BELLEVUE — During the final days of his first year in Congress, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., landed in the middle of a global fight over an island nation’s existence.
The former state senator from Norfolk said he expected to face complex new issues when he left Lincoln. The scope of the federal government and its challenges forced him to learn quickly, he said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Flood and a federal delegation visiting Taipei last week pose with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (center, by Flood). (Courtesy of U.S. Rep. Mike Flood’s office)
For instance, Flood joined a delegation to Taiwan this month, as China discusses reunifying the island by force. Taiwan is an independent government on land China considers its territory.
Americans should care about the issue, Flood said, because most of the world’s microchips in consumer goods from refrigerators to cars come from China or Taiwan.
“If we thought Ukraine was essential to protect, Taiwan takes it to the next level because it will impact every American’s ability to live their lives the way we do today,” Flood said.
National security
Visiting with leaders in Taipei who spend every day confronting the prospect of a military invasion makes the urgency of U.S. national defense policy palpable, he said.
Flood’s district includes eastern Sarpy County, home to Offutt Air Force Base and many military families.
He said the spy balloon saga last winter showed many Americans at home that “we’re actually in a Cold War with China right now.”
That’s why Flood spent part of his first year in Congress visiting his old stomping grounds in Lincoln, endorsing state legislation banning access to Nebraska Universal Service Funds for cell service providers that have Chinese equipment on cell phone towers.
Has Flood gotten more conservative?
Flood, a former Speaker of the Legislature, won a special election to Congress in June 2022 over State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks. He took office a year ago this week.
A year later, Flood, the owner of News Channel Nebraska, a statewide internet and broadcast news outlet, has faced criticism for what some describe as shifting farther to the right politically in Congress than he had done in the Legislature.
U.S. Rep. Mike Flood discusses the importance of securing research dollars for agriculture on Monday, June 19, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, said “Flood the Senator” cared about issues like creating university pre-kindergarten education for “all kids, including immigrants.”
“Flood the Congressman cares about shoring up his MAGA base doing ridiculous stunts like pretending gas stoves are being banned,” she said, referencing a story that made the right-wing media rounds.
Flood said he has “always been conservative.” He said he helped pass the nation’s first 20-week abortion ban and helped cut $1 billion from the state budget when times got tight.
The congressman said he had a different job as speaker of an officially nonpartisan Legislature than the one he has in the partisan U.S. House, with political party caucuses and whips.
Differences in Washington, D.C.
He said he sees the difference between governing at both levels but said political parties and their leadership structures are vital to helping organize a large body like the House.
In Nebraska, he said, he was one of 49 senators with a Republican governor. In Washington, D.C., he is one of 435 House members in a GOP-controlled House that has to negotiate with a Democratic-controlled Senate and Democratic President Joe Biden.
Political divisions in Congress, while they might be frustrating to watch, he said, help slow the system and make U.S. laws more predictable for investors, businesses and taxpayers.
He pointed to debt ceiling negotiations as a crash course on how Congress works and said he was proud Republicans secured $2.1 trillion in spending cuts from the federal budget.
“It took a lot of work and I’m very pleased,” he said.
Some House Republicans have indicated that they intend to seek additional spending cuts from agency budgets being negotiated this fall, spending levels lower than were negotiated as part of raising the debt ceiling. Flood said he would seek to cut spending again.
U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., speaks in support of Legislative Bill 63, a bill banning the use of Nebraska Universal Service Fund dollars on any wireless company with a network that includes specific Chinese communications technology. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)
His toughest adjustment, he said, has been starting from scratch in meeting colleagues he might work with. He said he wants to build relationships, and that starts with face time.
Asked what it’s like working with U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Georgia, and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Flood said it reminds him of serving with former State Sen. Ernie Chambers.
“The Legislature is full of people … passionate about their issues, and I see the same thing in Washington,” he said. “It’s harder in Washington to be obstructionists. You have to stand out.”
Elections every two years
Flood said he is still adjusting to elections every two years in Congress instead of running every four. In a quirk of local circumstance, Flood has already run two races for Congress — the June 2022 special election to finish the final months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s term and November’s race for a full term.
Flood defeated former State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln in both elections. He does not yet have an announced opponent for 2024. But Democrats have promised one. Republicans have held the 1st Congressional District seat since the 1960s.
Flood said he will focus his second year in Congress on constituent services, taxes, national defense and cutting spending. He also wants to help shore up the banking system, which wobbled a bit after a Silicon Valley shakeup.
He said he’s getting closer to his long-sought meeting with leaders of the U.S. Postal Service about the idea of relocating the main post office in downtown Lincoln to free up land for a potential convention center.
He spoke about the need to boost border security, despite a recent drop in recorded illegal border crossings. He said he remains hopeful that Congress can work with Biden to better address the backlog of people trying to enter the country legally and how to stop those who try to enter illegally.
Then there is the issue that seems to stop progress on immigration reform: what to do with people already in the country without papers. Legislation that deals with all three, he said is “going to be a tall order in a divided government.”
