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Welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz. And this week, we're going to talk a little bit about the news. Highlights somebody doing something stupid somewhere because that's always happening. And then we're going to phone a friend, somebody I've actually known for a number of years. Cynthia Lummis, who's the senator from Wyoming, took over for Mike Enzi.
uh won that election and uh and she is just the wonderful um somebody i've gotten to know and uh you'll be fascinated by her background because she's been everything from
state legislator, state treasurer, serving the United States Senator. She's been a rodeo queen. She's just, I mean, she has done it all. And she's got a fascinating kind of background in history. And I just, I think it'd be a good way to get to know her better because she is a power player there in Washington, D.C. Whether you realize it or not, she may not be on all the shows all the time, but she's
She does have a very important voice and important vote there in the United States Senate. So we'll call up Cynthia Lummis, the senator from Wyoming, in a little bit. But first, I want to talk about a couple of things in the news. News is always happening fast, right? I mean, every few hours, there's some other bombshell, some other thing coming out. And I think one of the things I wanted to highlight is
It goes back to the idea of energy and energy independence. You would have thought that our nation would have learned things way back when, particularly in the Carter years. I was born in 1967, so I was into the 70s, little kid, and we had an energy crisis, and we were so dependent on others to fuel our future. Now, over the course of decades since then, we pretty much learned the lesson, but not totally learned the lesson.
And we're suffering the consequences now by taking steps backwards in our approach to energy. I think everybody would like to have as clean of energy as we possibly can. Nobody wants to throw pollutants into the air or garbage into our waters and that sort of thing.
But at the same time, some of these forced provisions in the Green New Deal and what the Democrats are trying to do in terms of energy are really totally harming not just our economy, but our ability to actually pursue viable energy products. And you have to do so in a financially responsible manner, because when you are such a glutton and such a
So dependent upon oil and the byproducts of oil that produce the plastics that produce everything from makeup to, I mean, you name it, to gasoline in our cars, then you have to be able to make that transition in a responsible way, not just cut things off.
When you do cut things off, then you see the consequences. You know, it's unbelievable to me that Joe Biden on really, literally the first few hours of his presidency decided to get rid of the ability of us to extract natural resources and forms of oil from our public lands. That was put in a very tough spot, making it almost impossible to do it.
cutting that off, the Keystone Pipeline, not being able to transport it. But the short-sightedness in doing so is just... And then cutting the strategic petroleum reserve so that we have less ability to...
to weather storms and deal with it in the case of war or something like that. It's just, it's just, just not right. So if you are going to make yourselves energy independent, I want to pursue all of the above wind hydro energy.
natural gas, and certainly nuclear. The one part of the discussion that never comes up is about nuclear energy. We produce about 20 to 22% of our electricity in this country from nuclear. Now, France does roughly 80%. Other countries have varying percentages
But if you want the single cleanest fuel that we know, it's nuclear. You couldn't operate Phoenix, Arizona, the greater Phoenix area, without the Palo Verde nuclear power plant. It just wouldn't happen.
And so when the Democrats say, oh, we want everything to move to electricity and we want to have under Pete Buttigieg's leadership, we're going to go put out all these thousands of electric stations for to transition all the cars to electric. Well, guess what, folks? Something's got to produce that electricity.
Right now, it's coal. Yeah, there's some that's wind. But when it's not blowing, there's a problem. But we need to look at nuclear. I guess my overall message here is there are consequences to policies, and those consequences are playing themselves out now.
We talk about inflation. We talk about high prices. We're seeing bare shelves. And one of the components that you need in order to have a thriving, good economy without that inflation is a steady flow of energy to produce and transport your products, your services, and your people. Guess what? Joe Biden, Kamala Harris came in.
Totally change that equation and look at these rapid rise in prices. But you know what? That's what the Democrats want. They don't want you to work far away from where you live. They want you to literally live where you work and walk. Sounds great. Sounds idyllic.
But not true for where everybody wants to live and reside. And it's just not possible for so many people. They do need forms of transportation. So I could go on and on and on. The bottom line is there are consequences, and the energy has to be part of that. The other thing that has not popped up in the news as much, at least in the first nine going into 10, about to turn the corner into 11 months of the Biden administration, is...
guns they're still coming after them folks they still want to come after them it will be interesting to see when and how they want to change this equation they've been so much discussion you know obviously about reconciliation and the budget and the infrastructure and all that those things calm down a little bit i just a little bit of a prediction that guns ammunition
Try walking into a store and getting the ammunition right now. It's incredibly expensive and probably not there. You talk about empty shelves, ammunition is probably not there. And it's just wrong, but it's just a foreshadowing and a warning. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Senator Cynthia Lummis right after this.
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It's bad enough what we're going through with COVID and the masks and all that. But this is just downright stupid. The Patwin, Patwin, P-A-T-W-I-N, Patwin Elementary School principal sent a notice out to parents a couple weeks ago and told them that their children will be forced to eat outside no matter what's going on with the weather. So blazing hot.
pouring rain, cold, does not matter. Quote, rain is forecast this week, which will present an added challenge to our lunch routines, the principal had written to the
Had written to the parents, Davis Joint Unified School District students are required to eat outside at this time due to COVID restrictions. I'm asking you to send your children to school with rain gear and warm jackets because, folks, you are going to eat out in the rain. That's the rules. We're going to fight COVID. I don't care if you get sick. I don't care if you get sopping wet. That's what you're going to have to do at this school. I...
I just think it's absolutely stupid. But that's my take on it. That, for me, is bringing on the stupid. Congratulations, Patwin Elementary. They're in the Davis Joint Unified School District in California. All right, time to bring on somebody that I...
I really have gotten to know. I was elected the same time as her. She was running in Wyoming, I in Utah, and we both won. So let's dial up and have, I think, a really good discussion about her history and what influenced her and her background because she's a true Westerner. Let's dial up the senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis. This is Cynthia.
Cynthia, hey, this is a blast from the past. Jason Chaffetz calling you. And Senator, thanks for joining us. This is a blast from the past. How are you? Good. You know, I was the congressman from Utah's 3rd Congressional District. You were the congresswoman. We were elected same time, 2008, to serve in the Congressional District.
Representatives, which I thoroughly enjoyed. And you stepped away from the House. I stepped away from the House. But then you jumped back in and you did the crazy thing and jumped in and ran and won and became the senator, the first female senator. Congratulations. The first female senator from the great state of Wyoming. Well, thank you. You're too young to remember Evel Knievel. Oh, no, I remember. Jumping the Snake River. Yes. Yes.
He used to be kind of a daredevil and he'd drive a motorcycle through a burning tunnel and then occasionally would turn around and go back in. And that's a little bit like my leaving the House and then returning back to the Senate. You know, they say there's a saying that says friends don't let friends run for Congress. And so, you know, I had no part of talking you into it than saying, go for it.
But at least you came out and helped, and I deeply appreciate it. You and Julie both came, and it was so wonderful to have you in our state. Well, Wyoming's one of my favorite places on the planet. If you want to get away and go see the great outdoors and clear your head and see big game and just beautiful, I mean, it is spectacular. I love Utah. Utah has it all, but I'm telling you, Wyoming's right up there at the top of my list.
And I feel the same way. When I was a little kid growing up on a ranch,
We had to stay within the region to do family vacations because we just couldn't be gone very long. And so we would pile into this old Woody station wagon and drive through the national parks in southern Utah. And they're so spectacular, you have to see it to believe it. Now, when you grow up, you were a legit cowgirl. I mean, that isn't just like a slogan or something that you...
you know, put on the hat and slip on a pair of boots because the cameras are rolling. That's like in your blood. I mean, you were involved in rodeos pretty early in life, weren't you? I was. And coming from a cattle ranch and being raised on cattle,
These were not the dressage horses or the show horses. These were just cow ponies, quarter horses that were good for moving cattle. And when we were little kids, we'd play Pony Express on our ponies and jump over hay bales and run.
We were putting up hay when we weren't riding our horses. So growing up on a Wyoming ranch was just a wonderful way to live. And so much so that I, when I went to college, studied animal science at the College of Agriculture at the University of Wyoming. Yeah. And you went on, got your Juris Doctorate, became an attorney along the way. But going back when you were a little girl here and
And then as you kind of got into your teenage years and whatnot, you also became like a rodeo queen, right? You were off doing some, you met some fairly famous people back in the day being a famous rodeo queen, as I recall. Well, Cheyenne Frontier Days is the world's largest outdoor rodeo event.
It's one of the greatest rodeos in the world. In my opinion, it is the greatest rodeo in the world. It's the daddy of them all. It's been around since 1897. And when I was just graduating from college, I got to be Miss Frontier.
So I was crowned Miss Frontier by Roy Rogers. I had dinner with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. And I tell you, there never did a nicer man live than Roy Rogers. He was so friendly, charming, warm, lovely guy.
You felt like you'd known him your whole life. Yeah, you were the rodeo queen. I can't imagine you had a rough conversation. Oh, I look back on that and just think, wow, I had dinner with Roy Rogers. What a great American story. How many people can say that? That is cool. I got a picture somewhere. Do you have a picture of that? You must have a picture of it.
I do. I absolutely do. And Dale Evans, his wife, was more the taskmaster. But they were a terrific couple. She was the queen of the cowgirls. You know, she wrote the song Happy Trails to you. And to this day, I sign letters, Happy Trails.
And it is I was influenced so much by that that one occasion where I got to meet both Roy and Dale. What a great experience. Now, growing up, I mean, you in the United States Senate now, you're a very conservative member. I mean, you're as outspoken as they are about the national debt and personal responsibility, things like that. But
What is it that early in your life or your formative years that really kind of informed that and created that as part of your core approach to the proper role of government? I think because I did grow up on a ranch, I was the third girl of four children. So we were the hay crew. We told ourselves what to do and then we went out and did it.
So there was a lot of self-initiative and self-drive associated with the way we grew up and self-responsibility. So if I ran a hay rake off a narrow bridge into the creek, I had to fess up and I had to go get it out. And so I think being raised that way and being responsible for livestock,
I tell you, when you grow up and they're dependent on you, horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, we had it all. And they're dependent on you. And if you go to bed and they haven't eaten, you get up and go feed them in the middle of the night because you're the one who's responsible for their very well-being. And all of those things, I think, shaped the way I feel about the role of family, the role of individuals.
And the role of government. And furthermore, my first experiences in elected policy and politics were in the Wyoming legislature. So I literally kind of grew up in the Wyoming legislature because I was first elected when I was 27.
24 years old and was single. And I ended up marrying a fellow legislator and having a child and
going to law school during my legislative years. So they were very formative years for me. And it was like having 60 other adults looking out for me and shaping who I was, but also the manner in which legislators, state legislators solve problems that are very specific to their states.
made me believe that the states really are the incubators of the great ideas in America and that all the federal government should be doing is ensuring that the states and individuals' rights are protected
so that these leaders in the U.S. system, individuals and the states, can continue to lead, continue to innovate, and continue to keep our institutions strong. Yeah, I would imagine that between Cheyenne and Cody and Star Valley, and you named the place in Wyoming,
maybe slightly different than how they're going to do it in, say, Miami or Philadelphia or Scranton, Pennsylvania. I mean, it's just going to be different, and it should be different. And this one-size-fits-all federal government approach, I've just never quite understood why they thought the wisdom would be that direction. It's just different to me. I'm with you, Jason. I don't get it either. I would have no idea to this day that
how to manage the Everglades. I've never been to the Everglades. I don't understand swamps and that kind of an ecosystem. I'm not familiar with their flora and fauna. And likewise, they're not familiar with Yellowstone National Park like you are because you've spent many a night and early morning in the park.
I'm much more comfortable in that alpine forest ecosystem. So we should acknowledge that the skills that people have in their individual states are very honed towards stewardship over that state. And furthermore, I agree with you. When I go to Louisiana, I want to hunt for alligator. I want to eat shrimp etouffee and boudin balls.
But I don't want to eat those things when I'm in Wyoming because there's no way we can fix them the same way as they do in Louisiana. I love the variety of America. I love the cultural differences that are associated with growing up in our different regions. And I want to nurture those differences together.
And you do it, you nurture those differences by protecting freedom. Yeah, it's a good bison burger in Wyoming is about as good as it gets. I just love the bison. I just think that is. Anyway, you got me off on that when you were talking about alligator. But you have to nurture those differences and respect those differences. But right now, the federal government is so overreaching. It's so overarching in every single aspect of our life.
And I think we really are at an inflection point. But let's go back for a second here. You're 20, young 20s, and you decide to run for the state legislature. What 20-year-old does that? Like, what was in your brain? What were you thinking? Why? Why'd you do that? This was the late 1970s.
When I was a senior in animal science at the University of Wyoming, I needed some humanities credits to graduate. And so I signed up for an internship at the Wyoming legislature because I could get credit for that in a political science class. Well, I went and interned for the state Senate's Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee. And I fell head over heels in love
with the Wyoming legislature. So it was just two years later that I ran for the legislature, 1978. And that was a year when non-traditional candidates did very well all over the country, but certainly in Wyoming. There was sort of this backlash after Watergate,
against traditional candidates. So young people, women, people of color all over the country did really well that year. So it was sort of a right place, right time thing. And I was elected and began serving when I was 24 years old. And it just clicked with me. I just took to it. I loved it.
And that love has never gone away. Well, you've had a variety of roles, right? You were in the state house. You were in the state Senate. You were also the treasurer for the state of Wyoming, correct? Absolutely.
Absolutely. And, you know, I have to tell you that being state treasurer was my favorite elected job that I've ever held. Really? And the reason is because Wyoming has a permanent mineral trust fund. It's it's like an endowment fund.
that when we produce our oil, gas and coal, a portion of the proceeds is put into a permanent fund that can be used to partially fund the state's general fund, but is also used to save for the long term. So after the minerals are gone or in the case now of the Biden administration, after the minerals are no longer wanted, we will have some long term revenue from those resources.
So I got to take that portfolio from being invested totally in bonds to being over 50% equities and the other half bonds. And when I say equities, I mean small, mid and large cap domestic stocks. We had foreign stocks. We had hedge funds. We had special assets like private equity. We were able to fully invest.
diversify that asset allocation. And it was so interesting. It was so fascinating about how you can produce short-term revenue for the Wyoming legislature to spend because all of our interest dividends and realized capital gains went to the state's general fund for the legislature to spend on education, healthcare, corrections, roads, everything that state legislatures deal with. But
But then we also wanted to invest some of the money in a great store of value for the future. So learning about the different qualities of how to invest for a long-term endowment to me was just truly fascinating. I loved it. So that's what you want, ladies and gentlemen, a policy wonk who thinks that that is super interesting stuff. So that is really...
I can see why people said, yeah, she's the right person. I'm going to vote for her. Could somebody who's enthusiastic about it? One thing I love about Cynthia Lummis, Senator Lummis, she decided you decided a long time ago. You have this infectious laugh like and it's boisterous. Let's be honest.
That's big. It's a big laugh. And when you really get her rolling, you'll know that she's in the room, right? And when did you decide that it's okay to laugh out loud? Well, I don't know that I ever decided. I think I just do it and I had to accept it because I can't exactly control it.
Well, it's infectious. It's really fun. You've been with me when I'm in the basement of the U.S. Capitol building or the house office buildings. It just sort of echoes and booms down the hall. So I've been standing at an elevator bay and people will come up to me and say, I could tell you were down here a quarter of a mile away because I heard your laugh. And if the thing you're known for is having a crazy big laugh,
That's not really the worst thing to be identified with. So I just decided to own it. I can't control it. So I just own it. Well, it is infectious and it's genuine. It's not, it's just, it's fun and it's,
And you know what? You know what I've appreciated for those of you that are listening to this podcast? You know, I think I was the first member of Congress to go into Libya after the Benghazi attacks. But then I decided that I needed to go back and try finding a member to say, hey, you know what we're going to do? We're going to go to Libya again. Yeah.
And you were so quick to raise your hand and said, yeah, I haven't done that before. And you went with me. That was a crazy trip. Well, but you're you are the one who was, I think, the most adventurous and committed to trying to figure out what happened in Benghazi.
And we all felt, Jason, that we were not being told the truth. The American people thought that. We as policymakers thought that. So the fact that you, on your own initiative...
would take that on was incredible. And then I was so pleased to be invited to go back with you because among the things I remember that really stuck with me is we went to Tripoli to our embassy and
And it had been so ill protected that the neighbors would put ladders up against the wall and throw their garbage over the wall onto the U.S. embassy grounds. That's U.S. soil in Libya. And to think that our own State Department would tolerate that kind of
treatment of U.S. ground there, it's kind of indicative of our views about ourselves and the manner in which we express ourselves when we're overseas. And so your attention to those issues, the safety, security, and international treatment of our embassies and our embassy staff is
is really an important issue, Jason. And you really took that under your wing when you were chairman of the Oversight Committee. And I have to say, I thought about you when we were leaving Kabul and the thought just a couple months ago and the thought of our embassy falling into the hands of ridiculous officials
new leadership in that country, in Afghanistan. I thought about you and thought, man, you would find this hard to swallow because you were very protective of U.S. soil in foreign countries. Yeah, I appreciate you saying that because we did a whole series of investigations on
Because, you know, they kept telling us that they after Benghazi and whatnot, that, oh, all the embassies are safe, they're secure. We got the properly fortified. And yet we found out that there were hundreds, if not a thousand plus exemptions to the
the Inman standards is what they're called. And they just kept making all these waivers and it puts us at more risk. And so we started looking at the embassies, not just the one at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, but all around the world. And they actually had a ranking. It was classified material, but
They had a ranking of some of the most vulnerable. So those are the ones we started to go to. And part of what we wanted to do is to spend the night. They just said, absolutely cannot do it. We can fly you in and out, but you cannot spend the night. And I'm like, wait a sec, there are other Americans here. If it's not safe enough for a member of Congress, you're telling me, but it is safe for somebody working in the foreign service? There's something fundamentally wrong here, folks. And
I'm glad you pointed that out because as atrocious as this is, it was like a residential type of neighborhood and it wasn't like a downtown building. And they had this little compound with a whatever size wall that was, six, seven foot wall. And it's true. The neighbors just in order to get rid of their garbage would literally put a ladder up and dump it. And there was a huge pile out there of just garbage on our embassy grounds. It was unbelievable. But again,
You were one that would get after that, and there's so much that the government is doing and doing just in a stupid way. But tell me about your – look, you've served in the House now. You're a United States senator. It's a 60,000-foot view.
What's your biggest concern about the trajectory that you see moving forward? What really kind of keeps you up at night and lights your fire and say, boy, we have to solve this. We have to overcome it. What's that big thing for you? Well, there are two. One is that we seem to be careening further and further from adherence to the U.S. Constitution.
And then the other thing is that we are devaluing the U.S. dollar and debasing our currency in ways that will mean that people who are saving now will not find it adequate once they hit retirement age and are hoping to have money that they've worked hard for there to serve them and work for them when they retire.
So between the debasing of the U.S. dollar and our failure to adhere to the principles of our U.S. Constitution, I think we're in real trouble. I think you used a term earlier in this podcast like we're at a transformative time or something like that. I believe we are at a transformative time and we're
And our reaction to it, I believe, is not good. So it's going to take an important American dialogue.
to get through this. We have a nation that's very divided. It's reflected by the U.S. Senate being 50-50 and the House being, U.S. House being only, what, three or four votes between Democrats and Republicans. That's very reflective of the country. But what we need to do, I think, is instead of dwelling on how we're a house divided country,
We need to start looking at, OK, what can we do about it? And I would hope that we would address the two things that I just mentioned. One is, you know, let's read the Constitution in a very serious manner and decide whether we're willing to walk away from it. I think there are some Democrats, honestly, that are willing to walk away from it. And that's terrifying to me.
But I don't think that's the majority of Democrats or independents. I think that's a small vocal minority. So I think that the majority needs to get together and talk about how we can pull ourselves back into adherence to those principles. And furthermore, we have to find ways to preserve the value of the U.S. dollar. Now, as you know, Jason, I invest in Bitcoin. I
Because I want to have an alternative in the event that we run our economy into the wall and crash this place. I want to know that there's an alternative. For me, that's Bitcoin. So we have to find a way also to provide a regulatory framework for digital assets that are not issued by any government.
in the event that we do crash this race car against the wall,
that we have an off ramp and thank goodness for Bitcoin and other digital assets that help provide us an off ramp. Yeah, there's some really interesting technology and philosophical approach to this. You're certainly a leader on it. I mean, I see you out there talking about this, I think helping to force the discussion that really does need to happen. And I
There's a reason why so many people have gravitated to this. And I think there's other forms of the technology that actually could be very helpful. I think voting is one of them. This begs a whole other question. And I thought it may be
transforming some of my podcasts and doing them very issue specific. And we should probably try to tackle that too. But it's interesting given you're the only, are you the only Senator who's been a U S has been a state treasurer? I don't know if you, if there is another state treasurer out there, but there are a couple of them, but, um, uh,
The function of state treasurers in various states is very different. And I think there's only three that I know that are running sovereign wealth funds, Alaska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Senator Cynthia Lummis right after this.
Well, it is a fascinating part of your background. And that's what I just love about your approach here. I'm glad we got good people that are willing to serve and step up because you certainly don't need to. And one thing that you told me, I visited with you in Wyoming and you were transitioning your home. I think it was your dad's ranch or house or something like that. And you were telling me about all the...
all the critters and slithery things that were going on. I hope, I hope things are a little bit better at that house as you've transitioned into it. You know, they're, they're calming down. I moved back to the house I grew up in on the ranch and there was a lot of deferred maintenance. And so, um,
Explain to people what you were dealing with. I adios to about 13 garter snakes that were in the house. That was kind of unpleasant, you know, because when you get up in the middle of the night and it's dark and you think about putting your bare feet on the floor. Oh, yeah.
It is my worst nightmare. It's like, who do I really want to do this? But no, I think we've got them all. Knock on wood. 13. I mean, you would think after seven, you're like, there can't be many more in here. Well, that is what I thought. Oh, my goodness. And then there were six more after that. And then there was, yeah. Now you still...
I love that. It's just deferred maintenance. It's such a polite way of putting it. But I did find some of the holes that they were getting in and out of the house. And so hopefully I've filled them adequately. We'll find out now that it's getting cold and the snakes are going to try and figure out how to get back in. Well, you're going to find out in the spring when they decide, hey, here we are. We're back. And good luck with that. Thanks.
Just good old Wyoming living right there. You got it.
I want to transition to our quick questions. And these may not be as quick as they normally are with other people because I do know a little bit about you. So I'm going to ask you some other questions. That was kind of one of them. But just to better get to know you, and I don't care how many times you've been out feeding or milking the cows or doing whatever you're doing out there, you are not properly prepared for these questions. They usually get people in trouble. I hope you're okay with that. Okay. Let's... I'm a little...
Quick, I've seen you on programs like The Five where you guys are throwing these. We don't have to be quick. They're just personal questions. They're personal probative questions that, yeah, we'll see. We'll take them one at a time. All right. Okay. First concert you attended. Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. I can't say that I've ever had anybody pull that one up as their first concert, but I believe you. That's good. Yeah.
I was going to ask you your favorite rodeo, but you've already said that. But I want everybody to know she traveled up and down like the Intermountain West here going to all these different rodeos. You went to a bunch of Utah and Colorado, I assume. And you've been on the rodeo circuit there. Yeah, I have. I worked for Flying U Rodeo Company in Marysville, California. Sure.
And so we did rodeos in California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. See a true, true Westerner here. All right. What was your high school mascot?
The T-Birds, the Thunderbirds, East High Thunderbirds, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Yeah, that's legit right there. You know, I always laugh when I get these East Coast people or somebody else comes out and says, oh, yeah, we were the Vikings. Like, what, you have a lot of Vikings growing up around your history? No, my daughter's was the Black Squirrels.
Black squirrels? Not just the squirrels, the black squirrels. Black squirrels. She went to Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and they were the black squirrels. You get together in a group and go around the circle and have everybody name their mascot. There's always somebody that's just like, you got to be kidding me. But...
Thunderbirds is like legit, you know? First of all, Wyoming's got like the best license plate. It fits the state better than any other license plate. That is just like the cowboy there. If you can picture that license plate, you got the coolest logo. And to be the Thunderbirds, see, that's just, it's tough. It's beautiful. It's all of those things.
Thank you. All right. So you're growing up. Who was your first celebrity crush? Well, celebrities in Wyoming are not always the same celebrities that people would choose. And so it was probably Casey Tibbs. Casey Tibbs was the world champion all around cowboy.
And I'd have to say that would be right up there. Yeah, you still remember him. That's good. Yeah, he must have been a cute guy. All right. Favorite vegetable? I like Brussels sprouts.
Brussels sprouts. That's two in a row I think I've had on Brussels sprouts. Underrated vegetable that it is. That's good. They're very popular right now. You put them in the oven and broil them with a little olive oil on them. They are really good. Yeah. All right. Life's most embarrassing moment for Cynthia Lemus. Oh, my gosh. There's so many. I think it's the one where – I love it when people answer that way. It's just an honest answer because we all have them. But go ahead. Yes. I think –
I got stopped by a policeman on an incline, left my car in neutral, went and jumped back in the police car and watched my car roll into the police car while I was sitting in it.
All right. That's not only embarrassing, that's probably fairly costly. What did the police officer say? When it was rolling towards us, I'd never been stopped by a policeman. I was all nervous. So I grabbed my driver's license and my registration card.
And I jumped out of my car and went and sat in the passenger side of the police car. You're not supposed to do that. And then all of a sudden I looked up and my car is rolling backwards towards the police car. So I started to jump out and he says, oh, lady, just let it roll. Probably it happened to him before. Sounds like.
You're not supposed to jump out of your car and jump into the police office. Police car? Is that the Wyoming way? Where did that come up from? Where did that come from? I was a teenager. I was a teenager, okay? Oh, my gosh. Any teenager listening to this podcast, don't do what she just did because, oh, my gosh. Exactly right. I highly recommend that you leave your car in gear when you turn it off. Yeah, or put it in park.
All right. That's pretty funny. All right. That was good for embarrassing moment. All right. So if you could meet one person, you could have like over for dinner, sit down, just anybody dead or alive. Who would that be? You know, I know this sounds cliche, but this is absolutely true. I would love to have dinner with George Washington.
I've read a lot of presidential biographies, but everything he did set the stage for subsequent presidents. And he was the perfect first president of the United States. So that's one person I'd love to visit with. I totally agree. And for him to walk away the way he walked away was just...
He didn't have that. And he did. And he was such an inspiration. Perfect person at the, at just the right time. All right. Just a couple more. I promise we're almost done. A unique talent that nobody knows about. Ooh, I play the banjo. You do. I didn't know that. Yeah.
didn't know about that, did you? No, I didn't. I mean, I know you like art. There's a certain type of art. There's things like that that you're... But playing the banjo, I mean, I had no idea. Well, I play it badly, but... And so calling it a talent is a stretch.
I bet you'd be pretty good. And you know what? Next time we do a podcast with you, we might ask you to strum a tunes out, but maybe not. I don't know. All right. Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no? Oh, yeah. It's long. Absolutely. But it's best with like Canadian bacon or...
or ham, something like that. Yeah, pineapple on pizza, I'm good with. That's just wrong. It's just fundamentally not right. It does not surprise me to hear you say that. Fair enough, fair enough. All right, best advice you ever got?
Best advice I ever got. Best advice you'd ever give. Oh, my goodness. You know, I know this sounds maybe too heavy, given the question, but just trust in God. It's hard to do. But my gosh, when you do, you just save yourself so much agony. So that's that's my that's it.
Yeah, I think it's great advice. And I don't think that's too heavy. You know, it's interesting. With the recent passing of Colin Powell, Colin Powell had 13, I think it's 13 rules that he had. And I would encourage everybody, go back and search that on in your computer. Go to DuckDuckGo or something like that and type in Colin Powell's rules. They're really good. They're really good. And part of it is just take a deep breath. It'll be okay. Yeah.
You know, life will be okay. And believing in God, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I fear that we too many have kind of stepped away from that. Maybe it's not cool enough or something, but I believe in it, and I'm glad to hear you say that. Thanks. All right, last question. Who is your favorite oversight chairman from Utah's 3rd Congressional District? Jason Chapin! Oh, yeah.
Thank goodness. I keep asking that question. I don't always get the right answer. And I thought I put enough qualifiers on it. Look, it was an honor and privilege to serve with you. I thank you for joining us here on the Jason in the House podcast and wish you nothing but the best because the issues that are before you in Washington, D.C.,
We just need good, honest, decent people taking a good, hard look at it. And I'm glad we've got a good voice from the West out there in Cynthia Lemus. So thank you so much for joining us today. It's been my pleasure. I really admired your work here in Washington. We miss you here, but it's great to know that you're still out there promoting what's great about America and what we can still be if we stick to our
our sound principles. So thanks, Jason. Thank you. I can't thank Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming for joining us. Can't thank her enough. She's just a wonderful, wonderful human being and adds an incredible perspective and really just a key player there in the United States Senate. I guess you could probably make that argument about all of them, but I think she's got a very unique Western voice and
That has just a lot of common sense that comes with it. And she surprises a lot of people. Being an attorney, having been the state treasurer, she's just got a wealth of experience that I think is so valuable. So thanks for listening to the Jason in the House podcast. You can find more podcasts over at foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.
I hope you have a chance to rate this, like it, hit those little stars for us. We'd appreciate it. And we'll be back with more next week. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House. It's time to take the quiz. Five questions, five minutes a day, five days a week. Take the quiz every weekday at thequiz.fox and then listen to the quiz podcast to find out how you did. Play, share, and of course, listen to the quiz at thequiz.fox.
