MTPR is airing interviews with candidates running for federal office in 2026. MTPR's Shaylee Ragar spoke with Michael Hummert, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate.
Shaylee Ragar: Tell me why you are the best person for this job.
Michael Hummert: There's a lot of good candidates out there, but when they talk, they're not telling you anything. They're just speaking in generalities. I think the one that's the most egregious to me is when they say I have Montana values and never list what those Montana values are.
I think Montana values or self-determination, honesty, trust, integrity, a willingness to put yourself out there for your fellow citizen. Those are the things that build Montana. I might not have been born here, but I spent my time growing up on a farm in Southern Illinois. I know what those values are all about.
Shaylee Ragar: What previous experience would you take to Congress?
Michael Hummert: I have an understanding of compassion, self-determination as well. Ran a business for 18 years in Montana when I retired from the Navy. I think my biggest attribute is seeing through what people want you to see and asking the right questions. If you want to take something like the one big, beautiful bill last year in 2025, for instance, on a face value, I see what the Republicans were trying to get through. But when you get down to the part where they'd cut into Medicaid, and this is a serious issue for Montana, some of our counties have 7% and 8% unemployment already, and you're going to tell somebody that they have to work 80 hours a month to qualify? And if they miss their quota for time, then they get kicked off and it takes I think six months if my memory serves me to get back on Medicaid.
Some of these people have some pretty serious health concerns. They don't look at the big picture here that these people are still gonna want medical coverage or excuse me, medical care. So they'll still go to the hospital. The difference is the bill doesn't get paid. It's not a nonprofit hospital, it's a for-profit hospital. When they become insolvent, they close their doors. So now the people that have health care coverage don't have a place to go. I mean, who thought this plan up?
Shaylee Ragar: Where do you stand on the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement and what role should Congress have in immigration enforcement?
Michael Hummert: Here's the part that I disagree with. Donald Trump didn't have to go into Minnesota or Minneapolis or any place there. I think if my memory serves me, 26 of the top 100 largest cities in our nation are held by Republicans. So why didn't he go there and clean them up and show the American people that this is what it's supposed to look like. But instead, his Secretary of Homeland Security basically kicks the door down and goes into Minnesota, stirs up all the people, and our politicians that we have in Minnesota did absolutely nothing to quell the disturbances.
But nevertheless, I digress. What did I think about Trump and his immigration policy? He showed that he could shut the border down on day one. The border's supposed to be secure. We have a culture in this country, and we have a right to it.
Shaylee Ragar: What do you make of President Trump engaging the US in war with Iran?
Michael Hummert: Unfortunately, he quasi has a legal ability to do so because George Bush signed in right after 9/11, 2001, the Authorization for Use of Military Force Act, which all you gotta do is point at somebody and say they're a terrorist and the president now has the authorization to kill him. And just the same thing that Obama did, and Biden did, and George Bush did. It needs to be rescinded. Immediately. For the sake of the world.
Shaylee Ragar: What do you see as a top priority for constituents in Montana?
Michael Hummert: If we don't get a balanced budget amendment and get one soon, I hesitate to think what's going to happen. There's only three things that can happen. You either default on your currency, which they'll never do because they can print currency, or you inflate your economy so big that your $39 trillion debt doesn't look so bad now, or you get a balance budget amendment and you start doing the hard work, the things you are sent to Washington DC to do. And that is: cut the budget, balance it, and not hurt the people in the process.
