Washington does not mainly fail because we lack clever speeches. It fails because the rules of the game reward grandstanding, protect incumbency, bury citizens under obsolete law, and make honest budgeting almost impossible. As your next Congressman for CD4, I support structural reforms in the conservative and classical liberal tradition: strengthen local representation, restore accountability, simplify what government does, and make the system work better—without asking taxpayers to fund another layer of waste.
UNCAP THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES — BRING CONGRESS CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE
The U.S. House has been frozen at four hundred thirty-five members for more than a century while the country has tripled in population. That means each representative speaks for vastly more people than the Framers imagined—more power for party leadership, less access for ordinary citizens, and weaker ties between Members and neighborhoods.
I support uncapping the House and expanding the number of representatives so districts are smaller, more local, and more responsive—provided the transition is designed so it does not explode the federal payroll or add new debt-financed pork. Representation should scale with the people. The goal is more voice for Arizona communities—not a bigger swamp.
REPEAL AND SUNSET — STOP LETTING DEAD LAW RULE AMERICAN LIFE
The United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations are thick with provisions nobody would pass today—crony carve-outs, zombie programs, and rules written for a world that no longer exists. Congress should systematically repeal obsolete statutes, consolidate duplicative programs, and attach sunset dates to new programs so bad ideas expire unless they earn reauthorization on the merits.
Agencies should not be able to invent major policy through regulation without a vote of the people’s representatives. Reforms like requiring Congress to affirm major rules—so lawmakers take responsibility instead of hiding behind bureaucrats—fit the classical liberal idea that law should be simple, knowable, and democratically accountable.
BUDGET PROCESS REFORM — PLAN FOR BALANCE, STOP BASELINE GAMES
Federal budgeting rewards baseline dishonesty: pretend cuts are “draconian” when spending still grows, treat inflation as automatic entitlement, and run trillion-dollar deficits while debating pennies. We need process reforms that force honesty: multi-year planning, zero-based reviews of major programs, and constraints that stop Congress from borrowing the country into oblivion.
I support a path to a balanced federal budget—not as a talking point, but as a discipline—paired with fraud recovery and spending cuts elsewhere so we are not “balancing” on the backs of seniors who paid in fair and square. Pay-as-you-go rules should apply to new spending. Emergency spending should be for real emergencies.
REDUCE UNFUNDED MANDATES — RESPECT STATES AND LOCALITIES
One of the worst structural failures is Washington ordering states and school districts to do something expensive—and then refusing to pay for it. That is taxation by regulation. I support reforms that reduce unfunded mandates on Arizona and return flexibility with accountability: let states innovate closer to the people, and let federal dollars come with fewer strings when the goal is results, not compliance theater.
I will also oppose a congressional pay raise until the budget is on a credible path to balance. Leadership should not get richer while families pay for Washington’s failures.
The best government is limited, local where possible, and legible to citizens who have real jobs. Structural reform is not about new programs or new taxes—it is about better rules: more representatives who actually represent, fewer laws nobody understands, a budget process that tells the truth, and a federal government that stops outsourcing its constitutional duties to unelected agencies.
That is how we improve functionality and trust—without asking CD4 families to pay for another round of Washington’s mistakes.