- US representative Hillary Scholten is the first woman serving Michigan's 3rd congressional district.

The Grand Rapids Democrat was recently sworn into Congress.

We discussed her first week on Capitol Hill, the congresswoman's priorities moving into the 118th Congress and how lawmakers should address immigration and the current border crisis on Newsmakers.

Thank you for joining us on Newsmakers.

Our guest today from Washington, DC, via Zoom is US representative Hillary Scholten.

She's the first congresswoman serving the 3rd congressional district and first Democrat in nearly five decades representing it.

Look at the digs.

Welcome to Newsmakers.

- (laughs) Thank you so much for having me, Patrick.

It is great to be back here and officially as Congresswoman Scholten.

- What has this experience been like for you?

Because you ran twice to serve the district.

You break through, now you're there.

Give me a sense of the emotions when you first step into that beautiful office and stepping onto the house floor in an official capacity for the first time.

- Yeah, you know, it is truly just an overwhelming and humbling experience.

You know, the beauty of the Capitol I think conveys the gravity of the job.

And that's one thing that I have just really been struck by over this last week.

Every time I walk up, I'm reminded of the history, of this place and the place in history that I'm taking, as I step up here.

And almost 15,000 people have served in the House of Representatives since its inception.

Less than 400 have been women.

The first woman to represent this district, to the first woman and mother in West Michigan history to take my place, representing Michigan's 3rd congressional district.

It's truly an honor and an honor that was marked even more poignantly by being able to have my children by my side, when I was finally sworn in, in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

My two children were with me on the house floor, holding the Bible as I was sworn in.

And it's just been a remarkable experience and I'm reminded every day of the solemnity of that oath that I've taken and the promise that I make and renew every day to honor and serve the people of West Michigan.

- How do you prepare for this?

Because there are rules that must be followed, there's protocol, there's a certain etiquette I would imagine that goes with the job.

Is there an orientation?

Is there somebody who's kind of taking you by the hand to show you the ways of working in Washington politics?

- Yeah, you know, to a certain extent, you know, at one level there is truly no way to prepare for this.

You know, especially given just the unprecedented nature of the speaker vote that we saw.

We felt very prepared and organized to step into those first votes.

But I think, you know, in some ways no one could have prepared or anticipated the things that we saw.

So, you know, it takes someone with good judgment and quick thinking and responsiveness to be on their feet and jump into a situation like this.

But on another level, you know, I really wanna speak to the dedicated professionals that are here at the House of Representatives, who work tirelessly to get new members like me up and running.

There is a very precise orientation and very professional orientation process that happens to get new members acclimated.

Within 72 hours of learning that I had won the election, I was on a plane out to Washington, DC, to get prepared to do this.

And you know, they teach you everything, from the rules of the house floor to how to set up the physical confines of your office.

There's an office lottery and then you have to choose and staff up your office.

I feel so fortunate for the talented men and women, who we have brought on to staff up our team, they've really made it possible, so that we could hit the ground running day one, looking into the votes that I was going to have to take, preparing me for key votes and how they would impact West Michigan, listening to our constituents back home.

And also, you know, making sure that we can communicate with the media back home as well, so constituents can hear from me directly.

- It wouldn't be Washington without the drama.

Yeah, I mean here, you step on the house floor and there you are, you're in it.

That might have been a little surreal because we've witnessed it from afar.

Now you're in it, now you're a participant.

What was that like- - You know, Patrick, I have now taken more votes for speaker than my last two predecessors combined if you can believe it.

(laughs) So it was truly a remarkable occasion and my sons and I were just a few rows away from the now famous confrontation among the Republicans, now speaker Kevin McCarthy and Matt Gates and they were just, you know, wide-eyed at what was happening in front of them.

- Can you share some of what was said?

(Patrick and Hillary laughing) You were there.

- I will respect the confidentiality on the floor but it was truly, you know, a moment to behold and lots of conversations in our house, you know, about our democracy and using our words to convey even strong sentiments.

(laughs) - Does it foreshadow some of what you're expecting in the next few years as you navigate the politics, the relationships with your colleagues on the house floor, the partisan politics, what did that all tell you about what you can expect in the years to come?

- Yeah, you know, I am an inexhaustible optimist and so I am holding out hope that the Republican majority will have learned its lesson from the first few days of chaos for the speaker vote because it drew a lot of media attention and intrigue but you know, most concerning to me was that this had a real impact on the American people and on the people of West Michigan.

You know, the lack of organization on the Republican side led to a delay in us being able to start our casework.

It led to a significant delay which we're still experiencing in getting critical committee assignments, so that members can get down to work on the issues that matter most to their district.

And, you know, there was a lot of talk in the media about how well, you know, we're airing our grievances in front of the American people and I am all for rigorous debate but, you know, the Republican party knew for two months that they were going to be in the majority.

This is not the first time in history that a party has had a narrow majority with a certain segment of their, you know, their majority that doesn't want to vote for the presumed speaker.

It happened in 2018, it happened in 2020, with an even narrower majority.

And Democrats were able to work that out ahead of time and make those concessions without keeping the American people waiting.

It was a huge waste of taxpayer dollars and it was certainly frustrating to watch but I'm hopeful that Republicans learned their lesson.

There will be organization going forward and that we can get down to the real work of serving the American people and each of us serving our districts.

- So, where do you see that in-fighting on one side, it was a small fraction of the majority Republicans.

So do you see openings there?

Do you see opportunities to work with really the greater majority, that wasn't holding up any of this?

Are there opportunities?

Are you already beginning that process of meeting with and working with Republicans?

- Absolutely, I have made it a point, even from day one on the transition during the orientation period, to get to know my other incoming Republican freshman.

I've made great relationships across the aisle already.

One thing I really loved about the incoming congressional class orientation was that, they kept Republicans and Democrats together.

We all stayed at the same location.

We had meals together, we got to know each other and that really formed a great bond among many of us, where we could connect on issues that we cared about, for me, transportation and infrastructure, fixing our immigration system, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States of America.

And I'm ready to get to work on those issues.

And I know that there are so many other incredible Republicans on the other side of the aisle, who are ready and willing to do that too.

Preparing to take a series of votes this week and won't always be voting in lockstep with the Democratic party on those issues.

So we're already starting to see that bipartisanship taking shape and I'm optimistic it'll continue.

- So there is at least a consensus that you see that the majority of representatives do see the frustration that Americans have with this fighting, that this function is, some people would call it within Congress.

- I would say it is the majority, both of, you know, when you combine Democrats and Republicans, you know, who are very frustrated and sensed that Americans are frustrated with the lack of function.

One of the things I heard time and time again on the campaign trail and what I, you know, I know was instrumental in my success was, you know, that people just wanted a normal, down to earth representative, that was deeply in touch with the needs of her community.

You know, I'll save my commentary for how much quicker working moms would have gotten down to business for the speaker vote for later.

But we literally and figuratively, we're keeping our children waiting, while that nonsense played out.

And I'm hopeful we won't have that going forward.

- So you're there, there's the Republican rules package, that was recently voted on.

- Yeah.

- I think the headline there is, reining in spending and keeping tax cuts in place.

So from your perspective, you're going to see this battle that will be waged.

Where are you with the rules package and your ideology and philosophy of how to move forward?

- Yeah, and you know, this is, both sides are masters of messaging.

Make no mistake.

I know and I will hold the Democrats accountable and the Republicans are as well.

I took my first two votes yesterday, both on the rules package and on the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, which was aimed at repealing the funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for the IRS agents.

You know, and both of those bills do not do what they claim to do in terms of cutting costs for the American people.

You know, I voted against repealing the funding in the Inflation Reduction Act for the IRS agents because at the end of the day, it hurts working families.

To modernize the IRS means that individuals, small businesses and working families will get their tax returns sooner.

The number one thing that we continue to hear from people is that they want the IRS to work functionally for them.

We are seeing a massive aging out of the IRS agents, IRS, the IRS workforce and we need to make sure that we have a modern and efficient IRS that can be responsive to the needs of the American people and most importantly will hold the wealthy, well-connected and big corporations accountable for paying their fair share of taxes.

This bill does nothing to help and protect small businesses and working families and it certainly doesn't reduce the deficit.

In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has said that it will increase the federal deficit.

So I was proud to vote against that bill, which has no chance of passing and is just purely a messaging bill.

And again, while I will continue to bring my optimism to the floor, it was frustrating to see that, you know, Republicans chose to start with such a non-starter, go-nowhere messaging bill.

In the first two terms of the 2018 and the 2020 Congress, when Democrats were in control, the vast majority of the first 10 bills, that were introduced were actually passed into law.

I hope Republicans will take that to heart and actually do some good for the American people.

- Well, and you mentioned the messaging Republicans say, basically that there's a weaponizing of the IRS by funding it.

And so that's the counter-argument.

- Well, and again, I mean, I wouldn't say, you know, the IRS is a weapon, you know, they're there to help make sure that our tax laws are properly enforced.

And you know, I don't think that's a weapon.

I think that's the proper role of enforcement.

You know, if we aren't having corporations and you know, the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, we can't fix our roads and bridges, we can't fund our public schools.

So, you know, this is about making sure that we're holding the right people accountable.

And, you make no mistake, this is a bill for you know, their wealthy corporate friends.

And the American people are not going to see the benefit of these cuts.

But they will with an IRS that's fully equipped to do their job and get their tax cuts or their tax returns, excuse me, to them right on time.

This bill, you know, this portion of the Inflation Reduction Act did nothing to raise taxes on working families.

And you know, I will add that, in that I think we do also need executive oversight of the IRS to make sure that the agents are working efficiently, as efficiently as possible.

You know, we should not just be throwing money into a broken system.

So there has to be a coupling with executive oversight to make sure the IRS agents are doing their jobs fairly.

And I will be the first to raise my hand to work with the administration to make sure that is happening.

- Well, as we discuss agencies and if I have this backwards, please correct me 'cause I know you're there and I'm here.

I believe there's the reinstatement of the Holman rule, which can eliminate agencies and reduce workforces.

Is (indistinct).

Is that what I'm saying, also the rules committee was looking at that.

- That was not part of the final rules package that was passed.

- Okay, like I said, you're there, I'm here.

(Patrick and Hillary laughing) You know better than I do.

But we do know that there's a budget showdown.

More than likely that will happen in 2023, maybe 2024 as we look at the budget.

But the idea of raising the debt ceiling, there will be a give and take on this fast approaching because by law there is a ceiling.

But the idea is that it can be raised but Republicans may fire back and say, "Okay, we will raise it but we're also going to cut."

So are these conversations already beginning?

- Well, they are, absolutely.

And you know, I think this is why it is so critical that we get our committee assignments in place.

So you know, that we can have, you know, individuals assigned to the appropriations committee, to the ways and means committee, so that when we're talking about the budget and the allocation of our critical taxpayer dollars, you know, our committee members are in place and already getting down to do that work.

It is chilling to think about the chaos that we saw for the speaker vote taking place when we are looking and staring in the face of defaulting on our, you know, our debt as an American people.

And as we look to passing a budget that will keep the government open for our critical resources.

We cannot play games with people's lives.

- The fallback is always the Senate, where Democrats do hold power.

So is that kinda part of the equation and how you look at- - It has to pass both chambers.

(laughs) - Right.

- So, you know, I mean we're grateful for the functionality of the Senate right now, but you know, we need a budget that will pass in both chambers.

So, you know, I think that is, you know, the Republican majority needs to take that majority position seriously.

- Speaking of taking things seriously, president Biden recently visited the southern border, the crisis at the border continues.

Immigration policy seems to be this thing that both parties can agree on in principle.

But when it gets down to the nuts and bolts of everything, there's this lack of agreement.

In your mind, how should immigration reform take place, one big reform or do we really need to break it down into portions and move forward to finally once and for all, settle US policy on this?

- You know, in an ideal world, we would take this all in one major comprehensive reform.

We have been putting together our immigration system, piecemeal, since 1952.

It's really, I mean, since the beginning of our country.

But when we first had the Immigration Nationality Act put together and then it has been, you know, piecemeal, here and there ever since.

So, you know, when we look at the modernization of our economy, a globalizing economy, the United States Immigration System is out of step with the rest of the world in terms of our responsiveness, the quickness and efficiency with which we can issue visas, in critical sectors.

We lag behind far too often in manufacturing, in agriculture, in healthcare.

You know, I've worked on these issues firsthand and I know just how much we can hamstring our economic growth by having an outmoded immigration system.

And that's not to mention the fact that, you know, we're not doing our fair share of carrying the humanitarian load on an international scale.

You know, I think that there's a lot of defensiveness among Democrats about the state of our border and I'll be the first to say, you know, we have to get our border under control.

It is chaotic, it is disorganized, it is in a state of crisis, it's a humanitarian crisis and it has a major economic impact.

You know, when we don't have a comprehensive immigration reform and we are just having to send more and more agents to the border, more immigration judges to the border to deal with this issue, that is a major cost to the American taxpayer.

You know, the detention system that we have for individuals who crossed the border is costly, it's expensive, many times runs afoul of human rights practices.

It's far beyond time that we address this and get it fixed.

I'm so glad to know that President Biden is giving this the attention he deserves by visiting the border this week.

I hope that it will continue.

You know, I'm glad to see the Republican party, Kevin McCarthy in his speech accepting the speaker nomination said that, they were gonna make it a priority.

I'm right there with them as long as they are willing to focus on the issues instead of just making these hot button talking points.

You know, we have seen the Republican party of today, lose sight of the humanity that we are talking about when it comes to immigration, shipping people across the country like props for political stunts, that gets us nowhere.

So I'm ready to work with anyone across the aisle, who's ready to make sure we have a safe and secure border.

We're honoring our international commitments to human rights and we're modernizing our immigration system to make us competitive in the 21st century.

- So where do you see the common ground between parties on this and where are the places where compromise is needed to advance reform?

- I think that we need to continue hearing from the business community on this issue.

You know, we have a very well organized constituent base on the humanitarian side of this, but the business community needs to get a lot more vocal and active about the impacts to their businesses.

I know about it firsthand 'cause I worked on these issues in West Michigan.

My door is open to anyone from any sector, who wants to tell me how we can improve our immigration system to make their businesses run better and more efficiently.

You know, I think republicans need to be willing to put the talking points aside and frankly Democrats too and focus on the real issues.

We also need to bring in the experts and not the talking heads on this issue and really understand how our immigration system works, so that we can know how to fix it.

- Well, here in West Michigan, what are some of your priorities as you step into office?

- Yeah, one of, you know, the top things that I hope to work on is modernizing our transportation and infrastructure.

It's my top committee choice.

We don't have a representative from Michigan on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee here in Congress, the committee assignments are made up by regions.

Now, our Midwest region doesn't even have a representative to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

We have a legacy of T&I, that's the abbreviation for the committee, a T&I champion in our congressman Vern Ehlers who served on that committee.

Our train station of course in Grand Rapids named after him and his legacy.

You know, we are seeing incredible growth in the West Michigan region, Grand Rapids in particular.

There was just a story today, despite Michigan losing population and continuing to dwindle, Grand Rapids continues to grow.

That's true of the Lakeshore portion of the district as well.

But we don't have a transportation system to keep up.

Our airport is desperately in need of a new tower and has been for quite some time.

We need a long rail public transit system between the urban center of Grand Rapids and out to the Lakeshore, we need interurban routes.

The Rapid is incredible.

I wanna do what we can to increase accessibility there and make more routes and out on the Lakeshore as well.

Transportation is such a barrier.

That's, you know, we really are seeing just a major need for improvements in this area.

But we also, you know, the installation of the Coast Guard is also handled through transportation and infrastructure.

So getting down to work there is a huge priority.

You know, and I have said always from the beginning, you know, as the first mom to represent this district, West Michigan in Congress, the needs of working families are top of mind for me.

And we see so many ways in which transportation is a barrier to individuals to access their healthcare needs, to access their economic needs, to meet their familial needs.

So I look at that as a critical way of being a champion for working families - Well, being, having transportation high in your priority list.

I hope there's a Segway or a scooter, next your chair, so you can race down to the house floor- - So we can hop right over there.

You know, there's all these tunnels underground, Patrick, so like, I can get really quickly, you know, from the office over to the Capitol.

So thank you so much for having me.

- Well, we appreciate it.

US representative Hillary Scholten, Democrat from Grand Rapids.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

And thank you for joining us.

We'll see you again soon.

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