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John Seiler: Ken Calvert and Young Kim are stuck in the Beltway Bubble

April 22, 2026

People in Washington, D.C. live inside a Beltway Bubble of nothing but politics. I lived there for five years in the 1980s, so I know.

That mentality is the impression I got when the SCNG Editorial Board talked to Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim, especially about the ongoing Iran War. Although both are incumbent Republicans, the Proposition 50 redistricting initiative from last November jammed them together vying for the 40th Congressional District in the June 2 primary. It was gerrymandered to cover parts of southeastern Orange County and western Riverside County.

Five Democrats and one No Party Preference candidate also are running. Polling is mixed in this top-two race. But the Cook Political Report as of April 21 scored this district “Solid Republican.”

In 2024, voters in this district and nationally clearly voted for President Trump and a Republican-majority Congress on promises of ending the Ukraine War “in 24 hours” and “no regime change wars.” Yet the Beltway Bubble mentality has brought us no end to the Ukraine War and now the Iran War directly being waged by U.S. troops. Side effects include soaring gas prices in California and rising food and other prices.

“It’s taken me a long time to get to be the chair of the Defense Appropriations Committee,” Calvert said. “Even at my tender age of 72, I’m one of the youngest chairman of that committee” because of the seniority system. I understand the department as well as anybody, and what changes need to be made.” He worked to fix personnel issues, restructure the Pentagon, bypass bureaucracy and streamline contracts to save money.

But in our discussion on March 26, halfway through the Iran War, he was totally backing Trump. Things really haven’t changed much since then. Calvert said of Iran, “They basically have lost this war, in the sense that their entire Navy is gone, the first echelon of their leadership is gone, the second echelon of their leadership is gone.”

“I know some of the people involved in these negotiations,” he said. “I have faith that they’re going to push for an agreement that’s acceptable to the United States, and have a more peaceful Iran that we can deal with in the future.”

But as my columns on the Iran War in these pages and on my Substack have argued, that never has been the case. Iran has shown it can hold on. Calvert mentioned removing Iran’s uranium, which might happen, and agreeing “to curtail their development of ballistic missiles and drones,” which they never will do.

With Kim, I brought up increasing inflation driven by rising oil and gas prices hitting the middle class that elected Republicans. “I think it is because of the situation with Iran” cutting off supplies, she said. “I would look at it as a temporary situation. But it’s not just what’s happening in Iran.” She then pivoted to blame California’s 2017 state gas tax increase.

I brought up how Republicans always promise to reduce the national debt. But the U.S. Debt Clock showed a national debt of $39 trillion, rising at $1.7 trillion a year even before the war’s new costs.

“Well, that’s a very good question,” she said. “Which is why we are working to address that. And I think a good example is passing the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, also known as the Big Beautiful Bill.”

In reality, Congressional Budget Office estimated the BBB would increase the debt by $2.8 trillion over the next decade.

And although all tax cuts are welcome, more war debt only will increase inflation faster. That shows the unreality inside the Beltway Bubble. Even Trump said, while campaigning in 2020, “We’ve spent $8 trillion in the Middle East and we’re not fixing our roads in this country? How stupid.”

Congress needs more independent voices like Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul, both Kentucky Republicans. By staying inside the Beltway Bubble, Calvert and Kim instead have helped extend an unneeded war and increased costs for everyone. And if one wins this November, they will return to a House likely flipped to a Democratic majority.

John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board.

Orange County Register

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John Seiler: Ken Calvert and Young Kim are stuck in the Beltway Bubble

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