Politics

State Senator Alana DiMario of Narragansett is a mental health counselor who first won election in 2020. She’s one of a number of progressive policy-oriented Democratic women lawmakers who have moved the General Assembly a bit to the left over the last decade. But Rhode Island still faces familiar challenges, including an uneven economy, a tough fiscal outlook and underperforming public schools. In the Rhode Island Senate, change will come at some point since the chamber’s president, Dominick Ruggerio, is 76 and recovering from pneumonia. And there’s a lot of uncertainty on the national scene, with the Trump administration promoting tariffs, threatening traditional U.S. alliances and remaking the federal government. So how can Rhode Island make progress on crucial issues amid this instability? And what does the future hold for the Rhode Island Senate? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with state Senator Alana DiMario.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is among a number of Democratic attorneys general suing the Trump administration. The litigation covers a range of issues: Elon Musk and his leading role in wielding a chainsaw against the federal government; Trump’s attempt to freeze billions in federal funding for the states; and the ability of transgender people to serve in the military. While Neronha is a Democratic elected official, he says these lawsuits are responding to violations of the law. But it’s unclear how courts will ultimately respond in our polarized age, particularly if and when cases reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which moved to the right over the last decade. So what happens to the rule of law in the second Trump administration? Are we on the cusp of a constitutional crisis? And how did Democrats fail to win enough support from Americans to maintain control of the White House? This week on Political Roundtable, I’m going in-depth with Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.