DR. MICHAEL EISENHAUER

Independent Candidate for U.S. Congress

Congress is Broken. Washington works for itself. It’s time it worked for Montana.

I am running for Congress as an Independent because I believe Montana deserves a representative who answers to Montanans — not party bosses, corporate interests, or to the Office of the President.

Our federal government is far too often consumed by partisan warfare while families struggle with the cost of groceries, energy, healthcare and health insurance, and housing. Farmers and ranchers face out of control input costs, and both tariffs and monopolies are poisoning the market for their output products.  Rural hospitals and health clinics are under enormous pressure. Veterans are too often left behind.

And all the while, Washington continues to spend enormous amounts of taxpayer money without demanding accountability.  Congress is not doing its’ job.

I am a Physician, a Veteran and retired Army Colonel, and a Montanan by choice.

I believe our representational government should be judged by one simple question:  Does it make life better for the people it represents?  In simpler terms, “is it good for Montana and the 2^nd District”?

If elected, I will make this my contract with the people of Montana’s Second Congressional District:

1. I WILL FIGHT TO END CORRUPTION AND RESTORE ACCOUNTABILITY IN WASHINGTON

I will not go to Washington to become part of the Washington political machine.  I promise. I will strive to be part of the solution – and not part of the problem.

I will work to break the grip of party bosses, special interests and powerful corporations over Congress; I will propose legislation to end Citizen’s United, akin to “The Montana Plan”.

I will lead the effort for legislation on congressional term limits — no more than three 2-year terms in the House, and no more than two 6-year terms in the Senate  — because public service should not become a lifetime career.

I will lead an effort to prohibit insider trading by Members of Congress and their family members.

I will demand greater transparency in federal spending, expose waste, fraud and abuse, and insist that taxpayer dollars serve the public rather than political insiders.

My loyalty will be to the people of Montana — and not to a political party.

2. I WILL IMPLEMENT A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO RESTORE QUALITY HEALTHCARE AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE

As a cardiologist, I have spent my career seeing what happens when people cannot obtain timely or affordable medical care.

Healthcare has become too expensive for working families, employers and taxpayers. Rural Montana is particularly vulnerable because many communities depend upon small hospitals and critical-access facilities.

I will fight for and protect our healthcare system that preserves choice while making care more affordable and accessible.

My six-point healthcare plan:

1. Protect Medicaid and rural healthcare.
Lead the effort to restore harmful Medicaid cuts and protect Montana’s rural hospitals and clinics from financial collapse.

2. Protect insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Health insurance should absolutely be portable and transferable.

3. Enforce healthcare price transparency.
Patients should know what medical care actually costs before receiving it whenever reasonably possible. Hospitals and insurers should not be allowed to hide behind opaque pricing systems.  These regulations exist – but they are not being enforced by Congress or the Department of Justice.

4. Attack excessive administrative costs.
Too much of America’s healthcare spending goes toward bureaucracy, billing complexity and non-clinical administration rather than patient care or prevention. I will work to simplify the system and dramatically reduce unnecessary administrative costs.

5. Lower the cost of prescription drugs and medical care.
I will require competition and transparency that bring down excessive prices and give patients greater ability to make informed choices.  And I will work to eliminate the practice of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM’s), entirely.  Anti-trust legislation may be required.

6. Protect Montana’s rural access to care.
A heart attack, stroke or medical emergency should not become a death sentence because the nearest hospital is hours away. Rural healthcare must be treated as essential infrastructure.

I will also protect the ability of patients to choose their doctors and will oppose efforts to turn America’s healthcare system into a government-run single-payer system.

3. I WILL WORK TO MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLE AGAIN

Montana families are being priced out of their own communities.

I will support policies that increase the supply of affordable homes, including:

• Significant down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
• Builder Incentives for affordable multifamily housing.
• Mortgage loan reforms to include repairs at time of purchase, and transferability.
• Zoning reforms that allow duplexes, triplexes and other housing options.
• Incentives for modular and manufactured housing.
• Property-tax relief for qualified homeowners and first-time buyers.
• Strong antitrust enforcement against corporate entities that manipulate rents.
• Policies that prohibit large corporate and private-equity investors from swallowing up Montana’s housing supply.

Housing should be a place to live — not merely an investment vehicle for Wall Street.

4. I WILL PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

Social Security and retirement benefits were earned by Americans who worked and paid into the system for decades.  The promise will be kept.

I will oppose efforts to balance federal finances by cutting benefits that Montana seniors have earned. 

I will support lifting the salary cap to better fund Social Security.

I will work in a bipartisan manner to protect Social Security and Medicare, strengthen their long-term finances and provide responsible cost-of-living increases without raising the retirement age.

5. I WILL STAND WITH MONTANA FARMERS AND RANCHERS

Family farms and ranches are fundamental to Montana’s economy, culture and national security.  This is a National Security issue.

Washington has allowed agricultural consolidation to become a threat to the people who actually produce our food.

I will fight monopoles among seed, fertilizer, equipment, meatpacking and agricultural commodity companies.  Anti-trust legislation will be required.

I will protect Montana agricultural land from inappropriate foreign ownership, and pursue policies that put more economic power back into the hands of local farmers and ranchers.

And I will fight, hard,  to restore Congress’s constitutional authority over tariffs and trade policy.

Montana farmers should not have to compete against multinational corporations with Washington holding the scales against them.

6. I WILL PROTECT MONTANA’S PUBLIC LANDS

Montana’s public lands belong to the American people.

I will oppose efforts to sell off any federal public lands simply to balance Washington’s books.

Public lands provide hunting, fishing, recreation, grazing opportunities, wildlife habitat and economic benefits to Montana communities.  This is the Montana we live for.

What belongs to all Montanans should not be sold off to the highest bidder.

7. I WILL SUPPORT MONTANA ENERGY — ALL OF IT

Montana should be an energy-producing state.

I support an all-of-the-above energy policy, including:

• Oil and natural gas
• Coal
• Hydropower
• Wind and solar
• Geothermal
• Nuclear energy

I will support responsible development of Montana’s abundant energy and mineral resources while making sure Montana communities receive the economic benefits.

I will also support development of small modular nuclear reactors and other technologies that can provide reliable, affordable electricity over the long term.

8. I WILL STAND UP FOR VETERANS

America made a promise to those who served.

I will fight for better healthcare and mental-health services for Montana veterans and support innovative programs to address veteran homelessness.

I will champion temporary housing near existing VA facilities where homeless veterans can receive medical and mental-health care, job assistance and help transitioning into permanent housing.

No veteran who served America should have to sleep on a Montana street, or face obstacles to necessary medical or mental health care.

9. I WILL LEAD THE FIGHT FOR A RIGHT TO REPAIR

Farmers, ranchers, consumers, independent mechanics and small businesses should have the right to repair the equipment they own.

I will fully endorse and support bipartisan Right-to-Repair legislation so that manufacturers cannot use proprietary technology and restrictive agreements to force people to buy expensive replacements or maintenance services.

If you bought it, you should have the right to fix it.

10. I WILL BRING COMMON SENSE TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence has enormous potential — but an unregulated AI industry also presents serious risks to privacy, employment, national security and democracy.

I will support:

• Clear identification of AI-generated content.
• Strong safeguards against deepfakes and deceptive AI-generated information.
• Protection against abusive government or corporate surveillance.
• Bipartisan development of sensible AI regulations that are enforceable and have teeth.
• Protection of America’s electrical grid and other critical infrastructure.

We should encourage innovation without allowing technology companies to write all the rules themselves.  Federal regulation and monitoring is required.

11. I WILL STRENGTHEN MONTANA’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Public schools are the backbone of many Montana communities.

I will support:

• Full federal funding of the federal commitment to special education.
• Better teacher training.
• Transportation assistance for rural schools.
• School lunches for children who need them.
• Expanded support for trade schools and community colleges.
• Greater support for two-year colleges.
• Efforts to control excessive college tuition increases.

I do not support blanket student-loan forgiveness or eliminating the federal Department of Education.

12. I WILL PROTECT A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO MAKE HER OWN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE DECISIONS

I am firmly pro-choice.  As a physician, I will always defend a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions, in concern with her doctor, family, or other sources of support.

Montana voters made their position clear when they approved a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights.   But that does not mean the fight is over.

I will respect that decision and defend a woman’s ability to obtain necessary reproductive healthcare without being forced to travel across state lines.

13. I WILL DEFEND RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP WHILE REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE

I support the Second Amendment and Montana’s strong tradition of lawful gun ownership.

I also believe Congress can take reasonable steps to make communities safer without violating the rights of responsible gun owners.

I will support improving the background-check system, closing the gun-show loophole and a reasonable 72-hour waiting period, while opposing laws that needlessly burden lawful gun owners.

We can respect the Second Amendment and still work to reduce gun violence.

14. I WILL SECURE THE BORDER — AND TREAT PEOPLE FAIRLY

America is a nation of immigrants, but immigration must be managed.

I will support effective border security and enforcement against people who illegally enter the country and commit serious crimes.

At the same time, I believe people who are here legally should not live in fear of arbitrary treatment, and I believe young people brought here as children — Dreamers — deserve a humane pathway to legal status.  

A Pathway for Citizenship is both humane and appropriate.

15. I WILL PROTECT MONTANA’S COMMUNITIES

Police officers, firefighters, EMTs and other first responders are essential to the safety of our communities.

I will work with Montana’s local governments to protect and increase federal support for these services, particularly in smaller and rural communities where resources are often stretched thin.

16. I WILL PUT MONTANA FIRST

Washington does not need another member of the partisan shouting match.

It needs someone willing to listen.

Someone willing to say yes when an idea is good — regardless of which party proposed it.

Someone willing to say no when Washington’s political leadership is wrong.

Someone willing to challenge both parties.

Someone willing to put Montana’s interests ahead of Washington’s political interests.

That is why I am running as an Independent.

MY PROMISE TO YOU

I will not promise that one Congressman can solve every problem.

But I will promise this:

I will show up.

I will listen.

I will read the legislation.

I will ask difficult questions.

I will follow the evidence.

I will work with Republicans, Democrats and Independents when doing so serves Montana.

And I will never forget who sent me to Washington.

The people of Montana’s Second Congressional District deserve representation that is independent, honest, practical and focused on results.

Washington has had enough politicians.

Montana needs a representative.

I ask for your vote.

DR. MICHAEL EISENHAUER

Independent Candidate for U.S. Congress — Montana’s 2nd Congressional District

Break the Gridlock.
Real Representation.
Montana First.