Hageman outlines agenda, fields pointed questions at NWC event

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman emphasized energy production, fewer federal regulations and trucking safety during a town hall at Northwest College last Saturday, October 10.

The Republican U.S. Senate nominee described the event as her 89th town hall in 3½ years and her 20th this year.

“What I’m going to do is I’ll give you an overview of what we’ve been doing in Congress and what my priorities are,” she said, before opening the floor to questions.

Most early questions followed her legislative priorities. Near the end, two attendees pressed her on presidential authority, health care costs and livestreaming executions. During her health care response, Hageman announced she would take one final question, then concluded with an extended statement about her optimism for America.

Congress and federal regulation

Hageman, a former water and natural resources attorney who represented the Shoshone Project in the Big Horn Basin, said reducing regulatory barriers remains central to her work.

“We are legislators. We should be legislating unambiguously,” she said.

She said Congress should write clearer laws rather than leave policy decisions to federal agencies.

“We’re the ones that are supposed to be drafting and passing the laws, not unelected bureaucrats, not regulatory agencies,” she said.

Hageman expressed frustration with legislation awaiting Senate action.

“Most of the stuff that we do goes to the Senate to die,” she said.

She identified appropriations, the Farm Bill, defense authorization and permitting reform as priorities before the session ends.

Coal, grizzlies and trucking

Hageman linked Wyoming’s coal industry to school construction and discussed efforts to overturn federal restrictions on future coal leasing. She also described legislation to spread coal lease payments over a longer period, saying that large upfront costs discourage companies from bidding.

On grizzly bears, she advocated removing federal protections and returning management authority to states.

“The grizzly bear is a success story,” she said. “We should take that success story. We should take that win and run with it.”

She credited Wyoming’s investment in the bear’s recovery and criticized litigation that has repeatedly challenged delisting.

Trucking legislation was another focus. Hageman described proposals requiring commercial license testing in English, targeting companies that change identities to escape violations, and expanding opportunities for younger drivers to operate across state lines.

“I want more people going into the trucking industry because we desperately need more truck drivers,” she said.

She also discussed protecting utility customers from higher electricity rates associated with data centers. “I also co-sponsored the Ratepayer Protection Act to require utility regulators to implement standards to make sure that data centers don’t raise power rates in their communities,” Hageman said. 

“Our Constitution is sacrosanct,” she added. “Our civil liberties, our freedoms, are sacrosanct. And we cannot allow something like that to happen again.” 

Tribal trust lands and USPS

Hageman advocated giving Native American tribes greater flexibility to lease trust lands, describing legislation that would allow leases of up to 99 years. She said longer leases would make it easier to attract financing and develop businesses on tribal land.

“I want more autonomy and more responsibility and more economic opportunities for them,” she said.

The postal service was another Wyoming concern. Hageman said she opposed plans to move mail processing out of the state, saying the changes would send some Wyoming mail through several states before reaching its destination. She said the Casper and Cheyenne processing facilities would remain open and receive more than $3 million in modernization investments.

Health care and spending

Hageman said combating fraud is necessary to protect public benefit programs.

“I want Medicaid to work,” she said. “I want Medicare to be available.”

She said fraudulent spending diverts resources from intended recipients, including low-income families, people with disabilities and seniors.

Responding to a question about the national debt, she emphasized spending reductions and economic growth.

“We have to cut spending,” she said.

Other priorities included transparency in government litigation settlements and remedies for federal violations of First Amendment rights.

Late questions challenge her positions

Hageman was asked whether Congress was exercising its constitutional responsibilities when President Donald Trump pursued military action against Iran without a declaration of war and imposed tariffs.

“I support the decisions that the President has made with regard to Iran,” she replied. “I think that he’s acting within his War Powers Act and the authority that he has as the President of the United States.”

To a question about the rising costs for health care, Hageman pointed to the Affordable Care Act.

“Obamacare broke our health care system in this country,” she said. “And it broke our insurance system.”

Hageman cited rural health transformation funding and then announced the end of questioning was approaching.

“I’m just going to take one more question after this, and then we’ll be done,” she said.

Asked whether livestreaming executions would be morally or strategically appropriate, Hageman responded, “I don’t know the answer to that. I have not had a chance to analyze that.”

Hageman then moved into closing remarks.

“I am incredibly optimistic about this country for a lot of reasons,” she said, such as economic opportunity and constitutional freedoms. Hageman praised the U.S. economy, comparing Mississippi’s economic output with European countries and pointing to manufacturing investment and opportunities for business owners.

“I know that there are many people here who dislike Donald Trump. I get that,” she said. “But what has happened is that the United States of America is really the center of the world right now in terms of finances, in terms of freedom, in terms of the ability to go out and create their own businesses and be able to thrive and succeed.

“We have a lot to be proud of in this country.”