MADISON, WI – Today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) joined CNN’s News Central with Sara Sidner to discuss Trump demolishing the East Wing of the White House, Trump’s ongoing trade war with Canada, and the GOP government shutdown.
Click here to watch the full interview and find excerpts of Rep. Pocan’s remarks below.
On Trump’s Trade war
You can’t throw tariffs around indiscriminately and then not negotiate because you’re mad about a pushback from one of the countries that you’re having a trade war with. People are paying too much for groceries, for durable goods; inflation is up from September, all because of Trump’s tariff taxes on all of us. It does have a negative effect on Americans and it has a negative effect on Canadians. The President needs to be more mature and go back to negotiations. He’d be better off if he just took away this irresponsible use of tariffs, since Congress is supposed to have that responsibility. And let’s get back to helping lower the cost for Americans.
On Trump’s Misguided Priorities
I serve on a subcommittee on Appropriations, which has oversight [of the White House], and they have not come to us as you would expect they would. They did all the tearing down, and now they’re going to get permission to build. You probably should get permission before you’ve torn down the East Wing. But for visual learners, this is what Donald Trump is doing to our democracy right now. He’s tearing it down, and to see this so visually with the White House, again, without getting any permissions, without talking to anyone, is part of the frustration that the American people have with this administration. [Trump] doesn’t care about lowering costs. That’s what they should be focused on. They should care about our healthcare costs about to soar because of the Big Ugly Law. But instead, he wants to have Mar-a-Lago north, and he will do anything to have it done. It’s just his priorities couldn’t be any more out of whack.
On Fighting to Protect Healthcare
The American people, more than ever, realize what value our federal employees provide, not just when you need help with Social Security or the IRS or all the things that are done by federal employees that affect our lives. They’re also saying we understand 15 million people are going to lose their healthcare, and everyone’s going to have an increase in healthcare rates because of the Big Ugly Law that just happened. We are fighting to lower the cost of healthcare and make sure that people don’t outright lose it for their families. Federal employees are working without paychecks or being furloughed and not getting paid. And they’re the heroes. They’re the ones saying no, this fight is important to have… House Republicans haven’t shown up for five weeks. If they were serious about negotiating anything, they wouldn’t be drinking pina coladas in their basements. It’s time to get back to Washington, DC, and work, and we’re not seeing that from the House Republicans. Anything they say, the American people can tell it’s pure BS.
