Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley talks presidential politics, reducing US debt

Editor's note: This interview was pre-recorded prior to the events of Saturday night.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- It's a busy time for U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Merkley is in the middle of discussions about the nation's spending priorities while trying not to significantly increase the nation's growing debt.

A southern Oregon native, Senator Merkley joined this week's Eye on Northwest Politics to talk budget, presidential politics and more.

After his debate performance, President Biden sent a letter to Democrats on the hill this week, affirming his commitment to staying in the race. Regarding this, Sen. Merkley said some serious conversations need to be had before it's too late.

"I do believe that right now the presidential campaign train is headed for a bridge and that bridge is in disrepair and that's a problem," he noted. "And so either the bridge has to be fixed or the train has to be brought to a halt."

Regardless, Sen. Merkley acknowledged the re-election of Donald Trump would be "a disaster for the country."

"I do believe that right now the presidential campaign train is headed for a bridge and that bridge is in disrepair and that's a problem. And so either the bridge has to be fixed or the train has to be brought to a halt."

Oregon US Sen. Jeff Merkley

Even thought he is not up for re-election this cycle, Merkley still stressed how what happens at the top of the ticket affects the candidates downstream in terms of voter turnout, even drawing from personal experience.

"Well, if we turn the clock back to 2008 when I was running for the Senate, it was thought that was an impossible race to win," he said. "The incumbent Gordon Smith had won 35 out of 36 counties. Part of the reason I won was because candidate Obama created so much excitement that it increased registration and turnout. So that does matter. The top of the ticket does matter."

Since Sen. Merkley also has a role on the Senate Appropriations Committee - which is chaired by Sen. Patty Murray (D -WA) - he disclosed where they are at in the appropriations process, as well as how the Fiscal Responsibility Act will impact spending priorities, especially in Oregon.

"I'm very concerned about the money to fight fires, to do force management, to do the risk of fires, to fund our staff at critical places like the National Parks, BLM and forest service. We face some significant challenges with these budget caps."

Merkley also noted how there should also be a Supreme Court Ethics Act passed by Congress, given that justices Thomas and Alito have had their ethics called into question in recent years.

"Imagine that somebody's suing you, and you get into court and you discover the person suing you has given massive gifts to the judge. Of course you would know you were not getting a fair trial," he noted. "And that's the way it is for the American people. They want a fair trial over the issues. Not have folks who are advocating for corporations above all else, have this inside track, these inside relationships."

He is additionally proposing legislation to have more oversight on the use of artificial intelligence in politics. Particularly since AI can potential replicate the voices of either elected officials or those up for election to begin with.

"[I propose] banning the use of AI in this fashion to imitate others, banning the use of AI to design a system to purge the voting rolls, to knock people out of the opportunity to vote," he stressed. "It's very important that we get ahead of this technology."

Regarding Republicans making border security and immigration their top priority, Merkley argued that there needs to be more bipartisan input and the current situation is "totally unacceptable."

"Let's quit using the border as a political football and implement these bipartisan plans to have the rule of law and to do so in a, if you will, gracious understanding that immigrants comprise the bulk of Americans," he noted. "We are either immigrants ourselves or our parents or grandparents or ancestors were immigrants, and they are part of the strength of our country. So let's quit demonizing them."

Watch the full interview in the video above.