Serving since 2017 as a part of Utah’s third congressional district, John Curtis starts the next chapter of his political career as a member of the United States Senate. During a news conference held on Friday, Jan. 3, the Senator discussed the change from Congress to the Senate, his plans for the office and answered questions from the press.
Curtis opened by reflecting on the months since his election,” It feels like the end of a beginning … Today, we start this new beginning, and it’s clear to me that the hard work, the heavy lifting of governing actually begins today. And I think politicians in general tend to say, trust me, I’m going to go do a bunch of big things, but today I’d like to actually give all of you an invitation to watch me, and then join me for what’s next in this new chapter.”
He then explained some of the goals he wants to accomplish during the Senate session,” You will see me supporting and working to ensure President Trump’s priorities of things like fixing the economy, inflation, securing the border, keeping America strong, are all realized and important. I’ll continue to build consensus, as I have, and work on principled legislation. Tough issues, the national debt, I’m ready to jump in on deficit spending and even Social Security. You’ll see me continue to lead an effort for a conservative climate approach, holding China in check, unleashing American energy, public and federal lands, and bringing a stronger position for Utah on those.”
While on the campaign trail, Sen. Curtis espoused many of the same goals. In an interview with Castle Country Radio, he cited border security, Chinese Foreign Influence, energy production and public lands as key issues he wanted to focus on.
Curtis was asked about the Department of Government Efficiency and what budget-cutting proposals he could see himself pushing back on and what limits he had in terms of cutting costs. “ There’s good cuts and bad cuts … My hope is that the country will understand that we do need to make some cuts. And any organization, whether they’re government or business, from time to time needs to reevaluate how they’re spending money and where they’re spending it, where they could spend it better. And I hope that we can be productive and not negative in the way that we approach this.”
The Senator then spoke on the challenge of infighting among Republicans during his time in Congress and if he anticipated similar challenges within the Senate,” I think I bring some scars from the House with me,” joked Curtis,” while we were picking our leader, my question to all of them, the biggest, most important question to me, was who would be able to unite Republicans behind one common cause so that we didn’t suffer what had happened in the House, where being un-united, we were totally ineffective.”
Weeks after vowing not to be a ‘rubber stamp’ for President-Elect Donald Trump, Curtis addressed questions regarding where he stands on some of Trump’s potential cabinet picks, namely Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense and Kash Patel for Director of the FBI. “’ I’ve tried to stay very careful in my assessment until we went through the whole process. For instance, with both of the names that you just mentioned, there will be an FBI background check. There will be a hearing with really tough questions.” He added,” I do think that we need to move quickly. That doesn’t mean we can be sloppy or that we won’t do our job … I’m being careful to make any decisions myself until I have all the facts on every candidate.”
This statement comes after Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz alleged Curtis was one of the Republican Senators who was blocking his appointment, ultimately leading to him withdrawing his name from consideration for the position.
Closing out the conference, Curtis spoke on his “Conservative Climate Approach,” something which he has championed since his days in Congress. Focusing mainly on the building side of the issue, the Senator stated, “ I think one of the best things we can do for inflation is to get some substantial permitting reform through. I think for national security, that’s one of the most important things that we can do … And the work that I did in the House, I think you can expect to see me carry on in the Senate in one way or another.”