Where are the House Republicans? Why won’t Trump speak with Democrat leaders? Will this government shutdown come to an end before the start of November?
At this point it seems as though the GOP is on a paid vacation on the America taxpayers’ dime. Senator Andy Kim joins Jen to discuss how the leadership abdication from all three branches of government is compounding the American peoples’ suffering.
“The people that are calling my office [are] telling me that they’re terrified about what comes next,” says Sen. Kim referencing the upcoming raise to healthcare premiums. What makes matters worse is that, while the everyday person is struggling with financial anxiety, Trump is making millions off of his multiple grifts. How can a democracy exist when the President is using the country as his personal bank account?
Senator Andy Kim is a life-long public servant who is proud to represent the state where he grew up, and that gave his family a chance at the American Dream, in the United States Senate. Senator Kim represented New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms where he focused on strengthening America’s national security and standing up for our servicemembers, veterans, and their families as a member of the House Armed Services and House Foreign Affairs Committees.
The transcript below has been edited slightly for clarity.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of the Contrarian. We’re delighted to have back with us Senator Andy Kim from New Jersey. Welcome!
Andy
Thanks for having me back.
Jen Rubin
It is always a pleasure. We are past the two-week mark in the shutdown. Where are we?
Andy
Well, look, where we’re at right now is the fact that this administration, Republicans and leaders in Congress are refusing to negotiate, refusing to do anything that resembles governance. I mean, I’m still here in DC, right by the Capitol. Speaker Johnson and the House Republicans, you know, they’re just continuing to take a paid vacation, even though our civil servants, our public servants are not getting paid, and they’re showing up to work.
I mean, these House Republicans are not even doing their job. So, you know, I hope the American people see this. You know, just the abdication of leadership, the abdication of governance, and frankly, you know, what it really shows is that, you know, we do not have three functioning branches of government right now. You know, we have one branch of government, the executive, that’s trying to bend the other two branches to their will, and right now they’re being successful, and that’s why we are in a constitutional crisis as a nation right now.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Speaking about New Jersey, how many people do you believe are gonna lose Medicaid on one hand, and secondly, will be so priced out of the Obamacare market that they won’t be able to afford their premiums next year?
Andy
Yeah, well, you know, we don’t know the exact number just yet in terms of the Medicaid loss, because a lot of that depends on who’s our next governor, and whether or not, you know, we’re gonna be able to offset some of these, which is why, you know, it’s so important that we stand up against someone like Jack Ciattarelli who’s only gonna do the business of Donald Trump.
and elect Mikey Sherrill, who’s gonna actually stand up for the people of New Jersey. But what we do know is that, you know, this is gonna be devastating one way or another. You know, there’s no way that the state of New Jersey can offset, you know, all the funds that are being lost for healthcare when it comes to the federal government. And, you know, that’s what I hope, again, that the American people see, is just, you know, that what has this administration, this Republican majority, been putting their time towards? You know, they’re saying, oh, well, look, the ACA subsidies, they don’t expire to the end of the year, you know, we got time to take care of that. Well, look, you know what else wasn’t going to expire to the end of the year? You know, the tax cuts for the billionaires that this Republican administration was tripping over themselves to try to get extended as quickly as possible.
So we saw, you know, the efforts that they went through to be able to extend those tax cuts for the billionaires and the biggest corporations. You know, meanwhile, they are doing the most historic cuts to healthcare in American history. 2025 will likely go down in history as a year where the biggest cuts to healthcare have ever happened in America, and that’s what the American people need to see, that contrast of where their priorities are.
Jen Rubin
And as I understand it, people in New Jersey, as elsewhere, are now getting their notices, beginning to get those notices of what their premiums may look like, and that, in some cases, may be double or even more what they’re currently paying.
Andy
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we’re seeing that all over the country. I think in New Jersey, people are still waiting as the open enrollment starts on November 1st, but the expectation is, yes, that we will likely see many, see double, if not triple, what they’re paying. I’ve… I talked with a number of people so scared about this in terms of the, you know, this one woman, Lucinda, was telling me, that, you know, she just can’t afford it. You know, she just will not be able to afford healthcare at that point. You know, other parents that I’ve heard from talking about just the concerns that they have for the care for their kids.
And so it just, you know, it’s really sad, and it’s important for us to make sure we’re grounding this, you know, in the people, because it’s easy to get caught up when you look at the news of a shutdown, to make it seem like it’s some battle between the, you know, the leaders of political parties, or it’s a tug-of-war between, you know, just the politics. But it’s not. You know, it’s about the people that are really struggling, the people that are calling my office, telling me that they’re terrified about what comes next. They’re feeling so much anxiety right now about just how hard their lives are. You know, that’s what this has to be about.
Jen Rubin
Meanwhile, Donald Trump seems to put no limit on the amount he wants to make personally off this presidency. Whether it’s the crypto area, whether it’s marketing his facilities, whether it’s doing ads for cologne, there seems to be no end to it. You’ve been talking.
Andy
I saw he was, like, selling watches now, isn’t that what’s, like…
Jen Rubin
Yeah, there’s no, there’s no bottom. What, you have a, obviously, a background, in, first of all, in public service in general, and in law enforcement, and, the legal realm, in particular. How extraordinary is this? People like to say, well, all politicians are crooks, but first of all, that’s not right. And secondly, the amount that Donald Trump is hauling in is really extraordinary.
Andy
Yeah, there are a couple things here that I just find unprecedented and so dangerous. I mean, first and foremost, just the level of profiteering off of the Oval Office. You know, I’ve been saying this lately to a lot of people, like, Donald Trump has made billions of dollars since January 20th. How much has your family made since then? You know, it’s just so clear that he is somebody that’s just in it for a grift.
And, like, look, in Jersey, like, we know mob boss tactics, we know just the approach that people are taking when, you know, they’re just in it for the gain, in it for the profiteering. So that’s one aspect of it that’s so dangerous, and you see how it impacts and influences his policies, you know, where he’s putting his energy, what trips he’s taking abroad, and what his family can be able to get in terms of kickbacks, whether that’s golf courses or crypto investments.
The other aspect, though, that really needs to be seen as two sides of the same coin is he is now weaponizing taxpayer dollars for his own personal benefit, or personal political vendettas. You know, this is something that, you know, we see in New Jersey, for instance, when he says he’s terminating funds for the Gateway Tunnel project, you know, a project of national importance. You know, our national economy would take such a huge hit if we have disruptions to the train service in the Northeast Corridor.
Everyone knows that. And this is gonna impact the lives of so many New Jersey and so many people in my state, including Republicans and Independents, but because of his own personal vendetta against Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and other political leaders, me and Corey, you know, he’s you know, going after this funding. And I talked to a woman in New Jersey about this. She’s an independent voter, and I was asking her her thoughts on this, and I asked her, what would you want to say to Donald Trump, if you could? And she said, I would want to remind him and say, this is our money. This is the American people’s money. This is not, you know, Donald Trump’s personal bank account or a slush fund. I mean, you see it even with, you know, his sending the funds out to Argentina, right? Like, he could basically fund, you know, ACA subsidies for an entire year for the amount of money that he’s sending over to Argentina. And not only that, but he told the people of Argentina, he says that this money is contingent on, you know, the president’s party getting, you know, being successful in the upcoming election. I mean, he’s literally trying to influence the elections of other countries, saying that we’ll turn off the spigot of America, you know, unless you do what we want you to do. I mean, like, that’s the level, again, of mob boss tactics that is just absolutely, you know, unacceptable on so many fronts. Using the American taxpayer dollars as a means for him to be able to weaponize and engage in political retribution against his so-called enemies.
Jen Rubin
It does seem that they’re rather shameless about it. You hear officials say, we’re going to use this to hurt Democrats, we’re going to cut Democratic programs, as if
Republicans don’t benefit. There seems to be no effort whatsoever to make Donald Trump the president of the American people. He seems to be simply head of one party, which really does damage to the presidency. Are Republicans,
at all concerned about this, that if this is the new normal, what happens to them, and what happens to Republicans who live in blue states and blue cities who are being harmed by this?
Andy
You know, look, I don’t see the level of urgency that is needed. If I hear or see any statement or quibble here and there, you know, it certainly is paltry compared to the enormity of this challenge. I mean, how can a democracy exist, you know, if a leader is seeing themselves as the president only to the people that voted for them? When we passed, you know, I helped pass the bipartisan infrastructure law.
There’s a lot of opposition to that on the Republican side, but those congressional districts and states are continuing to get support for infrastructure, because it would be shameful, literally shameful, if we said, oh, well, you didn’t vote for us, you don’t get anything, your people are gonna suffer because of that. Even with the ACA, I mean, the bulk, a majority of the people who would benefit from the ACA subsidies are in so-called red states, right? That voted for Trump.
That’s okay. Like, I’m not trying to just think about, you know, like, how can I benefit my political party and supporters? In fact, that would be wrong, because I swear an oath to serve the Constitution. I am a U.S. Senator, I support and trying to help everyone across this country. So, it just shows you the damages there, but like, it’s severe. I don’t want people to think that this is just, like, a process issue. Like, it is literally the crippling of our democracy, you know, if we allow elected leaders to just basically turn our country into a giant patronage network that is just about supporting their own supporters. I mean, even what we see with you know, TikTok, they’re trying to sell TikTok, and the people they have lined up for that are all of Trump’s best friends. Same thing with this White House ballroom having dinner, and if you look at the companies and the people that showed up to that dinner, you know what interest they have before the president. You know this is a conflict of interest. They should not be allowed to be able to do this. And that’s when things are, you know, you really see things it’s unraveling in such a deep and fundamental way.
Jen Rubin
Well, back to your original point, which is the two other branches right now are not doing their job, because your friends on the other side of the aisle who have the job of oversight, investigation, power of the purse, are not doing their job, and the Supreme Court, frankly, has made this all worse.
And frankly, it’s made it very hard to prosecute bribery, as a crime. So, we have our work cut out for us as a people. Final question for you. The president has said that people who are planning on peacefully turning out and exercising their First Amendment rights tomorrow are pro-Hamas, or Antifa, or terrorists. What’s your response to that?
Andy
Well, look, it is, again, a fundamental attack upon our Constitution. So, in the same way that Donald Trump is coming after the other two branches of government, he’s coming after the media. They’re, you know, what they’re doing in terms of gutting out and hollowing out the press corps at the Pentagon. What we see right now in terms of this attack upon being to peacefully protest, and I see, I heard, you know, like, I think down in Texas, they’re planning to move some of the National Guard towards where the protests were happening. I mean, like you know, as someone who worked at the Pentagon before, worked in national security, worked alongside our military, our military should be a symbol of security, not of threats against the American people. And this is so dangerous to so many fronts. I hope people get out there, I hope people, you know, follow through, be peaceful, do not give them any reason to say otherwise. You know, they are actually trying to incite violence. That’s what we’re seeing in Portland and in Chicago. Stephen Miller wants people to take the bait and cause disturbance so that he can then say, oh, you know, this is a riot, this is an insurrection, so therefore we can suspend habeas corpus. Like, that’s the plan.
Like, let’s not give in to him on that front. The other thing I just want to mention, just because it’s so alarming, you talked about the Supreme Court. What is potentially about to happen with the Voting Rights Act is one of the most dangerous things I’ve seen yet. I mean, this is something that is… would systematically change our democracy. I look at the challenges with Trump, and I see some things that look, you know, it’s damaging, but, you know, we can turn it around if we can. It may take a few years. There are other damages that are strategic damages that could fundamentally reshape this country, and I just wanted to point that out, because I think American people need to see this more for what it is. The gerrymandering, the partisan gerrymandering, that’s a clear power grab. It’s clearly cheating. Being able to have the Voting Rights Act overturned on top of that would be just an absolute, you know, an absolute catastrophe for our democracy. So, you know, these are the things that people need to pay attention to. So I say, please, have your voice heard, but what’s most important in this democracy right now is about sustained attention. So yes, you know, we need to get people’s attention through these protests this weekend, but please, do not think that, you know, you’ve done your part. There’s responsibilities for citizens, not just on election day, but every day, and we need to find a way to sustain this attention in order for us to build the kind of movement needed right now to be able to overcome and fight back against so much of the damages to our country right now.
Jen Rubin
Thank you so much, Senator, and to your earlier point, we have elections this year, folks, in just a couple weeks, New Jersey, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, where there’s a very important race for retention of Supreme Court justices. So, get out in March, wear your yellow, and be peaceful, and then if you’re in one of those states, remember to vote. So, thank you as always, and we’ll look forward to having you back soon.
Andy
Thanks again.
