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February 3, 2025

At CT chamber event, U.S. Rep. Courtney pans Trump administration's federal funding-freeze threat, tariffs 

Harriet Jones U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney speaking Jan. 31 at an Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce event.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn) described the reaction from his district to last week’s freeze on federal grants and loans as “an explosion.” 

He told an audience at an Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce event on Friday that some research programs, including many at UConn, still have their federal grants paused, even though the Trump administration rescinded the memo on the funding freeze.

“They’re doing really important work,” he said. “That’s staff, that’s graduate student employees that are just totally in limbo.”

He described the fight over federal dollars as “fundamental,” saying that the Trump administration is continuing to try to condition already-allocated funding on an abandonment of diversity, equity and inclusion principles, among other issues.

A memo from the federal government received by the Connecticut Department of Transportation last week says that it will try to link transportation funding to state policies on masks, vaccines, tolls and immigration enforcement, and will prioritize projects in communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average. 

“I had to read it twice to make sure I was reading it right,” Courtney said.

“Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution states very clearly that the power of the purse resides in the Congressional branch,” he said. “You cannot just reach back and change a law.”

But he described budget director nominee Russell Vought as a “true believer” when it comes to the power of the executive branch. “I think this issue is going all the way — it’s going all the way to the Supreme Court,” he said.

He predicts that tax cuts will be the top priority in the budget reconciliation bill that Republicans are working on at the moment, saying that Democrats have been shut out of negotiations over the legislation. But he also predicted that the GOP may have difficulty keeping its own caucus on board in the House if the bill contains provisions raising the debt ceiling.

Government funding is currently operating on a continuing resolution that’s due to end March 14, and Courtney believes that will be a pressure point for Democrats. 

“The fact is, just due to numbers, and due to math, at some point they’re going to have to come to our side, and we’re not going to be a cheap date,” he said.

He described the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which went into effect on Feb. 1, as “bizarre.” 

Courtney pointed out that Canada is the biggest supplier of uranium to the U.S. nuclear industry.

“Why are we going to add costs to the one sector of energy production that’s actually now starting to get some real political support?” he asked.
 

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