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Peter Welch: “I believe what the President did is unconstitutional. These…”

Featuring: Peter Welch, Democratic | U.S. Senate, Vermont

Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall

Published February 26, 2025 | Video Starts at 1:34:29

Well, thank you. And we're very aware of this. I want to say a couple of things. Number one, I believe what the President did is unconstitutional. These were specific appropriations made by Congress. And we don't have the. We don't have the power, especially in a minority, to change Trump's mind. And he's gleeful about all of all the damage that he's done with usaid. (1:34:29–1:34:37)

CLAIM

Asserts that the President's actions regarding USAID are unconstitutional due to specific Congressional appropriations.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Peter Welch

“We have a president who, since he took the oath of office, has been on what I can only characterize as a lawless rampage.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 39:47-39:56
“He has made it explicitly clear that the document he denounced or denied knowing anything about Project 2025 is absolutely the agenda of the…”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 39:55-40:08
“What Trump is doing right now is totally disregarding the appropriations decisions of the Congress. That is unconstitutional.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 40:16-40:26
“The other thing I'm seeing that's illegal and cruel are all these emails that go out to people that are working, whether it's USAID or our…”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 40:54-41:05
“We have Vermont farmers who, with the commitment of the federal government, signed a contract where, if they borrowed money to do…”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 41:32-41:50
“If [the Department of Education] is abolished, that means all that burden is going to come back to the property taxpayer in Vermont.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 41:39-1:23:00
“If [the Trump administration] want to change something and they claim it's better, they have to have a plan to make it better.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 41:39-1:23:20
“A person in the Judiciary Committee said if the president ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, that would be okay.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 42:09-42:20
“Trump has flipped sides and now we're basically supporting Putin, including firing people in the Justice Department whose job it was to run…”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 43:47-44:00
“We have a constitutional crisis in the making.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 44:29-44:32
“Two out of three folks in a nursing home, it's Medicaid.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 50:50-50:54
“We have a strike force number of them in the Senate among the Democrats, and I'm the head of the health care one with Tammy Baldwin.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 51:06-51:14
“They have fired 6,000 veterans for no reason.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 53:56-54:02
“Doge, run by Musk, who's had $38 billion in taxpayer subsidies.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 54:03-54:10
“The biggest threat to health care in access to health care is the cost of health care.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 59:26-59:32
“We in this country pay 3, 4, 5, 6 times what you pay for that same drug in Europe.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 59:38-59:45
“United Health Care is ripping off the taxpayer billions of dollars by requiring nurses and doctors to over diagnose people.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 59:47-59:58
“We've got a rig system in health care where some of these private actors are able to just charge whatever they want.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:00:05-1:00:13
“You terminate these grants, like to UVM for scientific research in institutions all around the country.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:03:35-1:03:43
“You fire people, like at the Department of Agriculture in Vermont Rural Development, and then they're gone.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:03:43-1:03:51
“Eight months later, a court says those people can come back or those grants shouldn't have been terminated.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:03:51-1:03:56
“The plan is to destroy these institutions.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:04:00-1:04:05
“Folks who need Social Security absolutely depend on that check every single month.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:04:14-1:04:19
“It's not on the level the way DOGE is operating.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:09:08-1:09:13
“If you're going to take a program, and I think we should look at everything from food programs to the Pentagon, can we do it better?”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:09:12-1:09:20
“What is happening with DOGE is they're sending out firing notices and that's the end of it.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:09:42-1:09:49
“We had a bipartisan agreement at the end of last year on a budget deal.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:16:49-1:16:55
“It included, for the first time, a reform of the pharmacy benefit manager rip off.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:16:56-1:17:03
“Trump, at the behest of Elon Musk, called up Mike Johnson, the speaker, and said, you got to kill that deal.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:17:04-1:17:12
“The Department of Education funding from that department and various programs...help keep our property taxes down.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:22:44-1:22:53
“Property taxpayers in Vermont are totally overstretched. It's brutal.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:22:59-1:23:04
“We have to respect the rights of everybody, everybody.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:29:36-1:29:42
“We're proud of our tradition in Vermont of doing that [respecting rights].”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:29:43-1:29:49
“It's appalling to me that so much of the rhetoric that comes out of the administration is about vilifying people.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:29:48-1:29:57
“Six thousand veterans have been fired and folks from the VA have been fired without any plan.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:32:35-1:32:42
“We have an enlistment rate that probably exceeds almost every other state.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:32:48-1:32:53
“A lot of folks think [USAID is] 20 or 30% of our budget. It's less than 1% of our budget.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:34:52-1:34:58
“Places where we're leaving now because of this order. China's moving right in.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:35:14-1:35:19
“Our democracy now is imperiled.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:48:25-1:48:29
“It is being imperiled because you have an autocratic oriented president who believes that he is above the law.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:48:36-1:48:45
“A very conservative Supreme Court that essentially said presidential actions are immune from prosecution.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:48:44-1:48:52
“Our Republican counterparts are exceeding the authority of the US Congress as an independent branch to the executive.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:48:57-1:49:05
“All the damage that's going to happen to us in Vermont if we lose Medicaid, that's going to happen everywhere.”
Vermont Congressional Delegation Telephone Town Town Hall | Uploaded February 26, 2025 | 1:49:27-1:49:34