Dozens of Rhode Islanders flooded the offices of Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse Tuesday to voice anger over President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and recent executive orders.
The demonstrators plan to keep up the pressure at congressional offices every week during the first 100 days of Trump’s administration.
Some 50 people crammed into a conference room at Senator Jack Reed’s Cranston office. The Senator is in Washington, but the group spoke with an aide and Reed’s local chief of staff, Raymond Simone.
Organizer Jane Tucker of Pawtucket had news for the group. Reed had just put out a statement on President Donald Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions.
“Jack Reed has said that he is not going to vote for Sessions,” said Tucker to cheers from the group.
But the appointment of Sessions is just one of a litany of issues these constituents have – ranging from executive orders on immigration, to cabinet picks. Tucker called on Reed to speak with the group directly.
“These cabinet nominations are huge,” said Tucker. “We need to talk to him about these things now. I don’t know if I can speak for the group, but we need a meeting with Reed now.
Applause quickly turned to jeers when Reed’s Chief of Staff Simone failed to offer a date for a meeting.
“I’ll speak for myself; I am more concerned than I have ever been about the state of my country,” said Sophia Cohen of Warwick. She said she’s frustrated with Reed and the rest of the state’s congressional delegation, who are all Democrats. Cohen wishes they would be more public in protesting the Trump administration, following the lead of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders.
“I just feel like they are as close to being at the table as we in this room feel we can get, and we’ll take our issues to the street, but we also need to take our issues to the people who can speak for us.”
Reed has already released many statements opposing some of Trump’s key cabinet picks, his executive orders, and statements the president has made about torture and voter fraud. He’s recently come out against Trump advisor Steve Bannon being allowed to sit on the National Security Council, and Reed is one of dozens of senators sponsoring legislation to rescind Trump’s executive order on immigration. But Matthew O’Hallorhan of Providence says he feels Reed and other Democrats are playing politics.
“They hide behind spokespersons and prepared statements,” said O’Halloran. “And we want to see them stand up and be angry about this. This is something that they can be angry about.”
Organizer Jane Tucker called the meeting a step in the right direction and vowed to return to lawmakers’ offices at least once a week for the next 100 days. Like many who voted for Trump during the election, it is now these progressives who worry their voices aren’t being heard.
