The 2024 election cycle has ended, with Republicans holding control of all three branches of government. The Washington Examiner interviewed over two dozen new members as they prepare to take office in January. Part 8 of Capitol’s new crop looks at the alliances that Montana Republican Tim Sheehy is forming.
Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy won one of the hardest-fought 2024 Senate races by clawing back a red state from Democrats and helping flip the Senate majority.
However, separate from what the Montana Republican, who unseated Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), calls a conservative “mandate” from the elections, Sheehy has already found himself part of an unexpected trio with some of his most progressive soon-to-be colleagues: Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ).
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The senators-elect, lamenting to one another at freshman orientation this month about recent wildfires that have ravaged their states, found an early opportunity for compromise as Washington gears up for a one-party Congress and White House.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and founder of the aerial firefighting and surveillance company Bridger Aerospace, has high hopes tackling wildfire prevention at the federal level can foster other “common-sense collaboration.”
“We realized that we all agreed it was time for us to focus on wildfires in a different way, and it’ll probably be one of the few areas that a very polarized country can work together on,” Sheehy told the Washington Examiner. “That issue can be a briefing tool to many other issues related to your resource industries, whether it’s oil and gas leases, forestry, mining, a lot of issues that I think emanate from that issue set and can be something we work together on.”
Likewise, Schiff said in a statement he was “eager to partner with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to tackle this growing problem and appreciate the initial conversations I have had with Sen.-elect Sheehy on how we can work in a bipartisan way.”
Kim praised Sheehy’s “deep experience,” adding in a statement he’ll work “with him and any senator to deliver support to brave first responders battling the flames and greater assistance to impacted communities.”
Wildfires are “normal life” for those west of the Mississippi, Sheehy said, drawing on his company’s experience battling flames. Montana has experienced at least 171 wildfires this year, and California skies are frequently turned an eerie orange from massive fires. This year, some East Coast states are also feeling the heat. New Jersey is facing a nearly three-fold increase in the thousands of acres burned annually amid a drought.
The bipartisanship is undoubtedly easier said than done. However, it offers incoming senators in a 53-47 Republican chamber an easy escape from the contentious partisan brawls and confirmation battles on the horizon under a new administration.
“The three of us will probably disagree heartily and vocally on Cabinet nominees,” Sheehy added. “I’m sure we’ll disagree on budget fights. I’m sure we’ll disagree on foreign policy.”
Sheehy, after all, is part of a new class of GOP senators that also includes Sens.-elect Jim Justice (R-WV), Bernie Moreno of Ohio, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania that is cementing a rightward shift in the Senate after flipping their seats.
Sheehy credited his roughly 7-point triumph over three-term incumbent Tester to President-elect Donald Trump’s coattails and a “commonsense” platform that he said resonated with average voters.
“A secure border, safe streets, cheap gas, cops are good, criminals are bad, boys are boys, girls are girls, and people want common sense back,” he said. “I think between our retail focus, straight talk, and common-sense message. Of course, we had some great help, too. President Trump came out. That meant a lot.”
Senate Republicans have yet to dish out new committee assignments. Given his Navy and business experiences, Sheehy said he hopes to have positions that offer him influence over the business sector and national defense.
Sheehy described his overall mood as “extremely happy” toward Trump’s nominations thus far, noting he has positive personal relationships with Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), interior secretary nominee, and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, national intelligence director nominee. He plans to support all of the nominees so far named, lauding the mostly nonconventional picks as positive outcomes after “America delivered a mandate” for change.
“You don’t achieve change by appointing status-quo career bureaucrats to these types of positions,” Sheehy said. “You achieve change by appointing change agents. And I think what we’re seeing across the board is that.”
Trump’s most controversial nominee, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, removed his name from the running after a flurry of warnings from Republican senators that his conformation was untenable amid allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.
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There’s been mild heartburn among some in the GOP for other nominees and a foreshadowing of policy clashes. More centrist and establishment figures, such as Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who’s up for reelection, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), could narrow the confirmation margins.
It’s a major factor for why Trump has forewarned Republicans he may insist on recess appointments to circumvent their constitutional “advice and consent” role.
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Sheehy rebuffed any notion he was willing to relinquish that power, underscoring further the opposition among most in the GOP to simply forgo the traditional Senate confirmation process at Trump’s behest.
“There’s going to be a process which we should follow to ensure that all these appointees, in fact, are qualified to do the job, have a plan in place to reform these agencies, and do good work,” Sheehy said. “The advice and consent role is perhaps the most important role the Senate has of anything in the country.”
