Retired Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate to represent Montana in the U.S. Senate, told Newsmax on Saturday that he's concerned about the potential for increased federal overreach under a Kamala Harris presidency.
"The biggest thing I hear from rural voters — which, of course, is most of Montana — is the increasing overreach from our executive agencies who are doing things that are not rooted in congressional action," Sheehy said.
Executive agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Department of the Interior have significant control over much of the land in these states, he said, often leading to frustration among local residents — particularly for rural states like Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.
"People cherish their public lands. They cherish, you know, our mountains and our rivers and our streams," Sheehy said.
"But they also have a great degree of frustration when they watch those forests burn, when they watch access being cut off, when they watch grazing leases for ranchers be turned into endangered species habitat that can't be ranched for production anymore."
According to Sheehy, such federal control is seen as an overstep by many residents who feel the agencies are operating outside their legal boundaries. He warned that their frustration could deepen under a Harris administration, which he believes would lead to "an even greater wave of federal government overreach."
In addition to land-management issues, Sheehy touched on education concerns, saying there's a disconnect between Montana's local needs and federal mandates.
"We're seeing our elementary school classrooms being dictated by curriculum from 2,000 miles away," he said.
Sheehy also pointed out that Montana ranks near the bottom in the nation for teacher pay, a problem that, according to him, is exacerbated by the lack of local control in the education system.
"They want to see their teachers get paid more, and they want to see their teachers have the freedom to educate their children and not have to adhere to a curriculum coming from D.C.," Sheehy added.
"I think the Kamala Harris regime will absolutely unleash an even greater wave of federal government overreach — and that scares a lot of people," he said.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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