Governor Kim Reynolds says if Donald Trump becomes president again, he will dramatically reduce the size of the federal government.
“The waste has to be just — and you all know it — astronomical,” Reynolds said early this morning during a speech at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale. “…I’m excited they talk about maybe an Elon Musk getting in there and thinking about how we can restructure. I’m excited about those kind of opportunities because that’s invigorating and that creates a really awesome culture that really drives even more innovations.”
Reynolds pointed to her own reorganization of Iowa’s government as an example of what could happen in a second Trump term if Republicans are in the majority in the U.S. House and Senate. “First of all, you’ve got to go in there and blow it up. We need to start operating more like a business and we need to approach government like that, Reynolds said. “It is ridiculous — no metrics, no KPIs, nothing — nothing is based on outcomes or data.”
Reynolds suggested more federal spending should be delivered to states as block grants and governors and state lawmakers should have greater authority and flexibility to decide where that money is spent.
Reynolds spoke for about 45 minutes this morning, answering questions from the crowd of Republicans. The governor asked a question of her own, too, and nearly everyone in the audience raised their hands when she asked who had already voted.
“Six more days until we take this country back. Who’s excited about that? Holy cow. Unbelievable,” Reynolds said as the audience applauded.
Reynolds told the crowd Iowa’s early voting numbers show Republicans are competitive with Democrats, who have historically emphasized voting early. The governor and Iowa Republican Party leaders say that allows Republicans to focus their resources on reaching Iowans who do not vote in every election.