The top House Democrat in Massachusetts took a dim view of President Donald Trump’s blizzard of executive orders, declaring Monday that Massachusetts has “lost our federal partner.”
“The speed with which these changes keep firing out of Washington, it’s at a speed that is far faster than my simple brain can comprehend,” Mariano told reporters after meeting with Gov. Maura Healey and other top Democrats for what he called an “interesting series of discussions.”
Mariano did not mention any specific Trump initiatives, nor did he mention the president by name, but seemed to caution Massachusetts that the state has limitations in reacting to the Trump agenda, which now includes tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico that carry unknown economic ramifications. He has also signed dozens of executive orders, including attempting to end birthright citizenship, withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across government agencies, and freezing admissions of refugees into the U.S.
“I think that we do our best and we talked about some of the things that have been discussed,” he said. “But I want to state publicly that I think people have to understand that the way the changes are coming out of Washington today and what’s going on in our economy right now, it is going to be very difficult for us to keep pace and replace everything that’s being changed in Washington.”
The Quincy Democrat said the private meeting did not feature discussion of any state plans to respond to the president, who has swept into office with calls for tax cuts, spending reductions and smaller government.
“That depends on what’s done to us,” he said. “We’ve lost our partner. We’ve lost our federal partner.”
Trump is operating with a Congress where Republicans control both branches, albeit by small margins, and Massachusetts has an all-Democrat Washington delegation.
