Connecticut lawmakers and party officials marked President Donald Trump’s (R) first 100 days back in office with extremely different attitudes.
The state’s constitutional officers were at the Capitol Building Tuesday for what Attorney General William Tong (D) called a “recommitment ceremony” to oppose the administration. Moments before, state GOP Chairman Ben Proto spoke to WSHU about how the first few months displayed “promises made, promises kept.”
Counting up
Trump’s first 100 days have been busy for Connecticut Democrats. There have been more than a dozen lawsuits from Attorney General William Tong, millions of dollars in emergency funding for state nonprofits, and a whole lot of criticism from people like Gov. Ned Lamont (D).
Lamont began his speech on Tuesday with a bit of a history lesson. Franklin D. Roosevelt popularized the notion of tracking the first 100 days of a presidential administration after the Great Recession. Lamont explained that it was the former president’s way of reassuring a healing nation.
"Roosevelt famously said, ‘The only thing you have to fear is fear itself.’ Here we're concluding another 100 days of the Donald Trump administration: he inherited an economy that was good for everybody, reducing inflation, and growing opportunities for people,” Lamont said. “These 100 days have been just the opposite. People are scared. People are holding back. We're going the wrong way.”
But Republican leaders disagree. State party chairman Ben Proto said Trump has done exactly what he promised to do while he was on the campaign trail.
And, according to Proto, he’s helping state Republicans.
“I think he's provided an opportunity, you know, for us to have discussions on issues that people previously were not talking about.”
Proto cited a Democratic push in the legislature to loosen the state spending cap in order to support nonprofits. Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz (D) said the state has lost more than $640 million in federal grants since Inauguration Day.
“They're overreacting to his policy,” Proto said. “So, therefore, they're calling for more spending. They're calling for tax increases. They're calling for taking items off budget so they can get them out from underneath the spending caps and the volatility caps, you know, they're running a tremendously far, far left progressive social agenda.”
A legal update
Attorney General William Tong is, perhaps, state leadership’s most outspoken Trump critic. On Tuesday, he announced his latest lawsuit against the administration to block cuts to AmeriCares.
At the press conference, he denied claims that he’s fear-mongering or overreacting to federal policy changes.
“What I hear from people here is, ‘Well, Mr. Attorney General, you know you're overreacting. Some of that money hasn't been cut. It hasn't happened yet,'" Tong said.
“It hasn't been cut because we sued and stopped him, because we are a check on this president,” Tong said. “Because we sued to stop the cut in NIH funding, because we stood sued to stop Elon Musk from tearing up the federal government, because we have sued to stop this cut to $175 million in public health funding.”
Tong’s next court appearance will be on May 15 at the Supreme Court for arguments on the birthright citizenship case.
The next 100 days
Proto said Trump’s next 100 days should be focused on the economy and helping to resolve international conflicts. He said the short-term economic pain Americans may be feeling now would be worth it in the long run.
“I don't care what presidential generation you want to be. I think the economy is always the key issue for the administration and the government. I'd like to see him concentrate on that,” Proto said.
State Democrats said they would spend the next 100 days — and the 1,260 left in Trump’s term after that — speaking out against the administration.
“It's time for all of us standing together, locking arms, to say it's time to stand up for our rights,” Lamont said.
