As Eastern Washington families wake up to rising prices, plummeting markets, and a growing threat of global economic instability, Congressman Michael Baumgartner is busy chasing shadows. Rather than confronting the reality of Donald Trump’s destructive economic policies, Baumgartner is spending his time inventing culture war grievances and flogging partisan outrage—anything to distract from the fact that the second Trump administration is actively hurting working Americans.
Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, rolled out with typical bravado, have triggered chaos in global markets. In just two days, $6.4 trillion in global wealth evaporated, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering a 2,200-point nosedive—the biggest drop since the pandemic in 2020. China has declared a full-blown trade war, and U.S. companies are bracing for price hikes, supply chain disruptions, and export losses. Economists across the political spectrum are sounding the alarm. But where is Michael Baumgartner in all of this? Parroting Fox News talking points and pretending everything is just fine.
In his latest weekly update, Baumgartner boasts of “another productive week” in Washington, but never once mentions the economic bloodbath that has gutted retirement accounts, shaken investor confidence, and left farmers and small manufacturers fearing the worst. Not a word about tariffs. Not a word about inflation. Not a word about the real-world consequences for Eastern Washington’s economy. Instead, he rants about “sanctuary policies” and “judicial overreach,” weaving conspiracies out of legal rulings and hyping his questioning of Newt Gingrich as if it were a moment of historic statesmanship.
This is not leadership. It is cowardice. Baumgartner knows that Trump’s economic agenda is a disaster for working families and a gift to multinational monopolies. But rather than take a stand for his constituents, he’s throwing up a smokescreen of fearmongering and ideological noise. He’d rather talk about one judge’s immigration ruling than address the fact that wheat growers in his district may lose access to export markets. He’d rather obsess over the State Department’s media monitoring programs than explain why Washington apples are about to get slammed with retaliatory tariffs.
Baumgartner’s silence on these matters isn’t just a political oversight—it’s a betrayal. A representative’s first duty is to speak up when their community is in danger. Yet while local economies reel from Trump’s trade war, Baumgartner is busy carrying water for the same administration that set the fire. He doesn’t want to talk about tariffs because doing so would mean acknowledging that Trump’s agenda serves Wall Street, not Main Street.
Let’s be clear: this is a pattern. Baumgartner has made a habit of prioritizing performative outrage over policy substance. He claims to be defending “fundamental liberties,” but his idea of liberty apparently stops at defending megachurches’ political speech. Meanwhile, he’s nowhere to be found on matters of economic justice, rural investment, or trade policy reform—issues that actually affect people’s lives in Eastern Washington.
What’s worse, Baumgartner doesn’t just dodge the truth—he invents enemies to rile up his base. His statement about the Washington Attorney General suing the Adams County Sheriff is a distortion. The lawsuit in question concerns constitutional violations and misuse of authority, not some imagined war against immigration enforcement. But facts don’t matter when the goal is division, not dialogue. This kind of political theater is not only dishonest—it’s dangerous.
Baumgartner may believe he can ride this wave of manufactured outrage to another term in Congress. But Eastern Washington deserves better than a rubber stamp for Trumpism. Voters deserve someone who will fight for their jobs, their economic security, and their futures—not someone who shields the wealthy from scrutiny while attacking immigrants, judges, and journalists.
Michael Baumgartner should resign. If he won’t, he will face a reckoning in the midterms. The people of Eastern Washington are paying attention. They can see through the charade. And come November, they will choose a representative who speaks for them—not a party, not a president, and not a fantasy.
