Sen. Mitt Romney reflects on his first year in office - Salt Lake Tribune

Nearly a year in office, Sen. Mitt Romney describes his tenure so far as being “instructive, interesting and enjoyable.”

It certainly hasn't been boring.

The lifelong Republican, who had served as governor of Massachusetts and ran unsuccessfully for president twice, has so far played an outsized role for a freshman senator from a relatively sparsely populated state. The Utah lawmaker could, possibly, be the most widely known senator in the country and one sought out by journalists frequently seeking comments on the politics du jour.

“The White House would like me never to be critical and the mainstream media would like me to be much more critical,” Romney said in a recent interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. “But I don’t worry about how other people respond to it; I respond to my own sense of what I believe is right and wrong and let the chips fall where they may.”

Along the way — Trump spats aside — Romney has racked up a list of accomplishments he’s proud to tout.

Vaping to fighter jets

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He worked with the Utah delegation to get $300 million into the latest budget bill for wildfire management and increased funding for managing wild horses and burros as well as full funding of the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program that ships money to counties with large tracts of untaxed federal land.

The 2020 budget bill also includes funding to buy nearly 100 new F-35 fighter jets housed at Hill Air Force Base and money to modernize a missile defense program based there.

Romney joined with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to push legislation to restrict the use of the Antiquities Act by presidents to name national monuments, though the bill hasn’t moved yet. Romney also notes another bill, one to settle a decades-long disagreement over water rights for Utah Navajos is “inches” from passing.

One issue that wasn't on Romney's radar at the beginning of his term was vaping.

As health issues arose nationwide related to e-cigarettes, Romney made calls for the Food and Drug Administration to consider recalling vaping devices and pressed the agency to ban flavored oils used in them that appeal to children.

Romney also took a victory lap for securing a permanent repeal of a medical device tax that was part of the Affordable Care Act and a target of several Utah companies that manufacture those devices.

The Utah senator also took on what is often called the third rail of politics: America's entitlement programs.

His Time to Rescue United States' Trusts Act, or the TRUST Act, that would require Congress to set up new committees to write legislation to deal with a host of entitlement funds that are set to run out of money in the near future.

The bill introduction was a start, Romney said, but he noted it could take years to get passed.

“If we get the TRUST Act through, it’s earthshaking,” Romney said. “I’m getting a lot of support from both sides of the aisle to finally take this on. This will take years, not weeks. But it’s an approach which has a great deal of promise, and I think it’s very important.”

Of course, legislation wasn't the main reason Romney made the news in his first year. For that, he can thank the president.

Trump critic. Trump fan.

“The president has not risen to the mantle of the office,” Romney wrote, signaling, as he said, that he felt free to chastise the president's conduct when he sees fit.

And Romney did.

The Utah senator spoke up when news broke that Trump had leveraged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine while at the same time asking the country’s new president for “a favor” that included announcing investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential contender, and his son Hunter Biden.

Trump doubled down on that by asking China to open probes as well.

“By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling,” Romney tweeted.

After the White House released a memo summarizing Trump’s phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Romney called it “troubling in the extreme.”

The coming year, though, will be trying for that Romney-Trump relationship.

The Senate is expected to launch a trial on the two articles of impeachment passed by the House, one for abuse of power and one for obstruction of Congress, with senators sitting in judgment of the president.

While some Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have already said they are going into the trial to defend and protect the president, Romney says he’s keeping an open mind.

It certainly promises to be instructive and interesting. But enjoyable? That remains to be seen.

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Sen. Mitt Romney reflects on his first year in office - Salt Lake Tribune
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