Candidate for US House District 13 in NC, Republican Matt Shoemaker, answers our questions

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Name: Matt Shoemaker

District: 13th Congressional District

Political party: Republican

Age as of March 5, 2024: 35

Campaign website: votemjs.com

Current occupation: Military and national security commentator

Professional experience: I’ve spent almost 10 years in the intelligence world, both as a civilian with the Defense Intelligence Agency and in uniform in the U.S. Navy. I ran intelligence operations against the Russians and the Chinese as part of European Command and Central Command, and I often worked with special operation forces to accomplish the mission. Now, I’m a military and national security expert for Fox News and Newsmax, and I write for various publications such as USA Today, Newsmax, and the Times of Israel.

Education: BA, Political Science, George Washington University; MA, Philosophy, Mount St Mary’s University; PhD candidate, Nuclear War Strategy (All But Dissertation), King’s College London; Certificate, Strategic Defense Policy, U.S. Army War College.

What offices have you run for or held before? Have you had any other notable government or civic involvement? Never held office, filed Federal Election Commission paperwork briefly (four weeks) in August 2021. Never appeared on ballot.

What is the issue that you see as most relevant to constituents in your district, and what will you do to address it?

Economy and inflation. People are spending almost all their income on being able to provide the same standard of living for their kids that they had just three years ago. Everyone knows the frustration and anxiety of going to the grocery store and looking at our receipts as we leave. When it becomes a struggle to feed our kids meat every day because of the high prices, something is seriously wrong in our country. Inflation begins in Washington because only Washington can print money.

Is there an issue on which you disagree with your party? What is your position on that issue?

I disagree with some in my party who want to blindly get us involved in foreign wars and throw good money after bad around the world when there are millions of people in our own country hurting. Veterans are going homeless while we send billions of hard-earned American dollars to corrupt countries around the world. I’m for America First which means we take care of Americans before we take care of the rest of the world.

What is the government doing, if anything, that you see as a waste of taxpayer money?

The Department of Defense has no idea where 60% of its $850 billion budget is spent. That’s $500 billion, or the size of Israel’s economy. In my book, that’s waste, fraud and abuse and no one is held accountable for the wild spending going on. We have a bad habit in America thinking if we throw money at a problem, it’ll fix it. That’s not how the world works. I don’t mind paying for a world -class military, but we need a good return on investment.

Should spending increases trigger automatic increases to the U.S. debt limit so that political gridlock does not cause the country to default on its debts?

No.

What federal legislation, if any, would you support on abortion?

The U.S. military should not be using American tax dollars for abortions.

What changes in U.S. immigration enforcement and restrictions would you support?

There is no excuse for why Democrats are holding up House Resolution 2 (HR 2) in the Senate. It is the best piece of immigration legislation in decades. It reestablishes President Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy for people waiting to get into the country, and it severely restricts the criteria someone can claim for asylum. Every member of Congress should be pounding the pavement to advocate for the passage of HR 2.

What legislation would you support to make Americans safer from mass shootings and other violent crime?

We need to enforce our current gun laws, not write new ones. Enforce the laws already on the books. Every year, according to the FBI, roughly 100,000 Americans fail a background check when they try to purchase a firearm (including Hunter Biden). Each one of those who fail it should be prosecuted for attempting to buy a firearm. But each year only about 10% of those are ever prosecuted for their crime. We need to make it a priority to enforce what’s already there.