May 29, 2025 • 6 mins
Congressman Bill Huizenga representing Michigan's 4th District joins us to discuss the anatomy of the budget bill that just cleared the House of Representatives.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, let's head out to Macana Island. This is West
Michigan's morning News Steve Kelly and Brett Makeita. Congressman serving
Michigan's fourth district, Bill Heisinge, on the liveline with us
this morning. Congressman, thanks for doing this today, of course.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm looking out off of the porch of the
Grand looking at calm seas at the bridge. It's just
like Washington, d C. Peaceful, serene, calm waters.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
The Senate will soon be a little fired up. As
they discussed that budget bill that you passed. You were
a yes. There was a one vote margin here, and
I thought Rick Albin did a great job with a
piece yesterday when he talked to Senator Slatkin and then
you about the budget bill and how it affects those
here in West Michigan. And when you all in Congress
(00:48):
imposed deadlines that aren't necessary or within there's some fear involved.
I get a little suspicious. And I understand when it
comes to Medicare and Medicaid and Social secure that when
the president's talking about sweeping cuts and he can be
this cavalier, some folks might be afraid. You had a
(01:08):
little different spin when it comes to cuts, talk to
us about that and the budget build.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, you have to define exactly what savings are and
what cuts are. In my mind, those are two very
different things, right, And what we are squeezing out of
here is savings because we know that there's one point
six million people that are not just drawing benefits in
one state, they're in multiple states. Okay, well, first and
(01:35):
for that shouldn't be acceptable. We know that there are
millions of people who are here undocumented, illegal or undocumented
however you want to call them, who are drawing on
those same benefits and are taking those resources away from
our citizens. And the ultimate goal is to make sure
(01:56):
that we have a safety net that is working for
those who are to save for those who can't help themselves,
who can't work. Having able bodied men especially, that's the
number that we're the target. That we're really looking at,
able bodied men who are sitting on the couch and
not getting on a payroll. That's wrong and I don't
understand how we would have any disagreement on that. Let's
(02:19):
make sure that we have a workforce that's ready. But
there's plenty of work out there. We're hearing this all
the time. It's the debate about our immigration laws and
rules and policies. Right is, we know we need more workers,
and we have a workforce that is been sidelined. Whether
it's been intentional or unintentional, but it's been sidelined by
(02:41):
some of these policy decisions, and it's time to change that.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Anything else you hope to see that stays in it
as it heads to the Senate. I see Elon Musk
as being critical though he's on his way out, that
it adds to the deficit. What for West Michigan specifically, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Mean, look, it grows that or it's lows that rate
of growth, but certainly is going to be an issue
that we have to look at and have to deal with.
Right But what I wanted to make sure that we're
seeing is that we have common sense energy policy. For example,
We've got to make sure that that that is happening.
(03:19):
We've got to make sure that there is the right
systems in place to make sure that our manufacturers are
able to go and be competitive. Tariffs are certainly something
that we have to deal with. That's not one big,
beautiful bill, but that is an overarching, certainly an overarching
policy issue that is affecting a lot of those things.
So we have to get our tax our tax system
(03:42):
back in place, we have to get energy policy put
in place, and we've got to make sure that we're
humming as an economy.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
We have to ask you about your experience at West Point.
You are very blessed to be able to be asked
to do some pretty cool things in your current job.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, this is one of the things that I love
to do, is have the honor of appointing young men
and women to go to any of the service academies.
And had actually two of my appointees that graduated last
weekend from West Point. President Trump was there and spoke
had a chance to be with him for a little bit.
(04:19):
And it's just inspirational. And I'm pretty sure if you
took a vial of blood out of these kids, it
wouldn't be just red, it would be red, white and blue.
They really truly do bleed for their country. And we've
got to make sure they're safe. We've got to make
sure that they've got the tools that they have. But
it's just so impressive to let them to see them
want to serve their country.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
And lastly, and speaking of that, and you and your service.
There was some talk about you entering the political Transfer Portal,
anything more about a possible move to the Senate.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, I still haven't found a really good nil deal.
But other than that, why not that's great? Well, some
federal rules lightly prohibit that, so you know, look, I'm
taking a look at this Senate race, getting a very
very good response both locally and statewide and nationally. We're
(05:15):
putting together a team that's helping me make that final decision,
and lots of encouragement as I've been up here on
the island. But we'll stay tuned. We'll be making a
decision not too distant future. But at the end of
the day, I want to I want to continue to
serve our state. We need to have somebody who's going
(05:38):
to go there be able to work with the Trump administration,
whether it's on the Great Lakes Restoration initiative, whether it's
on manufacturing, whether it's on tariffs, and right now we
don't really have somebody at the table if you're not
going to vote for the final bill, and I think
we need to have someone like that, and I'm getting
a lot of encouragement that would be me. So we'll
see us.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
On the on mcan Island Congress and Bill Heisinga, thanks
for your time today.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
All right, Good to be with you.
Well, let's head out to Macana Island. This is West
Michigan's morning News Steve Kelly and Brett Makeita. Congressman serving
Michigan's fourth district, Bill Heisinge, on the liveline with us
this morning. Congressman, thanks for doing this today, of course.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm looking out off of the porch of the
Grand looking at calm seas at the bridge. It's just
like Washington, d C. Peaceful, serene, calm waters.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
The Senate will soon be a little fired up. As
they discussed that budget bill that you passed. You were
a yes. There was a one vote margin here, and
I thought Rick Albin did a great job with a
piece yesterday when he talked to Senator Slatkin and then
you about the budget bill and how it affects those
here in West Michigan. And when you all in Congress
(00:48):
imposed deadlines that aren't necessary or within there's some fear involved.
I get a little suspicious. And I understand when it
comes to Medicare and Medicaid and Social secure that when
the president's talking about sweeping cuts and he can be
this cavalier, some folks might be afraid. You had a
(01:08):
little different spin when it comes to cuts, talk to
us about that and the budget build.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, you have to define exactly what savings are and
what cuts are. In my mind, those are two very
different things, right, And what we are squeezing out of
here is savings because we know that there's one point
six million people that are not just drawing benefits in
one state, they're in multiple states. Okay, well, first and
(01:35):
for that shouldn't be acceptable. We know that there are
millions of people who are here undocumented, illegal or undocumented
however you want to call them, who are drawing on
those same benefits and are taking those resources away from
our citizens. And the ultimate goal is to make sure
(01:56):
that we have a safety net that is working for
those who are to save for those who can't help themselves,
who can't work. Having able bodied men especially, that's the
number that we're the target. That we're really looking at,
able bodied men who are sitting on the couch and
not getting on a payroll. That's wrong and I don't
understand how we would have any disagreement on that. Let's
(02:19):
make sure that we have a workforce that's ready. But
there's plenty of work out there. We're hearing this all
the time. It's the debate about our immigration laws and
rules and policies. Right is, we know we need more workers,
and we have a workforce that is been sidelined. Whether
it's been intentional or unintentional, but it's been sidelined by
(02:41):
some of these policy decisions, and it's time to change that.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Anything else you hope to see that stays in it
as it heads to the Senate. I see Elon Musk
as being critical though he's on his way out, that
it adds to the deficit. What for West Michigan specifically, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Mean, look, it grows that or it's lows that rate
of growth, but certainly is going to be an issue
that we have to look at and have to deal with.
Right But what I wanted to make sure that we're
seeing is that we have common sense energy policy. For example,
We've got to make sure that that that is happening.
(03:19):
We've got to make sure that there is the right
systems in place to make sure that our manufacturers are
able to go and be competitive. Tariffs are certainly something
that we have to deal with. That's not one big,
beautiful bill, but that is an overarching, certainly an overarching
policy issue that is affecting a lot of those things.
So we have to get our tax our tax system
(03:42):
back in place, we have to get energy policy put
in place, and we've got to make sure that we're
humming as an economy.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
We have to ask you about your experience at West Point.
You are very blessed to be able to be asked
to do some pretty cool things in your current job.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, this is one of the things that I love
to do, is have the honor of appointing young men
and women to go to any of the service academies.
And had actually two of my appointees that graduated last
weekend from West Point. President Trump was there and spoke
had a chance to be with him for a little bit.
(04:19):
And it's just inspirational. And I'm pretty sure if you
took a vial of blood out of these kids, it
wouldn't be just red, it would be red, white and blue.
They really truly do bleed for their country. And we've
got to make sure they're safe. We've got to make
sure that they've got the tools that they have. But
it's just so impressive to let them to see them
want to serve their country.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
And lastly, and speaking of that, and you and your service.
There was some talk about you entering the political Transfer Portal,
anything more about a possible move to the Senate.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, I still haven't found a really good nil deal.
But other than that, why not that's great? Well, some
federal rules lightly prohibit that, so you know, look, I'm
taking a look at this Senate race, getting a very
very good response both locally and statewide and nationally. We're
(05:15):
putting together a team that's helping me make that final decision,
and lots of encouragement as I've been up here on
the island. But we'll stay tuned. We'll be making a
decision not too distant future. But at the end of
the day, I want to I want to continue to
serve our state. We need to have somebody who's going
(05:38):
to go there be able to work with the Trump administration,
whether it's on the Great Lakes Restoration initiative, whether it's
on manufacturing, whether it's on tariffs, and right now we
don't really have somebody at the table if you're not
going to vote for the final bill, and I think
we need to have someone like that, and I'm getting
a lot of encouragement that would be me. So we'll
see us.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
On the on mcan Island Congress and Bill Heisinga, thanks
for your time today.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
All right, Good to be with you.
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