She’s among the most visible members of her party in the state and she offered a sharp response to Democratic Governor Dan McKee’s State of the State address last month. But de la Cruz has not been able to build the Republican presence in the Senate and it’s unclear who will represent the GOP in the fast-approaching 2026 race for governor. So what are de la Cruz’s plans? Can she form her critique of McKee into legislation? And what does she have to say about Democrats’ voluminous criticism of President Trump? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with Rhode Island Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz.
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Ian Donnis: Let’s start with a couple of questions about President Trump. It attracted a lot of notice last weekend when he tweeted, “He who saves the country does not violate any law.” Does that show that President Trump thinks he’s above the law?
Sen. Jessica de la Cruz: No, I don’t think so. I know that a lot of people look into almost like microscopic level to kind of analyze everything that he says, because it is intriguing to a lot of people. But I think what he’s talking about is what he’s doing for the country and the immense support that he had with the electorate to bring forth his plan to put America back on the road to prosperity.
Donnis: You’ve been an outspoken advocate for Zambarano Hospital, an acute long term care hospital in Burrilville, which is part of your district. I wonder, like say, hypothetically, there was a democratic governor who said, “Well, Zambarano Hospital is a waste. We don’t need it.” And unilaterally without the legislature tried to eliminate it. Would that be analogous to what President Trump is doing with trying to remake and eliminate large swaths of the federal government?
de la Cruz: I think it would be analogous to what Gina Raimondo was doing, although it was really by attrition what was happening at Zambarano Hospital. And thank God for my colleagues in the Senate and even in the House that we’re able to make sure, to ensure that we had the funding that was necessary to keep the hospital open for various reasons. It’s, and also it’s pretty wonky, so I’m not going to go into the details here.
Donnis: The point really is that, you know, the legislature or Congress has the power of the purse. The executive has different power. And Democrats say that Trump is trying to usurp Congress’s power to control spending.
de la Cruz: Sure. So to that point, I would say there are a lot of governors who have veto not veto power, excuse me, line item veto power where they can go through the budget and say, you know, this is a waste, this is no good, this is not proper spending. And so that’s the way I kind of see what Trump is doing. It’s almost in that fashion wherever there is waste, wherever there’s fraud, wherever there’s abuse, we want to identify those areas and remove them immediately from spending from the budget.
Donnis: The general accounting office does point to waste in government spending more than $200 million a year. Nonetheless, I think Democrats would say that Trump is really trying to gut the government rather than curb spending, and we see how the Trump administration has backtracked from firing workers, dealing with things like avian flu, and the management of nuclear weapons, important functions of the federal government. Does that show that the administration is moving too recklessly?
de la Cruz: No, I don’t think so. The way that I’ve looked at it is, you know, even back to Obama and I think Biden as well, and perhaps George Bush. They talked about going in with a scalpel and identifying areas in which need to be cut out for spending. And I think the scalpel approach has been used, but it has been ineffective. And so why continue to try the same methods when maybe what we need is to use a chainsaw? And this is what Americans voted for. They knew that Trump was going to take an ax to the budget. They knew that immigration was going to be in the forefront for Trump. So, when we look at what’s happening in the country, it’s almost surprising to some people because politicians rarely come through on those promises, especially at the national level. So when they see someone actually following through with their campaign promises, it may seem surprising to some, but very refreshing to others.
Donnis: I’ll follow up on your point in a second. But I do want to note that during the campaign, President Trump really distanced himself from Project 2025 and his critics say that what he’s doing now very much reflects the playbook of Project 2025. But to your point about how politicians normally are reluctant to really go after federal spending. If that’s what the Trump administration is about, the big pots of federal money are in defense, social security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Would you advocate significant cuts to any of those programs?
de la Cruz: So I would say when it comes to defense, look there are no sacred cows. If there are cuts that need to happen in defense, then obviously he’s going to do so, but not in a reckless manner in a very responsible way. Wherever there is waste, wherever there is fraud, wherever there is abuse, we need to identify it and eradicate it. When it comes to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, you know, recently, I think it was today that one of the members of our federal delegation made some pretty shocking claims that those were on the chopping block. They are not on the chopping block. And it really upsets me when Democrats make those comments and those claims because there is no Republican that I’ve ever spoken to that wants to cut those programs. We all have a grandma, we all have a mom and dad that maybe rely on Social Security or on Medicaid, Medicare. We don’t want to see those programs cut.
Donnis: Some congressional Republicans have been looking at a plan that would cut Medicaid, the program for low income people by about 2 trillion dollars over 10 years, but let’s move on. One more question about Trump. Then we’ll bring it back to Rhode Island. Elon Musk is bringing out a lot of criticism that he was never elected. He’s Trump’s right hand man. He’s presiding over this effort to downsize government. He has a lot of potential conflicts in terms of how he has military contracts. He wants to make X into a digital wallet while at the same time eroding the power of an agency, which is a watchdog for the finance system. So any concerns from you on Elon Musk and how he’s wielding a lot of power as an unelected bureaucrat?
de la Cruz: Well, the question for me is, which unelected bureaucrat was running the country when Biden was incapacitated? There are a lot of unelected bureaucrats in federal government that advise, that suggest, that help those who are elected. And so I’m not against having an individual who is as successful as Elon Musk maybe offering advice to someone in our administration. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the advice will be taken. But, again, why would I not take the advice or at least consider the advice of someone who is wildly successful?
Donnis: We’re talking here with Rhode Island Senate Minority Leader, Jessica de la Cruz. Let’s bring our focus back to Rhode Island. And you are one of the most visible Republicans in Rhode Island. We’re coming up fast on a new election year in 2026. Judging by your campaign finance report, which remains relatively static with a balance of about $40,000, you don’t seem to be gearing up for a statewide run next year. Is that right? And if not, why not?
de la Cruz: I think everyone thinks, you know, that that’s my next step, but I am very happy in the Senate. I love what I do. I feel that I’ve been effective even being in the super minority and advocating for constituents and their needs is rewarding. So, I did very well in my first fundraiser of the year, so I’ll be bumping that up. I don’t know if I should be giving is it an in kind contribution to those who promoted my fundraiser, but I did almost three times better than my best fundraiser last year in one night.
Donnis: Are you aware of any other Republicans other than Ashley Kalus, who ran last time in 2022, who are looking as running as a Republican for governor next year?
de la Cruz: I have, but you know, I’m sworn to secrecy. Those individuals have said, “Jess, I’m thinking about it, but, could you give me some feedback, are you thinking of running?” And I keep those things in confidence and let them declare when they see that it’s fit to do so
Donnis: Just to close that out. Are you ruling out a run for governor next year for yourself?
de la Cruz: I’m not going to run for governor.
Donnis: You offered a detailed critique of Governor Dan McKee and his time as governor during your response to his state of the state address last month. If the governor and Democrats in general are doing as bad a job, as you say, with managing Rhode Island with their super majority in the legislature, why are Republicans having so much trouble increasing their presence in the legislature?
de la Cruz: You know, I would say in due time, in due time, we’re going to see Republicans start gaining some traction in the state. It’s been a tough road for Republicans. It’s obvious I’m not going to say that it’s going to be easy for Republicans to gain seats in the general assembly, but it’s not impossible. And I forgot who told me this, but they said that Rhode Island out of all the blue states moved further to the right when it came to electorally voting for Trump. And so, for me, that gives me hope and really indicates that there is a change coming. Does it take 10 years? Does it take 20 years? I don’t know. But we’re going to keep the course, stay on course. We’re going to keep putting quality candidates up to run for from governor all the way down to school committee, and we’re gonna keep supporting them.
Donnis: Speaking of the future of the Republican Party, do you support the incumbent chairman Joe Powers who’s facing a challenge from Jessica Drew-Day?
de la Cruz: Joe’s done a great job. I have no complaints. But I have never inserted myself in one of these elections and in a primary challenge. And so I’m not going to do that now. But I will support whichever candidate wins because I want to see Republicans elected, and I’m gonna work with that chairwoman or chairman to make sure it happens.
Donnis: Your four member GOP block in the Senate supported Senate President Dominic Ruggiero last month when he faced a challenge from Senator Ryan Pearson of Cumberland. Why did you find the arguments that Ruggiero’s health problems don’t pose an issue? Why did you find that unconvincing?
de la Cruz: It’s not necessarily the health issues. I think that if someone’s facing health issues, and they’re not cognitive such as Joe Biden’s, if they’re simply physical ailments, I don’t think that that’s enough reason to say that you’re unfit. I think that he has, with me at least, always had an open door. Anytime I wanted to speak with him, he took the time to discuss legislation or policy or whatever it was. And so I didn’t see a reason to vote for anyone else.
Donnis: You have said that you’re not interested in the small business administration position formerly held by your former colleague Senator Sandra Cano. The ambassadorship for Portugal is probably not on the table. So if you were to wind up in the Trump administration, what kind of position are you open to?
de la Cruz: Honestly, I’ve been laser focused on the State Senate. It continues to be my focus. People ask me if I want to leave. I love what I do, but if I were to be approached by the administration and asked to serve in whatever capacity, I would have to consider it, but it would have to be something where I felt like it would make sense to leave because again, I think that I’ve been effective in the policies that I’ve been able to to get passed in legislation. It would be very hard to do. Short answer. Sorry. It would just be very hard to do.
Donnis: Rhode Island Senate Republican leader, Jessica de la Cruz of North Smithfield. Thank you so much for joining us.
de la Cruz: Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
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There’s always a Rhode Island angle, or so it seems, and the legal fight over President Trump’s freeze of billions of dollars in aid to states is no exception. Federal Judge Jack McConnell of Providence is at the center of this dispute, and he’s facing both cheers and jeers. You can read more about that in my Friday TGIF politics column posting around 4 this afternoon on X, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and at thepublicsradio.org/TGIF.
That’s it for our show. Political Roundtable is a production of The Public’s Radio. Our producer is James Baumgartner. Our editor this week is Jeremy Bernfeld. I’m Ian Donnis, and I’ll see you on the radio.
