With President Trump in the White House, the historic creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and a Republican majority in Congress, now is the time to overhaul the government to put American jobs and American businesses first. President Trump has already started using his deal-making expertise to push American businesses to move facilities back to American soil, increasing jobs and salaries for American workers.
Becoming energy independent, becoming economically self-reliant, and strengthening our national security are all top of mind for President Trump and his administration. It’s why he’s using tariffs to incentivize American companies to move their jobs and manufacturing back to America. And it’s why he created DOGE to find waste, fraud, and abuse to decrease our spending. These steps show the world, especially our adversaries like China and Russia, that our government is going to put us first no matter what. Which has not always been the case.
There are some federal agencies that often side with foreign companies over American business, with domino effects that even touch Missourians. How? Companies like Boeing employ over 16,000 people and work with hundreds of suppliers in Missouri, contributing to critical projects for our military. Our jobs, businesses, and economy all rely on global supply chains in order for us to stay competitive. But just a few years ago, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled against Boeing in favor of a Canadian company. While those negative impacts did not reach us here, they could next time and hurt American communities before.
Just last year, the ITC ruled in favor of tin mill producers in China, Germany, and Canada over Cleveland-Cliffs, a tin mill facility in Weirton, West Virginia, shuttering the facility and costing the community 900 jobs. The ITC doesn’t even use its power to protect our military and national security industry. Over the years, the ITC has banned key military technology components. This federal agency’s abuse of power is the exact type of thing that President Trump, Senator Eric Schmitt, and the Republicans can easily fix. And we need them to step up soon because the number of cases filed with the ITC went up 41% last year, giving the agency more opportunities to make potentially harmful decisions.
Senator Schmitt has been a strong voice for our jobs, our businesses, and our national security, especially in protecting against China’s aggression. He’s worked to stop Chinese influence over American farmland, limit Beijing’s access to critical technology, and protect U.S. manufacturing jobs. Senator Schmitt can lead the charge in Congress as DOGE does its work and vote against the PREVAIL Act, which would significantly hinder the country’s job creators from weeding out invalid patents and further embolden the ITC to harm actual domestic industry and the jobs it supports. Instead pass the Advancing America’s Interests Act, which would ensure the ITC uses its authority to benefit American businesses, jobs, and national security.
I’m positive that DOGE’s deep dive into the federal government will expose the rampant fraud and abuse of the federal government, and I urge them to use those findings to cut out the waste. It won’t take long for them to realize that ITC duplicates IP disputes already housed in the federal courts – unnecessarily costing taxpayers over $130 million every year. Perhaps Senator Schmitt can work with DOGE to end the ITC’s havoc and make sure our government is always putting America and American jobs first.
Former State Representative and a son of the Ozarks. He is a small businessman, high school sports coach, and first-generation farmer.
