Mike Crapo

U.S. Senator (R–Idaho), sponsor of S.356 - Lead Senate author of Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025

President Donald Trump signed the Secure Rural Schools reauthorization into law on December 18, 2025, ending a two-year funding cliff that had devastated more than 700 forested counties. The bill directs the USDA Forest Service to deliver retroactive payments for FY2024 and FY2025 within 45 days of enactment—by early February 2026—and extends the program through FY2026. Counties that had cut sheriffs' patrols, closed schools, and delayed road repairs are now budgeting for an influx of roughly $280 million per year.

Updated Jan 8

Chair, U.S. Senate Finance Committee (R–Idaho) - Receives OGE letters about Bessent’s noncompliance; potential gatekeeper for any Senate ethics or oversight hearings

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent entered office in January 2025 with an ethics agreement committing him to sell extensive personal holdings, including up to $25 million in North Dakota soybean and corn farmland that earned as much as $1 million a year in rent. After months of delays and an August 2025 warning from the Office of Government Ethics that he had failed to timely comply, Bessent announced on December 7, 2025, that he had finally divested the soybean farm "this week," completing the most glaring conflict-of-interest obligation.

Updated Dec 11, 2025