Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) gave an exclusive interview to Breitbart News Deputy Political Editor Amanda House Tuesday on Capitol Hill, discussing the successful push to get Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel the Senate’s August recess to continue to pursue the Republican legislative agenda and confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees.

“I spent 28 years in the private sector before coming to Congress. I’ve never heard of such a thing as taking a month off in the summertime, an August recess,” Daines, who served as a senior executive both with consumer goods giant Proter & Gamble and Montana tech success story RightNow Technologies, told House. “If you’re gonna drain the swamp, you’ve gotta keep the pumps running in August. Let’s stay here, do the work of the people.”

Daines made an analogy to his wife’s experience as a first grade teacher. “If the kids aren’t behaving well, you cancel recess. Arguably, the Senate’s not behaving. We’ve got a backlog of 260 nominations for President Trump we’ve got to get completed,” he said.

Sen. Steve Daines is urging U.S. Air Force officials to consider Malmstrom Air Force Base as a future site for the B-21 bomber.

The Montana Republican made his suggestion Thursday to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on the Air Force budget.

He said Gen. David Goldfein spoke in September about the strategic advantages and budgetary efficiencies of having Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) assets and long-range bombers both located at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

“I find that argument very compelling and believe the same advantages could be attained at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana,” Daines said.

He said much of the B-21 bomber development has been shrouded in secrecy, “and for good reason.”

Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines is among a group of senators calling on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel the five-week August recess in order to get what he called a backlog of work done before the Sept. 30 budget deadline.

“If we are complicit, we are on track for another last-minute spending battle come September,” the 16 senators wrote in their May 10 letter to McConnell, R-Kentucky. “However, if we take action now, we can break the cycle of continuing resolutions and omnibus spending deals.”

In a telephone call Wednesday from Washington, D.C., with Montana reporters, Daines said the Senate has 12 weeks to get a dozen appropriation bills out of committee and on to the floor and to vote on 276 nominations.

“It’s hard to find a good rationale or argument for why we recess Congress when there is so much work that remains to be done,” Daines said.

This week, the U.S. Senate passed Senator Steve Daines’ bill to recognize May 5th as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. 

Daines introduced the legislation to honor the memory of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe who was murdered in July 2013. The resolution commemorates the lives of all American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered.

“Tragically, Hanna Harris is just one of the many native women who go missing or are senselessly murdered,” said Daines. “We must do more to call attention to this epidemic and protect vulnerable communities.”

Recognized by a leading research institute, Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont., has one of the top records of bipartisanship in the Senate.

“Montanans expect their representatives to work across the aisle to do what’s right for our state and our country,” Daines said. “Some folks in Washington are only concerned about toeing the party line and doing what will secure them re-election. It doesn’t matter to me if you have an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ behind your name – if you have good ideas that help grow jobs, reduce regulatory burdens facing hardworking families, or make our government more efficient, I am happy to roll up my sleeves and work together to get things done.”

The Lugar Center and the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy recognized Daines in its Bipartisan Index as having one of the strongest record of working across the aisle in the Senate. Daines ranked 13th for bipartisanship among his Senate colleagues.

Sen. Steve Daines on Thursday sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of Libby, asking the agency to ensure that local government or homeowners are not held liable for future cleanup costs related to the Asbestos Superfund site.

The letter comes after Daines visited Libby on April 14, when he sat down with local leaders at Hav-A-Java coffeeshop to discuss ongoing planning for the site’s operations and maintenance phase.

“I heard directly from Lincoln County leaders regarding their concerns that property owners and local government could be held liable for future clean-up costs of the Libby Asbestos Superfund site,” Daines said in a prepared statement. “I’ve asked the EPA to work with local officials and community leaders before making any consequential decisions regarding a long-term maintenance plan for the site.”

In his letter, addressed to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Daines wrote that “my constituents have a strong desire to have their input taken into account in the development of EPA’s O&M plan for the site.”

A custom-printed sign and line of local dignitaries greeted U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., when he walked into Kalispell’s Best Buy store Tuesday morning.

Daines has been touring Montana to tout the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recently signed into law. He was joined in Kalispell Tuesday by the city’s mayor, Mark Johnson, Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, Rep. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s Kate Lufkin.

Best Buy was a fitting stop. On Feb. 4, the electronics retailer joined several other large firms that gave their employees a bonus – in this case, $1,000 for full-time workers and $500 for part-time – while citing the tax plan.

“It’s a really good thing to see more money in the pockets of hardworking Montanans,” Daines told the Daily Inter Lake.

He received a tour from General Manager Bob Bridges and Assistant Store Manager James Scott, speaking with employees in its “smart home” and IT support departments. Daines said one of the workers told him that he planned to spend his $1,000 on a new amplifier for his bass; another was planning to put the cash toward a future home.

“These are hardworking Montanans who work long hours, serving other Montanans in their capacity here in technology, and it’s nice to see more money in their pockets.”

Steve Daines appears on KBZK’s morning show to discuss the GOP’s new Senate majority and his plans to reform Washington.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWXiUpC6SbA

In a pickup for the GOP, Republican Rep. Steve Daines is Montana’s new senator.

Daines won against Democrat challenger Amanda Curtis, a state representative for Butte, according to the Associated Press.

Daines’ win represents the fourth Senate pickup for Republicans in the 2014 Senate elections.

The seat was vacated by Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, who resigned in February to become U.S. ambassador to China.

The race garnered attention after Democratic Sen. John Walsh dropped his re-election bid in August amid allegations that he plagiarized a research paper while attending the Army War College.