Political positions of Tom Kirkman

The **political positions of Tom Kirkman**, the 46th and current president of the United States, are described as being ardently centrist. A registered independent, Kirkman served as the secretary of housing and urban development from 2013 to 2017. Prior to this, he was an academic, teaching architectural design at Cornell University.

Kirkman's earliest public political record began in 2008 when he worked on the presidential campaign of Cornelius Moss, the 44th U.S. President and current secretary of state, who is frequently considered an icon of modern conservatism in the United States. Kirkman has been described as center-right, and has described himself as such. Frequently considered a conservative, he holds fiscally conservative economic views, while he is more moderate on some social issues. Figures farther on the left and right wings, such as Donald Blythe and Jack Bowman, have criticized Kirkman for not embracing strong left-wing or right-wing beliefs. Kirkman's policies emphasize the needs of all Americans, although most notably the middle and working class, and have drawn political support from those groups. His economic policies have been likened to Moss', whom Kirkman cites as an early mentor.

Kirkman has supported various issues held by both the Republican and Democratic parties. He is a proponent of limited government and government spending, balancing the budget, lower taxes for the middle class, gun rights, a strong and modernized armed forces, and updated border security. Additionally, he supports the continued use of fossil fuels with environmental guidelines to combat climate change, baseline economic regulation, and the expansion of privatized healthcare. These views have given Kirkman an unprecedented margin of support from both major political parties, contributing to his landslide victory in the 2020 presidential election. He has frequently been condemned, however, by far-left liberals and progressives, and by far-right populists.

## Economic issues

*For his actions as president, see: Economic policy of the Tom Kirkman administration*

Kirkman is characterized as a fiscal conservative, which he identifies as. He supports reforming the individual tax system in a progressive way that charges taxes proportionally based on income, and he has supported tax cuts for the middle and working classes. He is a proponent of limited government spending and believes the welfare system should be overhauled to prevent more Americans from needing to rely on it. Additionally, he has repeatedly called to balance the federal budget.

## Environment and energy

*For his actions as president, see: Environmental policy of the Tom Kirkman administration*

### Climate change

Kirkman accepts the scientific consensus on climate change and has repeatedly called it a crisis. He stands out, however, from many mainstream Democrats and Republicans on countermeasures.

### Energy

Kirkman is a supporter of renewable energy and has called for its use in new energy projects. He opposes, however, a net-zero carbon grid, saying that the eradication of all fossil fuels in the next generation is not possible. He has called for restrictions on coal and preventing the construction of future coal-fired plants, but fully supports the continued domestic use of oil and gas with environmental regulation and carbon capture measures. He prefers natural gas as a primary renewable energy source, but supports wind and solar electrification investment.

Kirkman is avidly opposed to the restriction of oil and gas drilling and use unless they can fully be replaced by renewable resources, such as wind, solar, hydro, or natural gas. Numerous analysts have stated that Kirkman's beliefs on the environment and energy would achieve energy independence, combat climate change by lowering carbon emissions, and lower oil and gas prices for American consumers.

## Foreign policy and defense

*For his actions as president, see: Foreign policy of the Tom Kirkman administration*

*See also: Kirkman Doctrine*

Kirkman's foreign policy beliefs are centered around the goals of expanding diplomacy while maintaining an agile, modernized, and highly advanced armed forces. He supports a higher federal budget for the Department of Defense under his budget balancing policies. He has high approval from both active duty military personnel and veterans.

## Healthcare

*For his actions as president, see: Economic policy of the Tom Kirkman administration*

Kirkman is a prominent proponent of privatized healthcare under one national system to achieve universal healthcare. He is opposed to a single-payer healthcare system and a public insurance option operated by the federal government. Instead, Kirkman supports expanding privatization and covering the ineligible under Medicare. He also supports expanding Medicaid to only the homeless and unemployed and believes that all others should be given the option to go private or be covered by Medicare. Additionally, he supports registry with the Department of Health and Human Services so any individual that denies private insurance will automatically be covered by Medicare to prevent anyone from being uncovered. Independent analysis suggests that Kirkman's beliefs would achieve universal healthcare under a dominantly privatized system.

## Immigration

*For his actions as president, see: Immigration policy of the Tom Kirkman administration*

Kirkman is a proponent of overhauling the American immigration system. He is an avid supporter of an upgraded border barrier on the Mexico-United States border and modernized border security measures.

## Social issues

*For his actions as president, see*: *Social policy of the Tom Kirkman administration*

### Abortion

Kirkman is generally opposed to abortion and considers himself pro-life, but supports legal exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the health of the mother.

#### *Roe v. Wade*

On his record, Kirkman has been a lifelong opponent of abortion. He is strongly opposed to codifying *Roe v. Wade*, the 1973 Supreme Court case legalizing abortion, into federal law, repeatedly stating that it is a judicial decision and not one that the general public has voted for. Despite this, he is also opposed to the appointment of any justices with the sole purpose of overturning the case, believing that its future should be decided based on constitutionality and previous statute. None of the nine current justices, all of which are unaffiliated and were appointed by Kirkman, are publicly determined to overturn *Roe v. Wade*, but a majority are conservative on the issue and opposed to abortion.

#### Federal funding for abortion

Kirkman is a proponent of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funding for abortion, except for rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life. He also supports the Mexico City policy. Kirkman has criticized Planned Parenthood for their operation of abortion procedures, but has praised them for other women's health issues, including cancer screenings.

### Affirmative action

Kirkman opposes affirmative action in the sense of employing solely based on race or gender status, but rather supports equal opportunity employment based on talent and skills relating to the respective job. He supports federal guidelines for equal opportunity employment.

### Capital punishment

Kirkman opposes capital punishment and rather supports the maximum judicial punishment for high crimes to be life sentences without the possibility of probation or parole. He has said that he would sign any legislation that eliminates capital punishment.

### Crime and drugs

Kirkman is strongly pro-law enforcement and has boldly condemned and criticized movements to defund police departments, being characterized as "tough on crime." He supports officer rights, but has also supported measures to combat police brutality. He recognizes continued racism in the United States, but has rejected the notion that the U.S. is a racist country as an institution, and does not believe institutional racism exists in government, but rather among certain individuals, notably the public housing sector which he worked in. Kirkman has received support from numerous law enforcement departments and organizations, and has a high approval among police.

Kirkman has criticized aspects of the war on drugs and past legislation that have created racial disparities in judicial sentencing. He is an avid supporter of increased sentences for violent drug and gang-related crime, but supports lesser sentences for non-violent drug crime and the expansion of rehabilitation programs. Kirkman is an opponent of the legalization of recreational marijuana use, supporting it only for medical purposes.

### Education

Kirkman supports expanded federal funding grants to states for public education. For private and religious schools, he supports slightly lesser funding grants, but opposes criticisms by some on the left wing of the political spectrum. He also supports school choice and parent representation in school decisions. Kirkman has been critical of lessons that have, in his words, been soft on or downgraded the effects of communism and socialism on world citizens.

### Gun policy

Throughout his public career, Kirkman has been a proponent of gun rights with baseline gun control measures. He supports universal background checks and red flag laws. He also is opposed to a federal ban on all assault weapons, providing that they have had little effect on overall criminal activity, firearm homicides and the lethality of gun crimes, which most studies concur, but does support bans on certain military-grade assault weapons and on the capacity of magazines. He also is opposed to the civil ownership of certain firearm accessories, including bayonets and grenade launchers.

### LGBTQ issues

Kirkman is an avid proponent of LGBTQ civil rights. He has condemned discrimination and supports measures to counter hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation.