HELENA — Every two years, the Montana Legislature gives the state’s members of Congress a chance to address lawmakers.
Three members of the federal delegation were in Helena to speak on Monday — two of them for the first time since taking office earlier this year.
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The sharpest comments came from newly elected Sen. Tim Sheehy, who said Montanans voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump’s agenda and called on Democrats to abandon what he called “divisive rhetoric” and “the politics of resistance.”
“The American people didn't vote against Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, they didn't vote against Jon Tester — they voted for the future of their children, and they voted for America First,” he said.
Sheehy praised Trump’s Cabinet picks and talked about some of his first policy priorities, including a bipartisan bill he’s sponsoring that would roll all federal wildland firefighting operations into a single agency.
Rep. Troy Downing, the new congressman for Montana’s eastern U.S. House district, told lawmakers he was pleased with how effective the newly seated Congress has been — especially as compared to 2023 when fights over choosing a speaker dragged out for days.
“I'm really happy that we have had moments where folks had the opportunity to air their grievances, be considered, be heard, and then come together, understanding that we have to find what we have in common to actually get the ball down the field,” he said.
Downing highlighted actions Congress has already taken on budget reconciliation, immigration, illegal drugs, energy and forest management.
Western district Rep. Ryan Zinke, himself a former state lawmaker, was making his third speech before a legislative session as congressman. He made the case that the Trump administration’s actions on federal spending are a valid response to seek out waste and abuse.
“We may agree or disagree whether a certain project has merit – let's have that disagreement,” he said. “But there should be no disagreement on whether the project should be accountable, should be transparent, where every nickel of every taxpayer dollar should be known.”
Zinke said Congress will need to find places to cut spending, in order to account for presidential priorities like eliminating taxes on tips and on Social Security benefits.
The one member of the congressional delegation who didn’t speak Monday was Sen. Steve Daines. His office told MTN Daines is currently in South America, meeting with government and private sector leaders to advocate for Trump’s trade policies.
“On Monday he is scheduled to meet with Argentinian President Javier Milei, a close friend of President Trump who is committed to a strong relationship with the United States,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “He will be the first senator to meet with President Milei since President Trump’s inauguration. Senator Daines was recently appointed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and continues to serve on the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over trade, which gives him the opportunity to represent Montana’s farmers and ranchers to governments around the globe.”
Lawmakers did hear from two other speakers on Monday. Justin Gray Hawk Sr., chair of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, delivered an address on the “State of the Tribal Nations.”
He highlighted legislative priorities for Montana’s eight recognized tribes, saying renewing the state’s Medicaid expansion was a particularly important one. He also urged lawmakers to oppose bills that he said infringed on tribes’ treaty rights.
“It is not like the battles of centuries ago when we used guns and horses, but one where we used diplomacy and statesmanship to come together for the benefit of all,” Gray Hawk said. “Our fights today are for the very survival of our tribal nations. Like any fight, we must pick our battles carefully.”
Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Cory Swanson, who took office at the start of this year, also spoke on the “State of the Judiciary.” At the end of his address, he alluded to the many bills the Legislature is considering that would make changes to the judicial branch.
“We welcome legislation that addresses and resolves policy problems in our midst, but I urge you to reject legislation that will undermine the effective functioning of the judiciary — not because judges don't like it, but because it will ultimately harm Montana citizens,” he said.
Swanson said “well-respected attorneys” have told lawmakers a number of the bills they’re looking at would violate the constitutional separation of powers, and asked them to listen to those arguments – which he said would likely come up again in lawsuits.
One notable difference Monday from recent times the Legislature has hosted the congressional delegation was that all the members are of the same party — the Republicans — and they’re of the same party as the legislative majority.
