Regulatory reform built quietly during the Obama years became one of the most powerful tools of the first Trump administration, and Steve Friess was in the room when it happened. In this episode of The Jenny Beth Show, host Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party movement and Chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action, sits down with businessman, education reform advocate, and Wyoming congressional candidate Steve Friess for a wide-ranging conversation about deregulation, energy, and the fight to rebuild opportunity in America. Friess, son of the late conservative philanthropist Foster Friess, describes how he assembled a volunteer team of conservative attorneys, what some called the counter deep state, to draft executive orders and regulatory memos years before Donald Trump took office. He explains the regulatory budget concept that helped repeal regulations at a far faster pace than the famous two for one promise, breaks down obscure but powerful offices like OIRA, and makes the case that lower-cost energy is the bedrock of every price Americans pay. The conversation also digs into school choice and classical education, the dignity of work and trade schools, out-of-control federal spending and the national debt, and why Friess believes Wyoming coal, oil, gas, and rare earth minerals are a matter of national security. It is a candid look at how policy actually gets made, and why outsiders willing to learn the system can change it. Learn more at teapartypatriots.org and watch more episodes at jennybethshow.com.
Steve Friess is a businessman, conservative activist, education reform advocate, and candidate for Wyoming’s single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The son of the late conservative philanthropist Foster Friess, he has worked for years to build the conservative movement through business, philanthropy, education, and grassroots activism, and co-founded the Jackson Hole Classical Academy.
Key topics covered:
Why a self-described political outsider decided to run for Congress
The volunteer attorney project that drafted executive orders before Trump took office
The regulatory budget concept and how deregulation freed the economy
Wyoming energy: coal, oil, gas, and rare earth minerals as a national security issue
School choice, classical education, and teaching kids how to think
The dignity of work, trade schools, and earned success
Federal spending, the national debt, and cutting waste
Timestamps:
00:18 — Introducing Steve Friess
01:01 — Why he decided to run for Congress
02:38 — What “political outsider” really means
03:29 — Why today’s Democrats aren’t Bill Clinton Democrats
06:22 — The SAVE America Act and grassroots leadership
09:33 — The policy that motivates him most
10:25 — Extractive industries and regulatory roadblocks
11:18 — Rare earth minerals and national security
12:27 — Don’t forget coal: clean coal and export
13:21 — Carbon dioxide as “plant food”
14:45 — Education, federalism, and a Trump executive order
15:26 — Building the “counter deep state” attorney project
17:17 — Why the left is relentless: the spiritual dimension
19:51 — Inside the executive order project
20:50 — The regulatory budget and “two for one”
23:58 — Trump’s cabinet and the acronym lesson
25:42 — OIRA and the “sound science” memo
27:50 — “Guidance guidance” and reining in agencies
29:15 — His mission for Wyoming and lower-cost energy
32:01 — School choice and the family investment business
34:21 — The Teton County zoning fight and his first law
39:34 — Learning how to think, not what to think
43:27 — Covenantal vs. missional religious schools
47:50 — The Humanitas Institute and classical education
48:47 — How public schools narrowed the box
50:28 — Trade schools, Mike Rowe, and the dignity of work
55:08 — Bankruptcy, housekeeping, and earned dignity
57:57 — Arthur Brooks and “earned success”
1:00:08 — His scorecard: high-paying Wyoming jobs
1:01:02 — Cutting taxes vs. cutting spending
1:03:36 — The $39 trillion debt and the Tea Party’s origin
1:04:22 — Applauding the shutdown of USAID
1:05:18 — Closing: why people should vote for him
Links: teapartypatriots.org, jennybethshow.com, friessforwy.com