[Pages S496-S499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS

  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I rise at this late hour to join my 
colleagues in expressing my grave concern--my alarm--at the new 
administration's attempt to discard the rule of law and expand 
Executive power and, in so doing, threaten the well-being of 
communities across the country, including in New Hampshire.
  Typically, when Presidents are inaugurated, especially after a 
divisive election, they try to bring the country together. They focus 
on what unites Americans. President Trump campaigned on a platform 
promising to bring down costs for families. This is a priority of mine 
and a priority of Granite Staters, and I would welcome commonsense, 
good-faith efforts to work together to bring down costs.
  Despite my deep and meaningful differences with the President, I am 
and remain willing to work together to help lower costs for families. 
But in the opening days of the Trump administration, it has been 
overwhelmingly clear that lowering costs is not one of President 
Trump's priorities.
  This administration's priorities have ranged from the ridiculous to 
the reckless--unconcerned with delivering relief and results, more 
concerned with exacting retribution and revenge, pardoning violent 
criminals who attack police officers, firing inspectors general, who 
are the government's watchdogs, and freezing Federal grants--an illegal 
act that, should they go through with it, would be devastating for the 
lives of everyday Americans in every corner of our country and would 
signal a break with our principles of self-government.
  The President isn't going after high prices; he is going after the 
rule of law. He is going after our system of self-government. He is 
going after our government's ability to support communities and 
families across the country, and he needs to reverse course now.
  In New Hampshire, our love of freedom runs deep. New Hampshire was 
the first colony to sign the Declaration of Independence. Patriots from 
New Hampshire, under Colonel John Stark, fought in one of the first 
major battles of the Revolutionary War--the Battle of Bunker Hill. It 
was Colonel Stark who, years later in a letter, wrote the words that 
would become our State's motto, a motto recognized by people in faraway 
corners of the world, including Ukraine--the words ``Live free or 
die.'' For us Granite Staters, these words represent an unwavering 
belief in the idea of self-government--that the government's powers 
derive from the consent of the governed.
  We secured our freedom through the rule of law and our Constitution. 
We believe, as Americans across this country believe, that this great 
country of ours has no use for a king, nor do we have any use for 
anyone who confuses themselves with a king.
  We secured these freedoms through the rule of law and our 
Constitution. We did all this not only because we believed that our 
values of freedom, the rule of law, and democracy are noble 
principles--although, indeed, they are--but because freedom, the rule 
of law, and democratic, small government are still the best means to 
improve people's lives.
  Presidents from both parties have been committed to this principle, 
but the actions of the Trump administration have demonstrated a break 
with the rule of law and self-government that 10 years ago would have 
been impossible to imagine being tolerated by either political party.
  Let me run through some of the most egregious priorities that this 
administration is advancing instead of doing what the American people 
expect them to do, which is working to lower costs for families.
  As the first day of the new Trump administration drew to a close, the 
President chose to pardon the violent criminals who assaulted police 
officers, stormed these halls, and tried to overthrow our free and fair 
election. He has referred to these criminals as ``patriots.'' The 
patriots on January 6 were the Capitol Police who saved lives, 
including the Vice President's, and saved our democracy.
  The violent criminals who assaulted police officers, who beat them 
with fists and flagpoles within an inch of their lives, do not deserve 
our praise, nor our pardon. To pardon them, as the President did, is to 
venerate lawlessness, reward violence, and betray police officers.
  Police officers have some of the hardest jobs around. They deserve a 
President who has their backs. Instead, the President sent a message 
that violence against police officers is permissible, even laudable, if 
it is in his name or to advance his political cause.
  I suggest that the President meet with the families of those officers 
and explain to them why these criminals deserved a pardon, why he 
thinks people who attack police officers are patriots.
  The pardons have been issued. These violent criminals are now free. 
January 6 is now a part of our history, and time marches on. But the 
shamefulness of the President's decision will not fade away.
  Of course, the pardons were only the beginning. By the end of the 
week, late on Friday night, the President attempted to fire at least 17 
Federal inspectors general. Inspectors general offices are 
indispensable watchdogs who identify tens of billions of dollars in 
savings per year, and they crack down on fraud, abuse, and corruption. 
They hold big corporations to account, preventing those corporations 
from ripping off the American taxpayer, such as through overpayments on 
Federal contracts or Medicare reimbursement.
  But in order to do their jobs effectively, inspectors general are 
supposed to be apolitical and independent. They need to be able to 
operate without fear or favor. Their job is not to serve the 
President's agenda; their job is to serve the American people. But 
President Trump, in a reckless, illegal, and politically motivated act, 
tried to reduce what is a pillar of government accountability to a 
rubberstamp for his agenda.
  Even if one is not concerned with the illegality of this act--
although you certainly would hope that the President would be concerned 
with following the law--this action to expand and consolidate Executive 
power does nothing to bring down costs and, in fact, will make 
government less efficient, open the door to rampant corruption, and 
waste more taxpayer money.
  So why is an inspector general important? To begin with, the 
inspector general, tasked with finding ways to save taxpayer money, 
would not do so by releasing a memo freezing Federal grant funding 
across the board for every community in every corner of the country.
  In a truly unprecedented act, President Trump ordered the freeze of 
nearly all Federal grant funding. This includes grant funding for 
firefighters, for police departments, for care and shelter for 
veterans, for disaster relief, for resources to fight the spread of 
fentanyl, for law enforcement fighting drug trafficking, for school 
lunches, for special education for students with disabilities, for 
small business grants, for community health centers--in short, for 
virtually every part of American life. Then the administration released 
a memo doubling down on these efforts and offering more chaos and more 
questions than answers.

[[Page S497]]

  Communities across the country began to scramble to find out if they 
were losing their funding and for how long. My office and the offices 
of every Senator and Governor in the country have been deluged with 
frantic calls from our constituents desperate for answers.
  Since then, the administration announced that the memo was rescinded, 
and then the White House announced that rescinding the memo was ``not a 
rescission of the federal funding freeze,'' only further muddying the 
waters. The White House continues to send out confused and chaotic 
messages.
  The administration has suggested that those of us who are speaking 
out about the devastating consequences of their actions are being 
alarmists. They have given glib assurances that the funding for 
particular programs will not be cut. This is, of course, ridiculous.
  This is the White House's mess. This is the President's chaos. It is 
not on the American people to do the White House Office of Management 
and Budget's job for them. It is not on the American people to 
determine how this order is being implemented and what funds are being 
impacted. It is on this White House. It is on this President to take 
ownership of a mess that started with the President's orders--this 
self-inflicted disaster.
  The alarm that I hear from my constituents is real because the 
devastating consequences to our communities and our families if these 
grants remain frozen are very, very real. These grants are not toys to 
be played with. They are not a political football to toss around. 
Behind every one of these grants are people whose lives depend on this 
funding. It is not OK, it is not permissible for the people who rely on 
these grants to be left waiting for clarity from the administration, 
hoping the President can summon enough magnanimity to restore this 
funding.
  Let me talk for a moment about why these grants matter to people 
whose lives are being played with.
  In New Hampshire, Granite Staters have been devastated by the 
fentanyl crisis. Everyone in our State knows someone or knows someone 
who knows someone who has been personally affected by this crisis.
  Last year, a woman who I was talking with about the mental health of 
our young people in our schools approached me after an event. She told 
me she had lost three brothers to the fentanyl crisis--three brothers 
from one family.

  Far too many young people have been lost to addiction. Far too many 
promising futures have been lost, young people with a lifetime's worth 
of hopes and aspirations cruelly dashed by an overdose.
  In New Hampshire, it has been a struggle just keeping our heads above 
water when fighting this crisis. Every time we begin to get a handle on 
it, a new threat emerges. It is tough work that has required the 
dedication of public servants from across our community--law 
enforcement officers, addiction specialists, teachers and school 
administrators, veterans organizations, hospitals, and parents. It has 
required the uncommon devotion of everyone.
  While we have made progress, the challenge is still as daunting as 
anything our State has ever faced. The progress that we have made, 
though, has been possible in part through Federal grant programs, 
including the State opioid response grant, grants to community health 
centers, funding for law enforcement, and recovery services block 
grants.
  This funding across a range of sectors has allowed us to get more 
resources behind successful programs and strategies that have proven 
records of working. For rural communities in particular, these Federal 
dollars make an extraordinary difference. Lives have been saved because 
of this funding, but President Trump would end these grants.
  Another grant which would be frozen by this order are grants for 
firefighters. The firefighter grant program has been invaluable in 
helping fire departments in big cities and small towns alike to 
modernize their equipment, hire more firefighters, and provide more 
training so that our first responders can do their jobs safely and 
effectively.
  Being a firefighter is an unimaginably tough job. Every day, they 
know that they can be called to rush into danger to save lives.
  I have had the privilege of visiting fire departments across our 
State that have benefited from this program, including in Berlin, 
where, thanks to Federal grant funding, they were able to secure a new 
engine, which will replace one that the fire department has had to rely 
on for 43 years.
  Our firefighters need to remain on the cutting edge so that they can 
do their jobs and get home safe, but President Trump would end those 
grants.
  Federal grants are also indispensable for keeping police departments 
fully funded. For instance, COPS grants are vital for giving 
departments the resources to remaining fully staffed. New Hampshire 
received a $1 million COPS grant in 2023 to help develop an anti-heroin 
task force. At a time when police departments are often stretched to 
the limit, freezing these funds is reckless and dangerous.
  Let me be clear on this point. I have proudly stood up to members of 
both political parties when they have attempted to defund our police 
departments. The most important job of government is keeping people 
safe. Defunding police departments is always wrong, and President 
Trump's order to defund police departments is wrong now.
  So perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. After all, a President who 
would pardon violent criminals who assaulted police officers can't be 
trusted to put police officers first and his political ambitions 
second.
  This is just a small sampling of the grants and people--people--who 
would be affected by an across-the-board funding freeze.
  President Trump seems to spend most of his time with the 
multimillionaires and billionaires who want even more tax cuts for 
those already at the top. The President perhaps would know the dangers 
of his actions if he knew the Granite Staters that I know whom I have 
the privilege of representing.
  The President has been to New Hampshire in the past and seen our 
State from the stage of his rallies. He has seen New Hampshire under 
the glow of television lights, under the gaze of cameras, surrounded by 
campaign signs emblazoned with his name. But perhaps if he knew the 
Granite Staters who have been writing and calling in alarm to my 
office, he would learn about the people whose lives would be hurt by 
this grant freeze.
  If he talked with New Hampshire police officers, he would know they 
need every dollar they can get as they work to get fentanyl off our 
streets and as they try to keep our children safe from addiction, 
danger, and despair.
  If he listened to the Granite Staters who volunteer at our homeless 
shelters, he would hear about how Federal funding is used to help 
homeless veterans, to ensure that our heroes have a place to rest their 
heads on a snowy, cold New Hampshire night.
  Earlier this month, I had the privilege of visiting Sunset Heights 
Elementary School. I talked with students. They told me about what they 
were learning and why they loved their school. I saw firsthand how 
Federal funds help pay for their special education programs--programs 
that help ensure that every child counts, that every child has a chance 
to learn, to dream, to reach their full potential. It was a wonderful 
day. These were wonderful kids. And no one--no one--is made better off 
by having the funding for their special education programs jeopardized, 
frozen, or taken away.

  Or perhaps, Mr. President, if you knew the Granite Staters who live 
in Berlin, in New Hampshire's north country, you need not look further 
than the new breathing apparatus that they now have that sit ready for 
our bravest to grab as they run toward danger, to know why these grants 
matter and should not be frozen--because this act freezing these grants 
would prevent other stations from getting the help that the Berlin Fire 
Department received. Do you think it was a mistake that the Berlin Fire 
Department received this grant?
  These are the people, the faces behind these grants, this Federal 
funding--our fellow Americans who live, breathe, and provide for their 
families within the margins of these budget lines, whose dignity and 
safety, whose

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hopes and aspirations should be regarded as more than just the 
stitching of a political football.
  Perhaps the administration will restore some or even all of this 
funding, but it shouldn't have to come to this. Even now, the American 
people don't know what funding is affected and what funding is not. The 
American people--the people whom the President serves--would like to 
know: Would this administration be inclined to make up their mind on 
precisely what funding they would like to freeze, what funding they 
would like to take away? The American people want to know what part of 
the American life is the President willing to devastate.
  People's safety, their jobs, their health, their fire and police 
departments, their lives should not wait in the dock, subject to the 
confused wordings and impulsive whims of the next tweet, the next press 
release, the next ill-devised memo to be issued and reversed and 
reissued again. We work for the American people, and they deserve so 
much better.
  President Trump's order will not only hurt the lives of Americans all 
across the country; the order is also illegal and at odds with our 
American belief in self-government. The President does not have the 
authority to freeze or take away funds that have already been allocated 
by Congress. It is Congress--not the President--who makes laws, and 
that is not a technicality. That is what separates democracies from 
authoritarian states, Presidents from Kings.
  So even if the administration announces that they will restore every 
dollar of funding, even if they do not threaten any grant in the 
future, let's be clear: The money is not the President's to restore, 
freeze, or take away. It does not belong to him. It belongs to the 
American people.
  If the President can unilaterally take away funds from any program he 
disagrees with, why should we pass laws at all? Why even have a 
legislature? When a President seizes legislative power for himself, it 
makes one wonder whether or not this President--a President who tried 
to overturn a free and fair election--truly believes in self-
government.
  Now, some of my Republican colleagues are inclined to give the 
President the benefit of the doubt, to voice their concerns but to 
dismiss the President's actions as perhaps confusing but not wrong. I 
think that, in a sense, sells the President short. He didn't issue this 
order by mistake. He is the President of the most powerful country on 
Earth, and his choices are his own.
  The President's actions to grab power were not an elaborate accident. 
The President didn't pardon the January 6 rioters by accident. The 
President did not try to fire 17 inspectors general by accident. The 
President did not order the freeze of all Federal grants by accident. 
The President deserves the respect to be treated as a leader who is 
responsible for his own actions.
  If the White House didn't want confusion regarding the freezing of 
these funds, they wouldn't have issued the order. If the White House 
didn't believe that the President has the unilateral power to take away 
funds allocated by Congress, then they wouldn't insist that he has the 
authority to do so.
  And let me be clear. Leaders who respect the values that define us as 
Americans--freedom, democracy, the rule of law--they don't confuse 
violent criminals with patriots. And leaders who intend to govern above 
reproach do not fire the people's watchdogs in the cover of night.
  The President is using his opening days in office to test our 
society's capacity of outrage, to test the loyalty of the Republican 
caucus, and to push the limits of the rule of law and self-government 
to, in short, see how far he can go, perhaps even hoping that, in this 
relentless tumult, we become accustomed to the bending and breaking of 
the law.
  I understand that my Republican colleagues support the President. I 
understand that they support much of his agenda. But this is a pivotal 
moment. My Republican colleagues need to decide just how far they are 
willing to go. If they are not concerned by the President's actions, I 
urge them to consider the precedent that President Trump is setting up.

  Would they be comfortable with a future Democratic President purging 
the government of all of its watchdogs? Would they bestow on a 
Democratic President the power to unilaterally defund programs that 
Congress passed into law? Because this will not be the last time that 
President Trump will test the limits of what my Republican colleagues 
are willing to swallow.
  That is, of course, the problem with appeasement. Once the bully is 
appeased, the bully simply demands more and more. And even if the 
President restores all of these grants, even if this entire episode is 
mere sound and fury, that restoration offers no promises for tomorrow. 
When a leader gains a power, history tells us that they are inclined to 
use it and they are certainly not inclined to give it away.
  The decision to give the President the power of the legislature to 
control the purse will live on beyond this night. My Republican 
colleagues have to decide if abdicating their authority as the people's 
trusted representatives to make laws is a bridge too far or is merely a 
lamentable but acceptable burden to appease this President.
  So it is unfortunate, to say the least, that we are mired in this 
chaos. We live in such a great country. America is positioned to 
outcompete our rivals. We have the best scientists, entrepreneurs, 
workers, and fighting force in the world. What more could we do, what 
great things could we accomplish if we were not devoting our energies 
to overcoming chaos of our own making, of President Trump's own making, 
of devoting all of our hours to binding self-inflicted wounds?
  I know that both parties and the President can find ways to work 
together. We have done it before during the President's first term--for 
instance, to end surprise medical billing, get more resources to tackle 
the fentanyl crisis, and to deliver for veterans. I am always willing 
to put in the work to do what is best for New Hampshire and the 
country.
  In this moment, perhaps above all else, the people want us to work 
together to bring down high costs, and it is remarkable to me that the 
President and his party have declined so far to introduce a single 
piece of legislation to lower costs.
  Make no mistake, pardoning violent criminals who attacked police 
officers doesn't lower costs for families, nor does removing the 
portraits of decorated generals from the Pentagon, nor does removing 
security details from the President's political foes, nor does firing 
the people's watchdogs or freezing funding for veterans, for police 
departments, for firefighters.
  No one's rent will be easier to pay. No one's grocery bill will be 
any lighter. The President's actions will not bring down any costs for 
families. But that doesn't mean that they come without a price. The 
price is the millions an inspector general might have saved. The price 
is paid by the families who will be hurt. The price is paid by our 
police officers who may lose funding. The price is paid by the families 
of Capitol Police officers who the President of the United States has 
let down.
  The price we the people are asked to pay is our commitment to self-
government, our commitment to the notion that inspired delegates in a 
hall in Philadelphia that, in America, we do not seek to be ruled, that 
we are capable of solving problems and making decisions, and that no 
one is above the law because here we believe in government of, by, and 
for the people.
  The price is, in short, all of the beliefs that inspired us who serve 
in this Chamber to enter public service. The price is nothing less than 
the very ideals that make us proud to call ourselves Americans.
  As we near midnight, we will mark the birthday of another President: 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was Roosevelt who, when speaking of the 
freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, said:

       Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy 
     forget in time that men have died to win them.

  We have come too far and sacrificed far too much for freedom and for 
the miracle of self-government for us to discard these ideals for 
political expediency, to dispense with the rule of law as the latest 
casualty of the President's self-described quest for retribution.
  I hope my Republican colleagues tell the President that he went too 
far and

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that they reverse course. But for now, the President should know that, 
no matter what he does, we are not going to grow accustomed to 
illegality. We will not resign ourselves to the lives of our fellow 
Americans being imperiled for his political gain.
  If he wishes to fire the people's watchdogs in the black of night, 
then he can expect us to stand here on the floor and speak out as the 
clock strikes midnight. The President will do whatever he does, but he 
will not do so to a silent Chamber.
  We still believe in self-government. It has been nearly 250 years 
since we declared our independence, but we have yet to gain an appetite 
for a King. In the ``Live Free or Die'' State, we remain a freedom-
loving people. We know that problems get solved for real people, for 
real families; that prices get lowered; that people have a chance to 
build a future, to own a home, to save for retirement, to send their 
kids to college, to have a vacation, to live a life that they build in 
the way that is best for them.
  We know that the way to do that is to ensure that our democracy 
serves the people, that our democracy preserves their power, that 
public servants are accountable to their constituents. That is how we 
make sure that the American dream continues.
  I urge the President to reverse course, to get to work on a 
bipartisan basis, to stop the uncertainty and unpredictability that so 
many people are faced with right now as they try to make decisions 
about keeping a daycare center open, hiring new police to keep our 
streets safe, hiring nurses to keep our rural hospitals open.
  Those are the decisions, the day-to-day decisions that are being 
impacted by the President's recklessness. I urge the President again to 
reverse course, to get to work on a bipartisan basis, to do what he 
needs to do to listen to people, bring down costs, and deliver for the 
American people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.

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