The Massachusetts House of Representatives will meet Wednesday to discuss what, if anything, they can do in response to the policies coming out of President Donald Trump’s White House.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo said Monday that he decided to dedicate this week’s entire Democratic caucus discussion to ways Massachusetts can combat Trump’s agenda.
“Folks really want to talk about this. They want to talk about what we can do as a Commonwealth, how we can express our displeasure with some of the actions of the president,” DeLeo told reporters Monday after meeting with Senate President Stan Rosenberg and Gov. Charlie Baker.
In response to Democrats’ outrage over Trump’s immigration policies and other measures, DeLeo wants to explore ways the state could act to counteract the federal government.
“Anywheres from resolutions to something that we can do to override, if you will, what’ going on at the federal level,” DeLeo said.
Last week, Rosenberg’s Senate beat DeLeo to the punch when they passed a resolution condemning Trump’s ban on travellers from seven majority-muslim countries.
“Freedom of religion is central to our strength as a democracy, both as a nation and as a Commonwealth. We will continue to defend the Constitutional rights of the citizens and immigrants of Massachusetts who contribute so much to our culture and our economy,” Rosenberg said in a statement after the unanimous Senate vote.
But the Senate’s resolution carries no authoritative weight other than the Massachusetts’s chamber’s waggign finger in the direction of Trump.
“The Senate passed this resolution today in solidarity with those affected by the order, and sends an important message that the Massachusetts State Senate rejects discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or religion,” sponsor Sen. Kathleen O’Connor Ives wrote in a statement.
DeLeo has the opportunity to level a more meaningful rebuke of Trump by finding a way to reinforce Democrats’ catharsis with substantial legislative impact.
DeLeo said most of last week’s Democratis House caucus was taken up by representatives expressing concern about some of the actions coming from the White House.
“Whether a resolution is in order to express opinion, or is there something we can do relative to law,” DeLeo said.
DeLeo said one thing the House could try to stop is Bristol Sheriff’s offer to Trump to force his county’s prisoners to work building a southern border wall.
