WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) tonight took to the Senate Floor to blast President Trump’s new order to halt the disbursement of trillions of dollars in federal funding, which was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) but temporarily blocked late this afternoon until Monday by a federal judge. A portion of Senator Welch’s remarks can be found below:
“This is the test that we face: If we’re United States Senators and we believe that the Constitution is important—not in the abstract—but in the role it has played in preserving and protecting the freedom of all Americans, and we believe that freedom is preserved when there is a check and balance against unbridled power, then we are the ones that have to act in order to protect the well-being of this country against the illegal actions by a President who just doesn’t care, whether it’s legal or it isn’t.
“He worships power. And he’s creating a new culture—where if you worship community service, if you worship generosity, forgiveness, empathy…you’re a sucker. That’s the emotional message from President Trump. People in Vermont? They want and they do better, when they see injustice, they see suffering and they respond to it. They don’t intensify it.
“So, we have a decision as United States Senators to stand up for what this institution requires. And that is that we are a separate and coequal branch of government. And when the responsibilities are being subverted by an overreach by the executive, we resist. And we resist because it’s absolutely vital to the well-being of this country that our democracy prevail—three branches of government, checks and balances.
“But it’s really, fundamentally important to the well-being of the people we represent that their opportunity to live with stability, the ability to help their neighbors, to have confidence that promises are made or promises kept. That we defend the good work, the good will, integrity of the people of Vermont…of all of our 50 states.”
Watch the video here:
Read the Vermont Congressional Delegation’s statement on the impact of the order on Vermonters.
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