New Orleans-born Steve Scalise was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2008 as representative of Louisiana’s 1st district. Rising in his party's ranks, Scalise became House majority whip from 2014-2019.
In 2017, Steve Scalise was gravely wounded when a gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball game in a premeditated attack on Republican members of Congress.
However, despite the horrifying attack, Scalise continued as House minority whip from 2019-2023. Then, in 2023, he became the House majority leader.
Now, Scalise, a staunch ally of President Trump, works closely with the President on issues spanning from immigration to energy to the 2nd Amendment.
Scalise sat down with WWL’s Scoot to go into depth on a handful of current affairs that relate to the people of New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana. Below are five highlights from the interview.
1. Southeast Louisiana could get ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’ from Scalise's influence on the Big Beautiful Bill
In 2023, Louisiana received $156,329,442.65 in offshore energy revenue. However, according to Scalise, this number has been severely stunted due to revenue caps.
Scalise says he saw Trump's recent spending bill as an opportunity to change the language in ways to lift the cap and bring in more money for the state, specifically to fund coastal restoration.
"I had been trying for years to lift what's called the cap on revenue sharing,” Scalise explains. “Every state that produces energy in America, offshore and onshore, has these complex formulas of how much they can get….We've been trying to lift that cap for a long time.”
Scalise continues, explaining that “I saw this bill as a chance to go do that, and I was able to get language in the bill to lift the cap. So, for Louisiana alone, that means we will get hundreds of millions of dollars more to restore our coast because, in Louisiana, we dedicate the revenue from drilling to coastal restoration. So we'll be able to rebuild land that's been lost through coastal erosion, we'll be able to protect ourselves better from storms, and that's in this bill.”
Now that the bill has been passed, that cap has risen from $500 million to $650 million. Estimates have Louisiana earning an additional $46 million per year under the new laws.
2. Outcry over Medicaid cuts leading to rural hospital closures doesn't tell the whole story, says Scalise
A hotly contested and criticized component of Trump’s spending bill was Medicaid cuts, which landed at around $800 billion.
In Louisiana, there is a specific concern about rural hospitals, many of which experience a serious lack of funding. Currently, between 25-30% of rural hospitals fall under the category of “vulnerable to closure,” and even slight declines in funding could cause them to shutter.
Scalise tells Scoot that those claims don't represent what's actually going on.
“A lot of myths about this,” says Scalise. “First of all, a lot of hospitals have closed down, especially in rural areas, for years before this bill got signed into law…We have a lot of problems with our hospitals. Go look at how many rural hospitals have closed in America just in the last four years. There are a lot of them. Doesn't get reported.”
Rather, Scalise says the Big Beautiful Bill is structured to aid those who rely on Medicaid the most.
“This bill does a number of things that are really good for families. Number one, it stops the tax increase. Every family in Louisiana that pays taxes was about to get about a 20 to 40% tax increase,” states Scalise. "We stopped that from happening. There are some other changes we made, and as it affects Medicaid, the biggest changes are that we put work requirements in place. So, (there are) two big areas where you're gonna see people no longer be eligible for Medicaid: One is illegal (immigrants)…there are over a million people in America getting Medicaid. So you're a taxpayer, you're paying for illegals to get healthcare.”
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Sclaise also claims that removing illegal immigrants and able-bodied individuals from Medicaid will improve the quality of service for those for whom it's intended.
“A lot of disabled people are getting crowded out of Medicaid by people who shouldn't be on the program," Scalise continues. "So illegals will no longer be eligible, but also people who are fully able-bodied…If you're 35 years old, you're fully able to work, you're just choosing to sit at home in your mom's basement, play video games, and turn down work, well, guess what? You're not going to be eligible for Medicaid anymore.”
6. “No new tax cut for millionaires and billionaires,” in Big Beautiful Bill says Scalise
Another highly debated part of Trump’s bill is claims that it strongly benefits the wealthiest Americans while putting lower-income Americans at a disadvantage.
Scalise responded, saying that Trump's bill actually doesn’t give new tax cuts to the wealthy.
“You heard a lot of oh tax cuts for the millionaires and the billionaires," Sclaise says. "There's no new tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. We keep the rates the same so their taxes don't go up. But that same tax cut, maintaining those rates, applies to the family making $40,000 a year. The waitress, who on average makes $32,000 a year, will not have to pay taxes on their tips. So the only new tax cuts, so to speak, are people who work for tips and people who work for overtime."
Scalise further explains the tax breaks, stating, “And those are capped, so if you make over $150,000, you're not eligible...But a police officer, a firefighter, a nurse working at the hospital who makes overtime will not have to pay taxes on that overtime. And that's retroactive to January, so you'll be able to get money you paid back on time back in your return.”
However, the tax deductions on qualified tips and overtime are not permanent and are set to expire in 2028.
4. Donna Kashanian’s potentially unfair hearing in the 1980s shouldn’t be what she’s judged on today
News broke recently that Iranian-born New Orleans woman, Donna Kashanian, had been released from an ICE detention facility with help from Scalise.
Kashanian was living in the U.S. on an expired student visa. However, after Trump’s sweeping ICE raid on illegal immigrants, she was taken away, which sparked immediate outcry and defense from neighbors and community members in Lakeview.
Upon hearing from constituents, Scalise’s staff looked into the matter and discovered that Kashanian’s detainment appeared to be misjudged.
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Scalise explains, “As we started looking into it, what ICE was talking about were things from her file back in the 1970s and 80s. There was a red flag: She had gotten married in questionable circumstances when she was twenty-one, and they were holding that against her when she filed her asylum claim and when she tried to get a green card.”
“I don't think that she got a fair hearing back in the seventies and eighties, but it's still being held against her today,” Scalise continues. “So you fast forward, and so she's still on these lists, and she still has red flags. And that's why she was picked up and basically put in a detention facility.”
Scalise explains, “We met with the family again today in my office. And then obviously everybody's in a great mood, they were going to pick her up today, and she's gonna be sleeping in her house tonight, and that's the way it should be, and she is going to get a new, fair objective hearing for asylum.”
5. Scalise says press narrows focus on Trump’s inflammatory comments, without capturing his warmer side
A ally and friend of President Trump, Scalise responds to questions about Trump’s abrasive, bully-like rhetoric, explaining that while Trump can display a more abrasive nature in the political arena, there’s a side that many don’t focus on.
“He's a New York street fighter from the real estate industry, but I also see the warm side of him,” says Scalise.
Scalise uses the example of how Trump responded after Scalise's assassination attempt, saying, “When I was shot it was the day of his birthday he and his wife Melania came to the hospital to check on me and in the weeks after they checked on me and my family a lot during that period you know so you see that warm side the press doesn't show that and so you only see the harsh stuff.”