First District congressman answers critique of GOP’s immigration, Medicaid policies
By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Republican U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann of Kansas said Friday the nation ought to get behind President Donald Trump’s ultimate decision on whether to authorize military strikes to interrupt Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.
The Trump administration said a determination could be made within two weeks about deployment of sophisticated weapons aimed at dismantling Iran’s nuclear sites. Meanwhile, Israel and Iran continued to exchange barrages in a weeklong shooting conflict.
“Under no circumstance should Iran be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” Mann said in an interview. “President Trump has always been clear that his goal is to attain American peace through strength. We need to support our president on whatever his decision is.”
Mann wasn’t the only member of the Kansas delegation drawn to the clash between Iran and Israel.
“Iran should not have nuclear capabilities,” said U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, a Republican serving the Wichita region. “They are a state sponsor of terrorism and a threat to the Middle East and the entire world.”
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said he was confident Trump was examining different sides of the question. He said he hoped Israel could finish the job without direct involvement of the United States.
“What we’re hoping to see over there is a regime change as well and end this terrorist organization,” Marshall said. “I know philosophically President Trump is not going to get us into another endless war.”
The big bill
Mann, who serves the large 1st District stretching from Dodge City in the west to Lawrence in the east, said the House and Senate was intent on passing a massive bill featuring tax cuts, investment in border security and deportation of people in the country illegally, modernization of air traffic control systems, expansion of agriculture programs and reform of the social safety net.
“If we fail to pass this bill the average Kansas family will face a tax hike of $2,200 in January,” Mann said. “That’s the last thing Kansas families need after four years of level records of inflation.”
Mann objected to the latest projection from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that budget legislation passed last month by the House and undergoing vetting by the Senate could increase federal deficits by $2.8 trillion over the next decade. The CBO produced a dynamic analysis that took into account how the economy could adjust to changes in revenue and spending.
Mann said the CBO’s estimate of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act underestimated economic growth tied to tax reductions. In 2022, he said, CBO said the Inflation Reduction Act would lower the deficit by $238 billion. That was revised in 2024 to indicate it could boost the deficit.
In addition, he said economic assumptions related to implementation of the pending “big, beautiful bill” were too modest.
“I believe once it’s passed the economic growth will exceed expectations as President Trump has done in the first five months of his presidency,” Mann said.
Mann said the Senate shouldn’t make broad changes to the House version because “I was really happy with what we passed.”
Farm economy
Mann said he had heard concern among Kansas farmers about Trump’s tariff and immigration policies disrupting the agriculture economy. Trump has been criticized by baffled business owners for the on-again, off-again targeting of immigrant labor on farms. There have been calls to exempt agriculture from Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Mann said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel were focused on deporting individuals with a violent background.
“No one loves America’s farmers, ranchers and ag producers more than President Trump,” Mann said. “America has the safest, most secure food supply in the world and this administration is working around the clock to ensure that we further strengthen the farm economy.”
Assertions tax provisions in the House bill excessively rewarded billionaires while making life difficult for lower-income individuals were misplaced, Mann said. He said the bill featured the largest tax cut for middle-class families in U.S. history and eliminated income taxes on overtime and tips, reduced taxes on Social Security and expanded the child tax credit.
“I’ve never met a billionaire who is counting on overtime pay, living off of Social Security or banking on tips to make ends meet so I just reject that notion,” Mann said.