Glacier High School students question Zinke on upheaval in Washington, education funding

Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke defended efforts by the Trump administration to downsize and remake the federal government while taking questions from Glacier High School students on Thursday.  

The students met with the congressman at the front entrance of the high school in Kalispell on March 13 to celebrate the appointment of a classmate to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. They took the opportunity to pepper Zinke with questions about federal workforce reductions and the future of education funding.  

Asked about the slew of layoffs of federal workers, some of which have since been reversed by the courts, Zinke acknowledged bumps in the process. CNN estimates that 103,452 federal jobs have been terminated or slated for termination since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, including more than 70,000 at Veterans Affairs, 7,000 at the Social Security Administration and 6,000 at the Internal Revenue Service.  

“There were some mistakes that were made but mostly it’s been smoothed out,” he said. “... Sometimes, you know, shutting down like jobs, anyone on probation ... well sometimes that may not have the same effect as you want.” 

In Montana, those layoffs include 360 Forest Service employees let go in mid-February.  

Other students worried about the future of school funding. Kalispell Public Schools, which is again turning to voters for funding to make up a budget shortfall, has not seen a high school levy pass since 2007. They asked Zinke if changes to the Department of Education, which Trump has pledged to eliminate, would worsen the district’s finances. The federal agency shed nearly half of its workforce last week. 

There is a difference between the Department of Education and education, Zinke said. No one is talking about getting rid of education funding, just reconsidering who is best to administer it, he said.  

Zinke advocated for states determining where the money should go as opposed to the federal government.  

The congressman cited instances where he sees a “great idea” come out of Washington, but by the time it gets to Montana, it doesn’t work. Diversity is one example, he said.  

"In Montana, diversity is social background and height. It’s not gender or skin... Other than the Indian reservations, which are concentrated, Montana is more or less Montana. We’re just not diverse. And so, when you apply, you know, controls based on that, it doesn’t fit,” Zinke said. 

ZINKE ALSO touted what he saw as Trump’s early second term achievements to the students.  

Describing his relationship with the president as close, Zinke said Trump will make “every second matter” during his remaining time in the White House.  

Among Trump’s successes, Zinke pointed to the deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, efforts to annex Greenland and negotiations to halt the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

He cited Trump’s proposal to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in the wake of Isreal’s war with Hamas to pave the way for redevelopment as evidence of the president’s ingenuity.  

"And never in my life, you know, did I ever even think about the Gaza Golf Course and Resort. Now that was outside of my paradigm, but if you don’t think it’s for real Google ‘Gulf of America.’ Google it. It's there. [Trump] is a change agent,” Zinke said.  

A Whitefish resident, Zinke is serving his second consecutive term in congress. He was the former secretary of the Interior for Trump in 2016, but left the administration due to investigations into real estate dealings and office conduct.  

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or kheston@dailyinterlake.com.