Adriano Espaillat Slams Trump Over 'Illegal Power Grabs,' Demands Congress Hold Admin Accountable

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During remarks on the House floor last week, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) railed against President Donald Trump's agenda, and called out House Republicans for not pushing back.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to the Trump administration's illegal power

00:13grabs. Through executive orders, the Trump administration continues to circumvent

00:20Congress and violate the checks and balances of our three branches of government. He also

00:29continues to ignore court orders, including from the highest court in the land, the U.S.

00:36Supreme Court, inching every day closer and closer to a constitutional crisis. Mr. Speaker,

00:46in addition, Senate and House Republicans have made it clear time and time again that they have

00:53no interest in holding the president accountable to the American people and the Constitution

00:59of the United States of America. Leaving the judicial branches of government as our strongest

01:05tool, leaving the courts as our only hope. Within hours of taking office, President Trump issued

01:16an executive order that would have unlawfully denied birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed

01:23to everyone born in America by the 14th Amendment. He did this, although this principle has been

01:30affirmed by the courts on numerous occasions. Currently, the courts have halted this executive

01:37order, citing how unconstitutional it is. More than 200 Democrats filed an amicus brief against this

01:46executive order when it was challenged in court. This attempt has been successfully halted.

01:53In February, over a dozen religious organizations filed a lawsuit. These organizations sued the Homeland Security

02:07Administration, rescinded guidance that would prevent immigration enforcement in sensitive locations,

02:15groups like schools, hospitals, and houses of worship. Let's get this. You could be praying at a church

02:25or in a synagogue, in a temple, and immigration enforcement could bust in as you pray to your God

02:35to arrest somebody. They tried to implement this aggressive practice, and yet people have gone to the courts

02:47for relief. This echoes my own bill, H.R. 1061, Protective Sensitive Locations Act, which will codify the

02:57Biden-era guidance. More than 70 of our Democratic colleagues have joined to support this legislation.

03:05Democrats have been hard-working to support ongoing legal cases by joining our amicus brief.

03:14When the Trump administration tried to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency that provides

03:21relief to consumers, 200 Democrats filed an amicus brief when it went to court. The amicus brief was cited by the

03:29judge in its decision, pausing the dismantling of this important bureau. Mr. Speaker, after one of Trump's latest

03:41crackdown on scientific research and universities, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the administration,

03:48arguing that its freezing of research funding is unconstitutional and flatly unlawful.

03:57Although undocumented families and small businesses were explicitly encouraged for decades by government

04:06administration and legal counsel to come forward and pay their taxes through the ITIN numbers, the Trump administration

04:15is now trying to target this data to carry out his mass deportation plan. This is not just an immigration issue.

04:25This is a privacy issue. Taxpayer privacy is key to our democracy.

04:34That's why, as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I led the CHC in an amicus brief on this legislation.

04:42More than 100 Democrats have signed in. It is clear, through his action and his words, that President Trump has no interest

04:52in upholding the Constitution and granting every American due process that they are owed. There has been a long-standing

05:02tradition of underrepresented communities resorting to the judicial system when all else has failed to hold large

05:11larger, richer, and more powerful entities accountable. We must continue the fight to uphold the right-to-do process.

05:22We must fight to continue to hold the Trump administration accountable. We must preserve our system of checks and

05:31balances. Not to do so would damage the balance of power and permanently fracture our democracy.

05:41Mr. Speaker, I yield back. The gentleman yields back. The chair now can recognize the gentleman from

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