(HARTFORD—WTIC News) Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has been very busy during the first month of the Trump administration, and he expects that to continue. He and his team have been in federal court with other Democratic attorneys general, trying to stop what they see as the unconstitutional actions of the president and his top adviser, Elon Musk.
Tong sees himself, Connecticut Democrats and the other attorneys general as a "firewall" against Trump and Musk—and the courts as venues where they can be stopped.
“Nobody in this room, and no middle-schooler in Connecticut does not understand the principle of checks and balances,” said Tong, during a press conference at his Hartford office. “That’s what judicial review is. That’s what judges are for. That’s what we’re for: checks and balances. And this state… states… are going to be a check on this president.”
Trump and Musk have been slashing billions in congressionally-approved funding in actions that the attorneys general consider illegal. State Republicans have accused Democrats of overreacting, but Tong says the impact of the cuts is real, saying they could eventually disrupt much of state government:
“DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) funding has stopped, or has been closed. DOT (Department of Transportation) funding is not flowing right now. People are getting laid off.”
Tong says it’s taken court action to fend off other cuts, such as millions for medical research.
“They would have cut $35 million in NIH (National Institutes of Health) funding from UConn. And if they say, ‘Oh, yeah, but that didn’t happen’… it didn’t happen because we acted!”
He says continued legal action will be necessary, as Trump and Musk are expected to swing the axe at entities including the Department of Education and Head Start, which operates under the Department of Health & Human Services.
“This is a war on America’s children. Not just immigrant children. Not just those families. Children who depend on their parents to put food on the table and pay the rent. Children who need Medicaid to get health care.
Children who need Head Start for education.”
Leaders of other Connecticut executive branch departments say the federal budget cutting has hurt public confidence in government.
“What we have seen, very clearly, is chaos and uncertainty,” says State Treasurer Erick Russell. “It’s people and families in our state who are completely confused about what to expect. They’re afraid. They’re nervous.
And, they’re looking to us to be the backstop here to continue the fight that we have ahead.”
“If the president wants to work with us and work with Connecticut… we are completely willing to do that,” says State Comptroller Sean Scanlon. “But when the president challenges the values that we hold dear in the state of Connecticut, we have an obligation to represent the people, to stand up and to push back and to fight back, and to make sure that the people of this state… feel like their voices are being heard when they are not being heard by those in Washington.”
