republican in town
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, was just re-elected to his 10th term. “I always like to keep my head down and get things done for my district and the issues I care about,” he said, describing why he’s survived.
But he acknowledged a lot has changed. Freshmen a generation ago were usually seen and not heard, trying to build alliances with like-minded senior members and developing a reputation for strong constituent service.
While that’s still the case, newer members also understand that to survive they need to define themselves to constituents quickly and often, usually via social media and television.
They know that constituents now have easy access to their members of Congress. They can watch them live at hearings, follow their thoughts on social media and quickly learn how they voted.
That helps make congressional hearings particularly important. The format allows freshmen, just like veterans, to ask tough questions and express their views on a variety of subjects while people back home can watch.
Instant communication, Costa said, “gives them a different platform and how they can articulate it.”
It allows a freshman such as Kiley to more easily define himself as a bridge-building conservative, supporting McCarthy but untethered to Trump.
Trump endorsed Kiley in May during the Republican primary campaign, and praised Kiley as a “fantastic person” last month. Kiley said he has not spoken to Trump since May, and a Trump spokesman would not return a request for comment.
“Since Trump doesn’t have any formal position right now, a member can try to focus on the actions of President Biden and Senate Democrats and disclaim any responsibility for taking a position on Trump,” said Philip Wallach, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right research group.
Kiley will not commit to supporting Trump, or anyone else at this point, for president in 2024.
”I’m not focused on any other election right now,” he said. “ I just got through an election.”
He plans to focus on holding the Biden administration accountable on a variety of issues, and that’s where hearings can play a part. Kiley does not yet know what committees he’ll join.
Besides spending and economic policy, Kiley wants answers about immigration. He sees it as an issue where he may be able to participate in a coalition to achieve something.
“What I want is to have a secure border where we have opportunities for legal immigration that has been central to the American identity since our country’s founding,” he said. “where we can enhance our country in myriad ways and bolster our workforce and add to our diversity and all of that is central to what this country is about.”
So what can he, a freshman Republican, realistically do about the economy, immigration or anything else?
For now, he said, he can ask the tough questions.
“I don’t know how anyone can look at what’s going on when literally you have record levels of illegal crossings and say that this is good,” KIley said. “And, what, we want to keep getting more and more, millions more, every year?
“I don’t think anyone believes that, Democrat or Republican. We do need to have an open examination of this administration’s border policies and when we get the facts that’ll create the foundation for moving things in the right direction.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kevin Kiley says he wants to get things done in DC. How will he do it?."
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