Latest / Breaking The Meta / She Quit a 25-Year Federal Career, Then Ran for Congress | Amanda Bell
Transcript
- Mike Winson: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Breaking the Meta. My name is Mike Wins, and today's guest is a water quality scientist for the US Geological Survey for the last 25 years. Also has been spending her time fighting data centers constantly and is running for Congress in Wisconsin's 6th district. I had to remember the state. her name is Amanda Bell. Hello, Amanda. How are you doing today? Amanda Bell: I'm doing really well, Michael. Thank you so much. Mike Winson: I'm excited. I think you were the first person that I've gotten to talk to from the state of Wisconsin. And I'm I'm very excited to see how many states I get to talk to by the by the end. So it's always great to talk to someone new. And it sounds like you're doing some amazing things. So I'm looking forward to to hearing about what you hope to do for your district. let's start off with just a little background on who you are and why you decided to run for Congress. Amanda Bell: Thank you. Absolutely. So I am a farm kid. I grew up on a small family dairy farm in rural Wisconsin. with not a whole lot to not a whole lot extra ever for for you know we we just didn't have much. So I learned from an early age how to work hard, how to make sure that I make ends meet with what I've got. So I understand, you know, when people are facing hard times like I get it. I've been there. I've done that. so from there I went to college at a state school. I got degrees in watershed management and natural resources. And I started to work for the US Geological Survey when I was just a a kid at 20 years old. So I began as a basically studying fish and bugs across the country. It was incredible. I had Mike Winson: Yeah. Amanda Bell: opportunity to travel from the Carolinas to California and everywhere in between. it was pretty awesome to be able to look at the water quality and have the ability to see the incredible beauty that our nation provides for us to enjoy. Mike Winson: There you go. So what I hear you saying is is you are used to dealing with disgusting creatures, which could make you perfect in Congress. That's what I'm hearing right here. Amanda Bell: Yep, I'm not afraid to to hop in and get dirty and wet. Yeah. I'm yes. There's I I I sampled in downtown New York and like there's some there's some rough looking water in New York. So but there's some rough looking water everywhere. But I I had the opportunity to sample everything from the Rocky Mountains to, you know, downtown Detroit. It's it's Mike Winson: To get your hands dirty. Yeah. That's true. Amanda Bell: everywhere in between. And I think actually being able to see, you know, the differences in water quality across our country give me a really good perspective of like, hey, not everybody has the same opportunities. Not everybody has the same communities that they live in. Because I saw everything from mansions in California to literal shacks in Idaho. Like it's rough. Mike Winson: Yeah. Amanda Bell: So from there, I became supervisor and then the deputy director for our office. It was the Upper Midwest Water Science Center of the US Geological Survey. And I will say the USGS is an environmental and science agency that's within the Department of Interior. And the Department of Interior is like Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, basically everything that doesn't fit nicely into a whole bunch of the other like. Mike Winson: Okay. Amanda Bell: departments. So I like to call it the department of other Mike Winson: Yeah. I I'm unfortunately well aware of of your overall boss in the Department of Interior, Doug, mister Doug. Amanda Bell: Yep, Bergum. Ugh, yeah. so I became deputy director and I oversaw our thirty-three million dollar f budget. I w two hundred and thirty employees. I was operations officer, so I took care of all the facilities and the vehicles and boats, you name it, I took care of it. So then came Doge. they started Mike Winson: Heck yeah. Yeah. Amanda Bell: Cutting our funding, canceling our contracts. They canceled our leases without telling us or the landlord. We found out via a news article. and the landlord called us up and was like, What's happening? Going, I'm sorry, what? So that was fun and interesting and then yeah, just to deal with that. But I think what was the final straw that broke the camel's back is one on February 14th. We call it the Valentine's Day Massacre. Mike Winson: good. Amanda Bell: We got a list of employees. They said we're terminating them today. And I was like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing? We literally just hired these people like six months ago. They're like, Yeah, because we can fire them without a whole lot of fanfare, we can just fire them because they're still on probation. They wanted us to put put in their permanent record that they were being fired for performance reasons. These are people that yeah, yeah, yeah. They wanted us to put documents in their permanent record that's saying saying basically that they had performance issues and they were being fired because of it. That means that isn't their like permanent federal employment record. They could never get another federal job. Yeah, ever. Like that's it. They could never get another federal job. I'm going, Absolutely not. That is literal like that is Mike Winson: What? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Basically they could never get hired again. Yeah. Gosh. Amanda Bell: Fraud. That is they not and what's worse is these were incredible people. Like one one woman we had just hired, she moved from Arizona to Minneapolis to work for us. With like without without relocation expenses, she just moved because she wanted to work for the USGS. I I'm like, I'm not doing that. You can't make me. And they're like, do it or you're fired. I'm like, go ahead. You're not gonna like you can't fire me. First off, I've been here for 25 years. You can't fire me without major cause. Mike Winson: Yeah. Amanda Bell: So they did it anyway. They signed the documents and put it in and fired the people. I was like, that's it. I'm done. I'm not sticking around for any more of this. I can't, I cannot be a party to this corruption and fraud. At this point, it was fraud. so I took the deferred resignation and I left. I left my 24-year career as deputy director. And I decided that I was not going to be part of this anymore. Mike Winson: Mm. Yeah. Amanda Bell: So I I was considered a federal employee until September 30th. October 1st, I declared my candidacy to run for Congress because I was pissed nobody was standing up to this. So since then I've actually been substitute teaching in some rural schools, getting to know the education system especially well in Wisconsin, and I've been running my campaign. So it has been a whirlwind. It has been intense, but it has been amazing. So yeah. Mike Winson: Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Amanda Bell: Yeah. Mike Winson: So for people that don't know Wisconsin very well, sp especially your district, which I'm looking at it now, looks like it's north of Madison and Milwaukee and south of Green Bay. You're kind of like smooshed in between both of them. Amanda Bell: Yes. It is one of the most gerrymandered districts in the country, if not the most. It looks like a dumbbell. Mike Winson: You know, it it look a very weird dumbbell, yeah. Yeah. Especially like there's a little there's this little like curly cue thing going. I feel bad for the people in that little section. I wouldn't even know where I was there. so for people that don't know your district very much, what are the things that that the people of the sixth district, when you're going around talking to them, talk to you about the most? Where are the pain points? Where are the things that that people care about the most and want you to help them? Amanda Bell: Yeah. Yeah, I will say it door to door, talking to people, everybody's talking about the cost of living. Like the cost of gas, groceries, healthcare, housing, you name it. They're like, we can't afford anything at this point. we're having a big problem with private equity companies coming into even some of our smaller towns and buying up like entire city blocks and then basically pricing people out of homes. Mike Winson: Wow. Amanda Bell: Because they can't aff like people can't afford to pay the prices that they want, or they're jacking up their rental rates so high that people are like, I can't I can't even afford the rent anymore. So, yeah, cost of living is huge. I mean, let's be perfectly honest, the tariffs didn't help to begin with last year, and this war that continues to go on and on without end, not helping anyone. Mike Winson: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Dang. Yep. Which at the time of this recording for everyone listening, we just started it back up basically. I don't think they've officially done it, but yesterday or this morning in Turkey, the president said that basically the ceasefire is over and they are now targeting both sides in full it it's it's pretty bad. yeah. Amanda Bell: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I will say my husband is a 20 year veteran of the Air Force. we got married on July fifth, so we just had our anniversary a couple days ago, and he was deployed to Iraq seven days later. So having a family member in a honestly like war of choice, uh-huh, uh-huh. It hur it hits, it hits hard. It hits home really close. So Mike Winson: Congratulations. Mm-hmm. Wow. An unwinnable war. Yep. Yeah. one of the other things that I think a lot of people care about is or struggling with is this idea of accountability or the lack thereof when it comes to our representatives. And again, for those listening, at this moment we are dealing with that as a democratic, as the party. The party, the Democratic Party is dealing with it, that difficulty of what accountability looks like. Because a lot of news has come out about Graham Platiner and stuff that he has done. at least been accused of doing and what does accountability look like in 2026? So my question to you is what does being held accountable, what does accountability mean to you? What how do you want to be held accountable by the people of your district? And how do you see accountability having to go forward in the United States, especially when we've got so many people that no longer like use Use the idea of winning and saving, even saving democracy as a reason to not hold people accountable. Amanda Bell: Well, I think the fact that I have been a public servant, I've been in the federal government, I've taken all of the ethics trainings, have made sure that I am always following the law of the land, the by the letter. I admit I am a rule follower. I one of the things that really frustrates me is when people are are not following, I mean very clearly not following the law. One of the things like one of the things that really upset me was when the government shutdown was and a bunch of the departments had the banner across the top talking about, you know, the democratic shutdown, dot dot dot dot dot. And I'm going, that is a clear violation of the Hatch Act. That is a blatant violation of the Hatch Act. So personally I would like to see every person Mike Winson: Yep. Yep. Amanda Bell: That was a party to any sort of illegal ongoings, whether that's against the Hatch Act, that is including the violation of the Epstein Transparency Act, that is including any sort of violations, ethics violations for stock trading, for insider information, for you know, the list goes on and on. The illegal firings, the putting putting like an illegal fraud based document into someone's personnel record, they all need to help be held accountable. If we don't hold our elected officials, our people in places of power accountable, that sends a message to everyone that they also don't have to follow the rules. And I'm not okay with that. That is I am a mom. You can ask my daughter how I feel about people breaking the rules thing. Mike Winson: Yes. Yeah. Amanda Bell: Yeah. Mike Winson: I'm I'm I tend to be somewhat similar in that respect. and for before we before we started, we were talking a little bit and you know, obviously with the whole gram platiner thing, the idea of vetting has come up and doing a better job of vetting. And you mentioned that you have been basically vetted by the FBI twenty-five times since you were 20 years old. So you're you're pretty Amanda Bell: Three or yep. Mike Winson: You seem to be pretty good, at least in terms of of that. With the the in terms of skeletons in the closet, you don't at least have to worry about that. Amanda Bell: No, I I I do have one speeding ticket from when I was twenty. And that's I mean I know that's that's the worst like that's the worst thing I've done on you know like again I I've I've passed those FBI background checks, financial records, all of it for two and a half decades. That I I joke that I squeak when I walk. Mike Winson: That's it. It's over. Interview's done. We can't do this anymore. Yeah. So that actually brings up an interesting question. So one of the problems that I think a lot of people on the left have with politics is we have people like you and some and often myself who are very much want to follow the rules. We've got an administration and and a politics in general, which doesn't seem like it ever wants to follow rules. To the point where a lot of people feel like, what's the point of following the rules when the people in charge are never gonna follow the rules? So we can call it out what we want, but nothing's gonna change. How when you talk to someone who maybe has that perspective, how do you respond to them? Amanda Bell: Think about it like the grocery cart analogy, right? The grocery cart rule where nobody is gonna hold you accountable if you don't put away the grocery cart, but you do it because it's the right thing to do. You do it because there is a, you know, because you don't want your car to get dinged and you don't want to ding someone else's car. And I think that's actually one of the things that is. Mike Winson: Mm. Amanda Bell: is kind of ingrained, at least in the Wisconsin's sixth district, where your neighbors are going to notice. Like if you are not if you are not being a good neighbor, if you're not being a good person, like people are gonna see that. And I think there's a little bit of I don't want to say shame, but basically maybe even peer pressure to do the right thing. Where unfortunately what I'm seeing in this administration is the peer pressure, and even on the Democratic side, like the peer pressure to be like, well, they're doing it, so why can't I? And I think we need people in office that are like, I'm gonna do it because it's the right thing to do. Not I'm not gonna do the wrong thing just because I can get away with it. Mike Winson: Hmm. Yeah. Mm. Amanda Bell: It just I've honestly that that does not make sense in my brain. Just just it's it's not something that makes any sense to me. Like like I mean, there's a self-respect element in there that I cannot fathom. Mike Winson: Ha ha ha. Yeah. Amanda Bell: Blatantly blake breaking the law and just being like, Well, nobody caught me, so I guess I'm I'm okay. I'm like, No, that's not how this works. You we file the law because it's the law. So Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. obviously over the last year and a half, a lot of things have happened in this country. The Iran war that we're currently going through, the tariffs, the passing of the the big horrible bill. How has how have the people of of of district six been affected by these choices? Are they seeing Are they seeing the real problem or are they or are we s or are we dealing with just a I'm upset that this is affecting me and and I'm just moving on? Because I think that is a that is another issue that we experience in this country. Amanda Bell: So the 6th district voted 6040 for Glenn Groffman, who is the current incumbent who is a Republican and very much a Trump supporter. there is a lot of rural voters in the 6th district. We have a few larger cities, but for the most part, it is dominated by rural cities and towns. we're talking less than two, three thousand people per town. Mike Winson: Okay. Amanda Bell: And that is the majority of this district. I think people have realized that this administration sold them a bill bill of goods, that they made these huge promises, and that they're they're not coming to fruition, that they're only they really were only out for themselves, even though admittedly we've been saying that for years. But we're like, hey, project 2025 literally lays this out. You're not part of the plan. and I'm saying that because Mike Winson: We've been saying this, yeah. Yeah. Amanda Bell: My my I told you I grew up on a dairy farm, right? My family is still farming that land. My family is still actively farmers. and even they are seeing like the cost of fertilizer, the cost of fuel, the cost of goods, to the point where they're like, wait a minute here. Like this was supposed to be, we weren't gonna get into wars, we weren't gonna get our prices increased, we weren't gonna do all this, you know. They said the other side was the ones that are gonna do this and why why are you like and and it's it's interesting to me because people are upset. But they're actually directing their anger more at the left than they are at the reason for it. Which, yes, it's very interesting. they're like, why didn't you stop this? Why didn't you? And I'm going, yeah. But Mike Winson: Really? And to be fair, and again, this is not to give the Democrats any props because I have I I could talk about issues I have with the Democratic Party for a whole nother episode. They there's a reason barely anything has passed in Congress for the last, you know, for the last year and a half. They have stopped a lot of things from going through because they can't get through the filibuster. This administration has completely led via executive order for the last year and a half. Amanda Bell: Yes. Yeah, yes, absolutely. And it it actually actually think that's one saving grace that we have that we haven't been able to pass the Save Act. We haven't been able to pass a bunch of other like bunch of other things that could be even more detrimental to our the American public. but it but it is really interesting talking to folks being like, you know, we're Like there's a lot of people that are still happy about the immigration stuff. And I'm sitting here going, these are your neighbors. These are not these are undocumented people, not illegal. Like this is they're they're definitely buying into the talking points that a certain entertainment company uses. Mike Winson: Yeah. Yep. So how how are you interacting with those, especially those people that may be on the fence? They're they're they're realizing something is wrong. one of the biggest problems that this administration, and let's be fair, pretty much every politician for at least the 30 years ish that I've been voting for has said what they are going to do, just like this administration did. Whether it's possible or not, they said, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna end this war in one day. I'm gonna, I'm gonna fix grocery prices on day one. how do you interact with them in a way that they can trust you? But with the knowledge that depending on how this election works, you might not be able to do anything again. And we're and we're still dealing with the same issue. Amanda Bell: Well, every time I talk to someone, I I introduce myself, say, Hey, I'm Amanda Bell. I'm running for Congress here in the sixth. What are your top concerns? What are your top issues? Because I know what I believe and I know what things I want to fight for, but I also want to make sure that I'm hearing everyone. Like I want to be the representative for the sixth district. I don't just want to take my agenda because I think that's where we start to fall into that trap of like party line, party line, party line, where maybe it's not always a party line that the public wants. I think we're seeing that a lot with the current administration, where you know, the party line is definitely not what the general public wants. But there's also policies that the Democrats want to push that are also not popular. So that's where I'm hitting at it. I'm like, I want to make sure that. I am representing the people, not the party. And definitely not corporate interests. Like I'm I vowed to not take a dime from pack money. I am doing a completely grassroots campaign. I'm admittedly not chasing endorsements on purpose. Like I'm not. I'm I am, you know, admittedly my opponent is like big on I'm endorsed by, I'm endorsed by, I'm endorsed by. I'm like, great. Mike Winson: Yeah. Graham Platiner was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Amanda Bell: Yep. So I'm talking to the people in the communities, not the politicians, not the big packs, not the unions. Those are all great organizations. That's wonderful. But I'm going to the town board and listening to the people who are at the town board meetings, who are at the city council meetings. I'm going to the the local sportsmen's club and talking to the folks there because Mike Winson: Mm. Amanda Bell: Those are the ones that actually vote. and by making sure that I'm listening to the folks that are there, that's how we're going to actually get policy made and get laws passed that work for the people rather than just the agenda that either party wants to do. Mike Winson: Yeah. foreign policy is also would be a big part of of your work as a congresswoman. And there are a lot of issues with America's foreign policy right now. This administration wanting to invade Greenland, this administration starting a war with Iran, this administration continuing to give funds to Israel when they are continuing to do what I would at least consider a genocide. How two questions. How do you see America's foreign policy going forward with knowing how much we have dropped on the world stage because of the choices that we've made. and the tariffs. I can't forget the tariffs. and what like if you get in, what would be your specific perspective and and and attempted action on some of these major issues? So it so people can get an idea of of where you stand on the stuff that's affecting people right now. Amanda Bell: Our foreign policy for the last eighty years has been to be the strong arm. And it has it served us well in times of conflict. It does not serve us well in times of peace. I think we need to actually go and not be the world's police force anymore. in fully against our National Defense Defense Authorization Act, where it literally says in there, I believe it's section four four, wait. 424, at least of the previous National Defense Act, where it actually combines our military with the Israel Israeli defense. and we we have to stop sending bombs and sending military force to come to countries that are using it to attack attack other countries without cause. Mike Winson: Mm. Amanda Bell: There's a difference between helping our allies, like helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia, and giving money to the Israeli government to bomb other countries, or going and we we have attacked seven, it's either seven or eight countries. I think it was seven at the beginning of June. It might be even eight now. But America has attacked seven countries since Trump has been in office. We have bombed or attacked seven countries. We have threatened Mike Winson: He he deserves the he thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He's he's gotta counter the seven that he's that he's start that he's ended, so. Amanda Bell: Yeah. Well, and and he's threatened thirteen. Like when when he we're when we're threatening or attacking twenty percent of the countries on earth, this is not good foreign policy. It's just not. We I hosted what my husband and I hosted a foreign exchange student from Ghana this past school year. She was with us the whole year. Incredible young woman. I'm it was a blessing to have her. Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah. Mm. Amanda Bell: And what made me really sad was she, you know, he was talking about, you know, the African countries and how terrible they are, and just saying just horrible things about, you know, her culture and her people. And I'm just and she goes, why does America hate me? And I'm going, sweetheart, no, no, no, no. Like he does not represent all of Americans. But that is how the rest of the world is seeing us right now. They're not seeing us as helping, you know, countries that need aid for AIDS, or helping feed countries, or helping drill wells, there's or helping our neighbors in in disasters. They're seeing us as this aggressor and basically giant bully coming and taking stuff that isn't ours. We're a schoolyard bully at this point. We have got. Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Bell: To repair relationships with our allies. We've got to reinstate some of the humanitarian aid that we've lost. We have got to get back to a place in our world where we are not looked at as like we're pariah. And the only way we're gonna do that is literally saying, we made a mistake. I'm sorry, we're gonna fix it. Because We cannot move forward. We will never be trusted if we don't if we as a collective US do not say we screwed up. We should not have done that in Iran, in Venezuela, across the globe. Mike Winson: Do you think we as a country need to consider putting ourselves under the authority of something like the International Criminal Court, which we aren't a part of, even though we helped start it? Amanda Bell: I think so. I think there's gonna be a few people that are that are going to be in very deep trouble because these are war cr like we are committing war war crimes. We are. Like there's there's no doubt America has committed war crimes. Between the the killing of fishermen in the Caribbean, between basically invading, you know, Venezuela, bombing Iran, like we Mike Winson: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Bell: We've committed a lot of war crimes and we sh those people that participate in it need to be held to account. And if it's part of the world, the yeah, yes. I'm all about being held held to account. Mom mom's mad. Mike Winson: Yeah, I can tell. so I want to do a little bit of future casting. So let's let's assume that you get through the primaries. Congratulations. You are then you then win in November and January 6th, you are sworn in as the representative of the 6th district of Wisconsin. What are the first things that you want to do? Amanda Bell: Yay. we need to hold to account like first things, we need congressional oversight on all of the people that have violated the Hatch Act, that have violated ethics, that have like we need to make sure that we I'm gonna I'm gonna go farm kit on you. We need to manure out the barn. We need to clean the out. because if we don't get that toxic. Mike Winson: Okay. Amanda Bell: Nasty rhetoric out of our government, it is going to rot. It is going to smell for decades to come. So we need to clean it out. So that honestly, that accountability is priority number one. Next is we need to reinstate a lot of the programs that have been cut, including going back and fixing, you know, our humanitarian aid. Mike Winson: Mm. Yeah. Amanda Bell: bolstering up our Department of Education again, getting getting some of our our institutions back to actually being public services rather than, you know, corporate playgrounds. So Mike Winson: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. If there were f for everyone that has listened to this point and heard everything that you and I have talked about, if there what are one or two things that no matter what you would want to make sure they come away with knowing about you and your campaign? Amanda Bell: I have been a public servant for a quarter of a century. My whole life, I am happiest when I'm helping other people, whether that's volunteering in my community, whether that is, you know, making sure we have clean water to drink, whether that's helping the communities that are fight fighting the AI data centers. I've been donating my time to help these communities understand the water testing that they're getting. I am happiest when I'm helping people. Especially those that have been pushed to the side, underrepresented, ignored, criminalized, demoralized, discriminated against. I want to help people and I want to give a voice to people that haven't had a voice. I'm I am a cis straight white Christian female. The only thing I I, you know, don't have as far as the privilege is being male. I want to use that privilege that I'm fully aware that I have. To help people that don't have that privilege. So I'm so proud of the incredible diversity that I have in my campaign team, fighting for disabled people, fighting for LGBTQA people, fighting for minorities and people of different religious backgrounds and beliefs want to be the voice for the voiceless. And then the other part is. I am a tenacious fighter. I am not going down without a fight. I want to do everything in my power to make sure that we are representing America the way that we know America to be. So. Mike Winson: For anyone that wants to learn more about you and support you, whether by volunteering or giving, where can they find you? Amanda Bell: So I am on all the socials. Most of it is Amanda Bell for Congress. My website is Amandabelle for Congress.org. You can reach out there. There's links to sign up, there's links to donate, and links to all of my socials, Amanda Bell for Congress.org. Mike Winson: Amanda, thank you so much for spending a little time with us, allowing us to get to know to know you for the people in Wisconsin that are seeing it. Have you guys haven't started early voting yet, have you? You have. Absented ballots are out. So if you're in Wisconsin and you're seeing this, make sure you fill your absentee ballot out or at least get ready to vote because it's come your primary's coming up. So you you need to August 11th. that's really coming up. Amanda Bell: Thank you. We have, yes. Absentee well, absentee ballots are out. So August eleventh. Mike Winson: For everyone that listened up until this point, thank you very much. Please hit all those buttons down below. Makes it possible for me to keep doing what I'm doing, which is a interview amazing people like Amanda and and hope help give them visibility and name recognition so we can actually get the change that we need in this country. For those of you that may be new to breaking the meta, breaking the meta is about having hard conversations when necessary, fighting to break the status quo and the idea that all people, no matter your race, religion, gender, or identity, deserve rights, respect, dignity, and safety. Again. Amanda, thank you for being here. And everyone else will see you next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye guys.