Holding The Trump Administration Accountable
Senator Reed is Standing Up for Rhode Island Against President Trump’s Executive Overreach, Including:
• Teamed up with bipartisan group of U.S. Senators to reject Trump’s global tariffs.
• Joined bipartisan group of U.S. Senators to call on Supreme Court to strike down Trump’s terrible tariff taxes.
• Cosponsored legislation to rein in impact of Trump’s tariffs and teamed up with a local family-owned business to point out how Trump’s policies are raising costs for consumers and hurting Main Street – watch Sen. Reed’s video from the event.
• Called out Trump’s economic policies that are not working for working Americans.
• Took action to call for an immediate end to the Trump Administration’s bailout of Argentina’s right-wing President.
• Convened local manufacturers for a roundtable discussion on challenges they face, including the negative impacts of Trump’s widespread global tariffs which are raising costs for Rhode Island consumers and businesses.
• Successfully led bipartisan group of Senators in calling on Trump to swiftly release critical energy assistance funds that help Rhode Islanders lower home energy bills.
• Demanded more information about the Trump Administration's plan to lower the costs of eggs.
• Called out efforts to suspend activities at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and stop enforcement of key protections for servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Read the letter.
• Pointed out President Trump’s failure to lower prices for everyday consumers by calling out increased costs for common Valentines Day gifts.
• Urged President Trump to honor his campaign promises to lower costs for American families by rejecting Congressional Republicans’ budget proposals. See the letter.
• Helped to open bipartisan congressional inquiry into the Trump Administration’s military operations in Caribbean and East Pacific.
• After successfully requesting an Inspector General investigation at DOD, blasted Hegseth’s mishandling of classified information.
• Demanded full briefing on the Trump Administration’s September 2nd boat strike in the Caribbean. Watch Senator Reed’s interviews on CNN and MS NOW
• Advanced bipartisan bill to limit Trump’s war powers and prevent further unauthorized military action in Venezuela. Watch Senator Reed’s speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
• Called out Trump Administration’s U.S. military raid in Caracas and claim to ‘run’ Venezuela as a profound constitutional failure.
• Blasted Trump and Hegseth’s expensive and dangerous dereliction of leadership at divisive and corrosive Quantico military gathering.
• Delivered stark warning about Trump’s politicization of the U.S. military breaking 250 years of tradition and called on Congress to take immediate, bipartisan action to safeguard the Constitution’s balance of powers.
• Called out Trump’s nuclear saber rattling for threatening to upend decades of weapons cooperation.
• Defended the First Amendment against Hegseth’s unprecedented attack of free speech and freedom of the press at the Pentagon, and condemned Hegseth’s effort to censor the Pentagon press corps.
• Led call for investigation into Trump Administration’s illegal deployment of the U.S. military onto American streets.
• Stood with Senator Mark Kelly against Hegseth’s threats of court martial and effort to censure and potentially demote Kelly.
• Admonished the Trump Administration’s firing of senior U.S. military officers, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, and all Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy, and Airforce. Read more on these firings, as well as Senator Reed’s Op-Ed published by the Washington Post.
• Rebuked President Trump’s discriminatory purge of transgender military personnel. Read the statement.
• Demanded legal justification and documentation for the abrupt firing of several Judge Advocate Generals (JAG). Read the letter.
• Called out Republicans on the Senate floor for failing to lower health care costs for thousands of Rhode Islanders and millions of Americans – watch Sen. Reed’s speech here.
• Rallied Rhode Island health care leaders on Democratic plan to lower health costs, improve access to care, and reverse Trump-Republicans $1 trillion Medicaid cuts.
• Blasted Trump’s big, beautiful bill for billionaires for increasing health care prices for all Americans.
• Teamed up with Sen. Whitehouse and leading health care advocates to demand immediate Senate vote to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits – watch Sen. Reed’s video from the event.
• Pushed back against the Trump Administration’s chaotic, reckless, and dangerous cancellation of nearly $2 billion in substance use prevention and mental health funding nationwide which was then reinstated within 24 hours.
• Led all 47 Senate Democrats in demanding that GOP Senate and House leadership reject any proposals that would cut Medicaid. Read more.
• Spoke out against Republican efforts to cut Medicaid and take away health care for thousands of Rhode Islanders. Watch.
• Offered an amendment to protect Medicaid and Medicare from being used as a piggy bank for tax breaks for the wealthy. Amendment received bipartisan support but failed on a vote of 49-51. Watch.
• Slammed Trump’s immigration chaos and demanded Republicans work with Democrats to implement needed reforms and guardrails to protect the rights of all Americans.
• Called for a freeze out of ICE funding and for Trump Administration to halt inflammatory, mass-urban-assaults.
• Teamed up with Senate colleagues to demand the Department of Justice immediately stop their unlawful pressure campaign to coerce dozens of states into providing the Trump Administration with their voter rolls.
• Called out Trump Administration’s blatant violation of the Hatch Act and demanded removal of Trump’s political propaganda from federal agency websites and communication channels.
• Rebuked Trump for threatening to withhold hunger relief for millions of Americans and intentionally rolling out a half-baked approach to provide partial SNAP funding.
• Rallied support for plan to overturn Trump-Republican historic cuts to food assistance.
• Blasted Trump Administration’s escalating attacks on rule of law that is endangering judges and undermining judicial independence.
• Passed bill in Senate to compel release of the Epstein Files.
• Repeatedly called out Trump Administration’s special treatment and prison perks for convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and demanded a full investigation.
• Rebuked Trump’s pressure campaign to investigate and indict his perceived political enemies and demanded investigation into Trump’s corruption of the Department of Justice.
• Demanded answers on Trump’s suspicious firing of federal housing watchdog while its director plays an unprecedented partisan role in using government resources to target Trump’s perceived political enemies.
• Cosponsored legislation to update cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) to ensure Social Security benefits keep track with rapidly rising costs American seniors are facing.
• Denounced Trump Administration for threatening to raise the retirement age for American workers.
• Stood up against Musk's false claims calling Social Security a "Ponzi Scheme," and the Administration's efforts to dismantle the Social Security Administration.
• Demanded answers on Trump Administration’s plan to eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs at the VA.
• Joined entire Rhode Island delegation in calling for information about the state’s VA workforce.
• Demanded President Trump immediately exempt the VA from his federal hiring freeze. Read the letter.
• Pressed VA Secretary Collins to protect the sensitive information of veterans and their families from DOGE. Read the letter.
• Demanded answers regarding VA’s plan to ensure veterans can continue to receive the health care and benefits they earned despite the Trump Administration’s mass terminations of VA employees. Read the letter.
• Cosponsored a bill that would prohibit the federal government from using taxpayer money to compensate any rioters prosecuted for their participation in the assault on the Capitol on January 6.
• Issued statement on the fifth anniversary of the brutal January 6 insurrection and joined legislation that would prevent legal settlements for anyone convicted of assaulting a law enforcement office during the attack on the Capitol.
• Spoke out against President Trump’s pardons and commutations for more than 1,500 participants in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Read my statement and learn about the resolution I cosponsored.
• Fought to reverse Trump administration’s illegal attempts to dismantle and outsource the responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Education.
• Introduced legislation to stop book bans in public schools and deliver better results for American students by closing gaps in access to school library resources.
• Joined bipartisan push to stop Trump Administration from making it more difficult for nurses to access student loans and join the health care workforce.
• Blasted Secretary McMahon for undermining special education and trying to reverse decades of progress in how the nation supports students with disabilities and their families.
• Joined education experts and leaders in Rhode Island to warn about Trump’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
• Sought to reverse Trump Administration’s reckless decision to end NOAA’s extreme weather database.
• Demanded that Trump reverses his plan to open new offshore oil and gas leases in U.S. federal waters.
• Authored bipartisan bill to safeguard and boost FEMA’s program that helps communities proactively fortify key infrastructure against natural disasters as Trump Administration attempts to defund and dismantle the program.
• Opposed Trump Administration’s effort to weaken clean air safeguards.
• Successfully fought off Trump Administration’s attacks on offshore wind and Rhode Island jobs.
Your Data & Tax Dollars
• Called on Republicans to hold hearings on DOGE’s access to American’s private information and our government’s most sensitive computer systems. Read the letter.
• Demanded DOGE be denied access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other government systems that contain information about veterans. Read the letter.
• Rebuked President Trump’s freeze of federal funding. Watch.
• Led the fight against attempts to delay funding to rebuild the Washington Bridge. Read the RI Delegation’s letter.
• Opposed interruptions of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding that supports cutting-edge scientific research. Read this letter.
• Demanded President Trump release Head Start funding. See the letter.
• Met with researchers and RI’s medical community in response to unlawful attempts to cut life-saving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.
As Republicans in the House and Senate forged ahead with their disastrous and callous budget which strips benefits away from hardworking Americans and veterans in order to fund their massive tax cuts for the rich, Senator Reed fought back.
During the Senate’s overnight vote-a-rama, Senator Reed offered more than twenty amendments aimed at protecting everyday Americans, preventing any reductions in Medicare and Medicaid benefits, promoting college affordability, and ensuring continued support for the Government of Ukraine. See all of Senator Reed’s amendments.
Strength & Humanitarian Aid
• Fought illegal attempts to destroy the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Read the letter and see the resolution I cosponsored.
• Strongly opposed President Trump’s reckless desire to forcibly displace Palestinians and made it clear that U.S. military assets and personnel should not be deployed to Gaza. Read more and see the resolution.
• Continued strong support for Ukraine and spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate opposing the Trump Administration’s abandonment of Ukraine in its fight for freedom. Watch.
• Joined Democratic national security leaders in speaking out in response to President Trump’s systematic efforts to undermine American national security. Read the statement.
• Condemned President Trump’s and Vice President Vance’s attacks against Ukraine and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy during an Oval Office meeting. Read more.
• Led the opposition to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and won the highest number of Republicans to oppose a Trump nominee. Watch my opening statement and questioning of Mr. Hegseth during his confirmation hearing.
• Joined Senators in ‘holding the floor’ for 30 hours against OMB Director Russell Vought’s nomination. Watch.
• Opposed Trump’s Attorney General, Treasury, EPA, Energy, DHS, Health, VA, DNI, CIA, FBI, Commerce, SBA, USDA, & Education nominees.
• Took to the Senate floor during Public Education Week to oppose President Trump’s nominee to be the Secretary of Education. Read more.
• Fought President Trump’s Friday night Inspector General purge.
• Called out Trump’s deceptive & illegal federal worker buy-out plan.
• Questioned legality & consequences of Trump’s effort to break the civil service.
• Called out the shortsighted mass firing of hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees.
• Demanded answers about the Trump Administration’s efforts to drastically cut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) budget and workforce. Read the letter.
• Requested answers on the firings of more than 1,000 VA employees. Read the letter.
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