Ruben Gallego speaks to supporters after US Senate race win
Ruben Gallego spoke to supporters after his projected win over Kari Lake for a seat in the U.S. Senate on Nov. 11, 2024.
U.S. Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego says he hopes to work productively with Republicans and the incoming Trump administration on big issues such as tax policy and border security, but it will require compromise on all sides in line with voter expectations.
Gallego, D-Ariz., will be sworn into the Senate on Friday, marking a demographic milestone for Arizona Latinos and as the nation rebalances its government to a GOP-controlled Washington.
In interviews with The Arizona Republic and with other media outlets, Gallego outlined his priorities and offered a sense of how he intends to work in the Senate.
Gallego said he still supports border security legislation broadly similar to the bipartisan measure that failed in the last Congress because former President Donald Trump stirred up Republican opposition in an election year. This “2.0” effort, Gallego said, should not include things voters didn’t ask for.
“All we’re hearing is different views. We haven’t actually heard any plans,” Gallego said. “What I focus on and what I’ve talked about on the campaign trail and what Arizonans talked to me about is that they want more border security. They want more customs police officers. They want, where necessary, border walls and, yeah, they want certain types of illegal immigrants deported.
“What I didn’t hear is for family separations, and I didn’t hear about jailing kids or anything of that nature. What I’m going to do is actively work with Democrats and Republicans and this White House to fulfill that demand.”
Specifically, Gallego wants to see legislation that would provide more officers at the border and change laws surrounding asylum seekers.
“We’re not going to just automatically, knee-jerk reject anything that comes from the White House,” he said. “We’re going to wait and hear what their actual goals are to see if we can work together to really fulfill what Arizonans asked of me to do. When possible, we’ll work together.”
Gallego offered his condolences to the victims of the terrorist attack in New Orleans involving a man who killed at least 14 people by driving into a crowd of New Year’s revelers and to the injured in a separate incident involving a man who apparently blew himself up outside Trump’s branded hotel in Las Vegas in a Tesla Cybertruck.
Gallego said the incidents don’t suggest a need for speedy Cabinet confirmations.
“In light of what we saw (Wednesday), you want to make sure you have the right national security nominees,” he said. “Just putting someone in place doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have the type of collaboration and intelligence-sharing that you need.”
Gallego was the top Democrat on the Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee in the House Armed Services Committee.
He wants to see tribal water agreements finalized to ensure better economic planning for Native Americans and that water security for Arizona has broad interest, from those moving to the rapidly growing state to the operations of semiconductor manufacturers that have water-intensive operations.
Gallego hopes he can support the renewal of the Trump tax cuts with the addition of low-income housing tax-credit reform.
“I’m definitely going to be open to potentially renewing the Trump tax cuts, but it has to be a balanced bill, one that preserves the middle class, one that has some of the good elements, like I love the opportunity zones, with some new stuff. For example, a child tax credit. … If I see that it’s overall a balanced bill that really takes care of middle-class America, then that’s something I would definitely consider.”
He wants to use his seat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to address Arizona’s housing crunch. That could be done with the use of opportunity zones, he said, or limits placed on the private equity firms helping create housing scarcity by “being able to dominate the market and drive up costs.”
Gallego said he still favors modifying the legislative filibuster, perhaps to require “talking” filibusters.
“My whole thing is it’s not a real way for us to get compromise. It’s been used as a tool of obstruction,” he said.
Gallego said his arrival in the Senate “will be for so much more than me.” He said it is a triumph for his immigrant mother and siblings, his Marine brothers who will be on hand and his still-growing family.
“I’m not forgetting who brought me here,” he said. “The guy who was my boss at the hot dog stand in Chicago is coming to my swearing-in.”
So, too, are some of the teachers who helped him get to Harvard University from poverty in Chicago. Five of his former Marine colleagues from the Iraq War will be there as well as his extended family.
Gallego hopes to build on existing relationships with GOP senators who include Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Cornyn of Texas and Todd Young of Indiana.
He said his focus remains on lowering costs for working families and protecting them as well.
He said he has not heard from the woman he replaces, retiring U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. Their staffs have worked together, he said.
Asked about his one-time Republican challenger, Kari Lake, whom Trump named to head the Voice of America, Gallego said:
“She’s got great experience in the media. I wish her well. I hope she has learned that misinformation is not appreciated by Americans. This is why we had an election with outcomes. I hope she will take that lesson and effectively be the director of Voice of America. … I wish her luck and hopefully she does good work.”
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Publish date : 2025-01-02 22:04:00
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