The first few weeks of the Trump administration have been a whirlwind, raising alarm among Democrats and pleasing supporters of the president. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed sat down to discuss Trump’s initiatives and how Democrats are responding.
Here are the highlights from the interview.
On how the delegation is responding:
Sen. Reed: “I think the delegation is working extraordinarily well. For my own sake, I led the effort to prevent Secretary Hegseth from being named Secretary of Defense for reasons that at least convinced several other Republicans to join us, the only time I’ve seen a real break in their ranks. And we sent a signal, I hope, to the president that his appointees, his nominees can’t be superficial. They have to be people of competence, character, experience. And Senator Whitehouse has been extremely diligent with respect to his role in nominations and other aspects too. We’re in a position right now where, based on our constitutional system, the courts are the best form of relief. The president’s arguably breaking the law in many cases, and as a result, it’s the courts that must declare that and impose the proper sanction.”
On the worst-case scenario until the mid-terms:
Sen. Reed: “Well, the worst case is frankly creating such institutional turmoil that the government really can’t function. And there is a theory that that’s one of the goals of President Trump. He likes chaos, he thrives on it, and it allows him to be unchecked, which he likes, and also to make money, which he likes. So that’s the case where this will not be focused really on reforming the government and certainly not by abiding by the law but more on self-aggrandizement and self-promotion. That would be terrible because it would lead, I think, to an aggregation of power in the White House that would be a constitutional threat …. One aspect of this too is, this is being seen throughout the world — so America is being judged now, not as a reliable, steady partner, but as this erratic function. One day you have USAID helping health care centers in a country, and the next day they’re gone. What does that say about the durability and the stability of the United States?”
This interview was conducted by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
