Editor’s notebook: Tennessee leadership bends the knee to Washington

Tennessee Republican lawmakers have for years shunned federal solutions, saying there’s a “Tennessee Way” to legislate, but have recently shown a willingness to bend a knee to the White House. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Tennesseans have a reputation for independence and a fighting spirit. 

Some of us attribute those traits to our scrappy Scotch-Irish ancestors, the ones who left England to pursue religious freedom, took up arms against England in the Revolutionary War and afterwards, headed west to Tennessee. 

We take pride in our heritage. Gov. Bill Lee, for instance, often notes he’s a 7th generation Tennessean. 

While we can crack jokes about our accents or country music or whether we wear shoes, no one from outside better try that. We don’t need outsiders to tell us anything. We can come up with our own solutions. 

No one tells us what to do.

Which is why I am perplexed that of late, Tennessee lawmakers have discovered their own brand of “Beltway Fever,” a willingness, if not excitement, to bend the knee to Washington establishment and copy-paste Trump administration legislation. 

For years, state politicians have vehemently said that by God, we do things the Tennessee Way. We don’t need Washington telling us how to act, and we don’t need federal dollars. 

That’s why — according to lawmakers past and present — the state leaves about $1.4 billion in Medicaid expansion funds annually on the federal table, rather than using the money to provide health care for 300,000 Tennesseans. 

Gov. Bill Lee declines to secure millions in federal funds to feed Tennessee kids during summer 

Gov. Bill Haslam, the Republican who preceded Lee, rejected the funds in 2013 with the backing of the GOP-led legislature after a Supreme Court decision gave states the option to take the expansion funds or not — while also admitting that rural hospitals could be hurt by the decision. 

According to a 2014 report from WPLN Nashville Public Radio, Haslam said taking the funds “under (then-President Barack Obama’s) terms didn’t make sense for Tennessee, a deeply red state.”

In late 2014, Haslam rolled out his own Tennessee-centric version of Medicaid expansion, called Insure Tennessee. The plan wasn’t a bad one, although it begs the question of why not use available resources rather than recreating the wheel. 

But Insure Tennessee failed to pass despite Haslam calling a 2015 special legislative session, a move that typically results in success for whatever plan the governor of the moment is pushing: Witness Lee’s 2025 special session that instituted a universal school voucher plan as well as a sweeping immigration plan that created a new centralized immigration division.

For two years, Lee has also failed to accept federal funds for a summer food plan for kids, choosing to do things the Tennessee way and create a plan of his own called the Tennessee Summer Nutrition Initiative, which allots a one-time $120 payment for kids whose families get assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. 

Despite state leaders’ talk of rugged individualism and a willingness to snub aid from the feds, Republican lawmakers recently announced with pride they have partnered with the White House to develop a package of anti-immigration bills to run through this year’s General Assembly session — specifically with Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor.

Miller is thought to be driving much of Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. 

“Now that we have a willing federal partner in this fight, the legislature will be working hand in hand with the Trump administration to protect our citizens from the illegal immigration scourge that has gone on far too long,” said Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, in early January. 

Tennessee Republicans unveil ‘Immigration 2026’ agenda as ‘model’ for rest of nation

Legislation filed so far includes a blatantly unconstitutional measure from Rep. Johnny Garrett, a Goodlettsville Republican, that would bar naturalized citizens and those people born to American citizens in other countries — think Army brats, born while their parents are deployed internationally. 

With the deadline for bill filing looming, around eight or nine more measures are expected to be filed, including a reboot of a 2025 bill that would allow public schools to deny an education to the children of immigrants who are in Tennessee without legal immigration status  —  an attempt to challenge the Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe. 

What does this sudden enthusiasm for the involvement of the federal government into heretofore staunchly individualistic and pro-business Tennessee bode? Construction companies already report lost revenue and delayed schedules due to the ongoing immigration crackdown. 

Meanwhile, Haslam was right in 2013 when he discussed the possibility of hospital closures due to the legislature’s failure to take expanded Medicaid funds: Since 2010, 14 hospitals have closed across Tennessee at the second highest number of any state. 

It’s not too late for state lawmakers to change their collective mind about taking those D.C. dollars for health care. There’s a time to admit you are wrong. 

But once again, statehouse Republicans have belied their Tennessee roots and showed that independent action for the good of their constituents is only appropriate when politically expedient.