'Defined by illegality': Congresswoman gives bleak synopsis of Trump's first days

Democrats nationally and in Florida have been cautious in responding to the barrage of executive orders and actions that Donald Trump has enacted in his first week-and-a-half as president.

But Tampa Bay area U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor had no qualms in blasting the president on Wednesday following the uproar over his decision to freeze federal funding on grant and loan programs, a move that has been already been blocked by one federal judge.

The White House did announce that it would rescind the order, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made it clear later on Wednesday that officials were only rolling back a controversial memo by the Office of Management and Budget.

“The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,” Leavitt wrote on X.

“Here we are just a week and a day into the Trump administration and it is being defined by illegality, by really stretching the boundaries of the law and the Constitution,” Castor said in a Zoom press call, referring specifically to the firing of more than a dozen inspectors general last weekend.

Castor’s statement appeared to part of a broader strategy.

The Democratic National Committee released a memo this week highlighting its message that Trump is concerned more about wealthier Americans than the working class, saying that they should highlight how he took the presidential oath at his inauguration last week with billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk standing right behind him.

A top priority for Trump will be to extend his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a measure that lowered tax rates for most Americans, before they expire at the end of 2025, but with much of the benefit going to wealthier people and companies.

Castor said the question coming up will be whether “our hard-earned tax dollars should go to fund tax cuts for billionaires or wealthy corporations, the folks who had a front-row seat at Trump’s inauguration, or do we believe that people should have affordable health care, that their children should be able to attend pre-school with qualified teachers … that veterans get the care that they have earned.”

Other Democrats weighed in, with U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz writing on X, “Americans voted for lower prices — not to cut off critical services to fund tax breaks for billionaires. Trump’s illegal federal funding freeze puts vital resources for states, cities, schools, hospitals, American families and businesses at risk.”

“Let’s be clear, Donald Trump and the WH want to confuse you! Why? Because they do want to take away your Medicare, Social Security, food assistance, FAFSA, and more! But they’re halfway walking it back because they only want to take these things away from you when you don’t notice. And yesterday you noticed,” U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost added.

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel said the freeze was “creating chaos, with unpredictable consequences for our economy and American families.”

“The freeze will raise costs for working people from housing to health care to prices at the grocery store. This action isn’t just dangerous, it’s also a lawless attack on our system of checks and balances.The Constitution is clear that President Trump cannot freeze this funding without Congressional approval,” Frankel said in a written statement.

Meanwhile, more Florida Democrats are holding public events criticizing some of the Trump administration’s early moves.

Wassermann Schultz and U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick held a news conference in Sunrise on Thursday to speak out on the federal funding freeze.