America First Means Middle-Class First: Rewriting the Priorities in Washington

American First means serving the middle class.

There’s been a long-standing lie in Washington: that helping the world somehow helps us. For decades, politicians—on both sides—pushed policies that drained our treasury, shipped our jobs overseas, and left American families fighting for scraps.

But now the tides are turning. President Trump’s return to office marked a reset, and I'm stepping up to make sure the reset sticks.

America First means middle-class first—not Wall Street, not foreign regimes, and certainly not unelected bureaucracies like the now-defunct USAID, which handed billions to foreign projects while our own veterans slept on sidewalks. That’s over.

But dismantling USAID is only step one. I’m proposing legislation that:

1. Outlaws the creation of any federal agency or program designed to perform international development work using domestic tax dollars, unless authorized by a two-thirds vote of Congress and subject to strict audits.

   
   

2. Redirects all former USAID funds to American infrastructure, school choice initiatives, and job training for citizens.

   
   

3. Requires federal agencies to publish a benefit-to-citizen ratio for every program that uses federal money abroad, if any are authorized in the future.

America First means investing in things that yield a return for the people footing the bill—namely, the American worker, the American entrepreneur, and the American child.

If we want to be first in the world, we must be first in:

• Infrastructure: Roads, ports, digital networks—built to last, built by Americans.

  
  

• Defense: A modernized military that protects our homeland, not police the globe.

  
  

• Education: Classrooms that equip the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs, not just test-takers.

  
  

• Trade Enforcement: Tariffs and IP protections that punish theft and reward innovation here at home.

An “America First” policy framework isn’t about isolation—it’s about prioritization. We’re not closing the door to the world—we’re closing the loopholes that let the world rob us blind while our middle class crumbles.

As your next Congressman, I’ll fight to institutionalize the America First doctrine in our spending, our diplomacy, and our economic policy. Because charity doesn’t begin in Brussels. It begins at home.

If you agree that the American people should come first—follow me on X @SholdonDaniels and support our campaign to bring common sense back to Congress.