For years, the American people have been told the financial health of our nation was manageable, that we would reduce federal spending and reduce the deficit “someday.” The truth is, we’re the healthiest people in the sick ward. “Someday” is here.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th

When President Donald Trump began his second term, he tasked the Department of Government Efficiency with rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal budget. Since then, they have uncovered $155 billion in savings. That’s nearly $1,000 per taxpayer just in the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

For years, the American people and politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for comprehensive budget cuts, pleading with Washington to curb trillion-dollar deficits. Nearly 15 years ago, former President Barack Obama planned to cut wasteful spending following the bold budget-cutting proposal known as “Simpson-Bowles.”

“So this is how we can reduce spending: by scouring the budget for every dime of waste and inefficiency, by reforming government spending, and by making modest adjustments to Medicare and Medicaid,” Obama said during a 2011 address.

Sound familiar?

For context, the national debt in 2010 was $13.5 trillion. That summer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said, “Our national debt is our biggest national security threat.” The admiral was both honest and prophetic. Today, the national debt is nearly three times that amount, clocking in at a whopping $36 trillion and climbing higher every day.

In addition to the Trump administration’s ongoing cost-cutting measures, one way we can reduce federal spending is to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic discretionary spending levels. A 2022 Cato Institute report projects returning to pre-pandemic spending levels “would save American taxpayers $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years.”

So, what is the cost of inaction? Without significantly and meaningfully changing the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars, the interest on the national debt alone will consume nearly one-quarter of our entire budget by 2035, according to the projections by the Congressional Budget Office.

Our nation did not accrue that amount of debt overnight. Likewise, right sizing our federal government will take years. The American people asked Washington to course-correct our nation’s spending. Now, we are doing it.

The same can be said about trade relations and how the United States does business around the world. Western Pennsylvania has seen firsthand how one-sided trade deals, specifically the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), can gut factories and ship jobs overseas, leaving communities behind to pick up the pieces.

During his first administration, President Trump reformed NAFTA with the highly improved U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. This trade deal strengthened ties with our neighbors, who also are two of our largest trading partners. Today, President Trump’s proposed tariffs on products such as steel and aluminum, and reciprocal tariffs on many other nations — including on China — aim to level the playing field in the global economy.

Democrats erroneously slam President Trump’s tariff policies. It’s worth a reminder that former President Joe Biden kept most of President Trump’s first-term tariffs in place. As recently as last year, in the thick of the presidential campaign, Biden finalized tariff hikes of his own, up to 100%, on — you guessed it — Chinese-made products.

The Biden White House billed the move as an effort to make sure “foreign companies respect our laws and don’t endanger American families.”

Once again, sound familiar?

The Biden administration recognized the role tariffs can play. Now, President Trump once again is working to fulfill his campaign promise.

For too long, our nation has ceded market share to other nations. The greatest disrupter and negotiator to ever occupy the White House is once again behind the Resolute Desk. It’s critical that we give President Trump the opportunity to hold conversations with these nations to facilitate deals that will shore up international trade for years to come.

Our federal spending, American jobs, and the American way of life should not be a red issue or a blue issue. They are red, white, and blue issues.

That’s the truth.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly is a Republican representing Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District. He is a member of the Ways & Means Committee, where he serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Tax.