As President Donald completed the first 100 days of his second term Tuesday, US Senator Roger Marshall said we are witnessing a rebirth of American greatness. In a media conference with Kansas reporters, the senator said, “If there’s one theme I’ve heard over and over from President Trump, it’s Promises Made, Promises Kept.”
During the 2024 election campaign one of the top Trump priorities was addressing border security, and the senator said what’s happened since is nothing short of miraculous. Where during the Biden administration it was not unusual to see as many as 10,000 people enter the country illegally, that is now down to around 300 a day on average.
Senator Marshall also noted over 130,000 illegal criminal aliens have been deported, and although there are an estimated several hundred thousands more to deport, it is a start. In Conversations with Kansas law enforcement, Marshall said they have told him there are already noticeable declines in fentanyl poisoning cases and violent crimes.
Another example cited of “Promises Made, Promises Kept” has been in energy policy where removal of limitations on the oil and gas industry have already led to lower prices at the gas pump, along with slowing the green energy push of the prior administration and a related withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords. Marshall also cited withdrawal from the World Health Organization, and the DOGE promoted budget reductions.
Senator Marshall also noted the Consumer Price Index for March increased at the lowest rate since the spring of 2000, when the COVID pandemic began, and with that stabilization of grocery prices. One of the biggest changes he noted was the growth in job creation and business investment. The senator visited with a number of manufacturers of varying sizes around Kansas during the Congressional Easter break, and to a company they indicated there has been a spike in orders recently.
During the conference, Ad Astra Radio’s Lucky Kidd asked Senator Marshall if there was anything in the first 100 days he thought could have been done differently. To that the senator, noting this would be something like Monday morning quarterbacking to set there and day he would have done something differently. Marshall meets with the President on at least a weekly basis, and he does offer his advice to him, adding “I think that we’re making incredible progress, but we knew there would be some pain along the way.”
Marshall also commented on President Trump’s announcement Monday issuing a waiver for use of E-15 ethanol this summer. The senator said he is continuing work to include making this permanent in the reconciliation bill Congress is now working on. “This would be so important to farmers. If we were to do that, it would replace about 80% of the corn exports to China.”
Marshall also said he will encourage the President to back a tax credit known as 45Z, that would enable use of soybeans, and perhaps some sorghum and corn, to make jet fuel, which would provide another significant domestic market for American producers.
Other topics covered during the news conference included the issue of birthright citizenship; revocation of some foreign student visas which Marshall noted in some cases may be connected to money laundering activities. On both, he said there may be some collateral damage going on, but that will be sorted out, adding a need for better vetting of those students.
One other topic that came up was Medicaid, and potential cuts in funding for it. Marshall said his goal is to strengthen Medicaid for the people who really need it. “We’re not going to take Medicaid away from senior citizens in nursing homes or people who really need it,” Marshall said, noting a lot of the savings will likely come from states that have expanded Medicaid, which Kansas has not.
Senator Marshall said Medicaid spending has increased some 50% over the past five years, a lot of that has been for things that it was not intended to be used for. He cited the specific examples of California and New York, which have used Medicaid funds for housing.
Medicaid has its place for helping those who truly need assistance, Marshall said, but there is a lot of waste and fraud, with over 90 million people on Medicaid, with a cost of over a trillion
dollars a year.
