Freshman GOP senator rips predecessor while reflecting on 'whirlwind' first 100 days: 'Urgency and speed'

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Trump’s election sent a message to illegal immigrants, says Sen. Bernie Moreno

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, comments on the national response to President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda on ‘Hannity.’

EXCLUSIVE: Freshman Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno has served out his first 100 days in office, and he spoke to Fox News Digital about his biggest takeaways and what he hopes the GOP Senate can accomplish over the next 100 days.

"It's been a whirlwind," Moreno said. "Obviously, President Trump's moving at 100 mph. So my hope is that Congress meets that same sense of urgency and speed. I think voters expect it."

Moreno, who defeated Ohio's longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown last November, has been busy since being sworn in, cosponsoring 67 bills while introducing eight original ones of his own. 

Over the next few months, Moreno told Fox News Digital, he hopes to see some of his legislation become law.

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Senate candidate Bernie Moreno speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

"Most important of all being the Transportation Freedom Act," Moreno explained. "The auto industry is right now in a really, really critical juncture. Because of Joe Biden and California lunatics, there's a lot of standards that are just not going to be able to be met."

"The car companies are trying to figure out what kind of cars to make. So what our bill basically does is say, 'Hey look, here's one set of standards. It's one set of standards for the entire country and then, most importantly, set those standards for 10 years,'" Moreno continued. "So if you're Ford or GM or any other car company, you know, what kind of cars to make for the next decade. That's huge. That will lower the price of automobiles."

Continuing to address illegal immigration is going to be a priority over the next few months, according to Moreno, who said he hopes his Rules Act addressing the broken asylum system will be passed, calling it a "low hanging fruit" and an "80-20 issue" Republicans can win on.

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Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, listens as Sen. Tommy Tuberville addresses supporters at Brecksville Community Center on Nov. 4, 2024, in Brecksville, Ohio. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Since taking office, Moreno has visited constituents in all 88 counties in Ohio, taken part in over 30 interviews with Ohio media outlets, hosted over 500 Ohioans for constituent coffees in Washington, D.C., and authored 16 letters on issues affecting Ohioans.

"I think my opponent, the guy who I replaced, Sherrod Brown, was emblematic of the kind of politicians people hate and basically just go down there for the paycheck and don't ever accomplish anything," Moreno told Fox News Digital. "I think he passed like six bills that named post offices. That was his 30-year career high. So we just want to get stuff done. I'm not gonna be there forever. I'm gonna be there one or two terms. The second one is up to the voters of Ohio. And then that's it."

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President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office at the White House. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

Over the next 100 days, Moreno told Fox News Digital, there is a long list of things he hopes the GOP Senate gets done in a timely manner to ensure that the Trump agenda is firing on all cylinders heading into the midterms. 

"I want to make sure we get a good reconciliation bill that preserves Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits but lowers the cost because of technology that we put in place in sort of state-directed work mandates for able-bodied Americans," Moreno said. "I think most people expect that."

Moreno also spoke about the need to cut funding to USAID.

"We can't afford 40-50 billion dollars in USAID-type programs, some of which are completely insane, and we need that money here in America to help Americans. Preserving Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid benefits, making the 2017 tax reform permanent so we don't see a four-and-a-half trillion dollar tax increase."

Additionally, Moreno said it is a priority to "codify" DOGE cuts into law so that the cuts are "in there forever."

"I think if we can accomplish all that, combined with what President Trump's already done with tariffs and trade and peace and the border, we will see the golden age of America by the end of the year in a way we've never seen."