NEEDHAM, Mass. —
Having decades of experience on Capitol Hill, Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who has represented Massachusetts’ 8th Congressional District since 2001, has worked with several different presidents and their administrations during his tenure.
However, with recent foundational shifts in the federal government under President Donald Trump, Lynch shared the steps that he is taking in a time of rapid change.
Lynch, who is a member of the House Committee overseeing the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was asked what he thought of Trump’s decision to allow Elon Musk to take charge of the department as a “White House employee” and have the power to massively reduce the size of the federal government.
“We have 78 lawsuits going on in eleven different circuits in eight different states right now to stop the prohibition of federal grants, some of the layoffs and some of the access of information through the treasury payment systems,” Lynch said.
“We’ve been successful in terms of getting a temporary restraining order, but now those cases, many of them, have been appealed to the circuit court, so we’re still in that fight. We’re also working with some pro-democracy groups, they’re providing attorneys, and we are working together to try to defend the constitutional rights of individuals as well as some of the employee rights that federal employees enjoy.”
Lynch was also asked if the government should overall be reduced or filtered.
“Yes, every year we have the inspector’s general come before the oversight committee and tell us, ‘You’ve got big gaps here in government,'” Lynch said.
“In this most recent report we got, [the inspector general] found we need 3,000 more critical care employees at the Veterans Affairs (VA). Trump comes in and fires that guy, then he lays off another 1,000. We’re going to see the backlog of cases at the VA double as a result. That means veterans are waiting longer and longer to get care.”
When asked if DOGE was doing its intended job, Lynch said, “If I was a federal employee, after the government came in and fired everybody, I’m not so sure I would ever want to go back to work there again. The same thing has occurred in a bunch of other instances where they fired a bunch of people and had to hire them back. You can see the way they’re operating here is not logical. Trump has empowered Musk as an employee, and until he realizes the impact of his actions, he won’t stop.”
Lynch was asked if he thinks voters wanted massive cuts in the federal government when they voted for Trump.
“No, I don’t think they wanted to stop cancer research, stop Alzheimer’s research, lay off hundreds of FBI agents working on major cases that affect their safety. I don’t think they signed up for that,” Lynch said.
“I think they do agree there needs to be change; there needs to be a shakeup, but we have laws and we have a constitution. Unfortunately, the Republicans have the majority in the House and the Senate, that is why I am on a litigation working group because we are going to court to get the federal judges involved to make sure that Trump abides by the law. I think Republicans in Congress have really ceded their power to Trump.”
Lynch was also asked what he thought about Trump’s recent comments on Ukraine and his plan, following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, to end the war.
“Look at Trump’s latest statement that Ukraine started the war,” Lynch said. “All those Republican congressmen sat in classified briefings with me. We watched Putin bring his armored divisions from 4,000 miles away in Vladivostok to the border with Ukraine and then begin the assault. All those guys know that Ukraine did not start this war, but you hear nothing from them.”
Lynch, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023, has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. He is very critical of Putin and Trump’s plan to make an agreement with Putin to end the war.
“Russia had a plan in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, that they would carve out several regions in eastern Ukraine to first become independent and then eventually join Russia,” Lynch said.
“It seems like Trump is following that plan right now. I think Trump is negotiating a giveaway of those regions to Russia. That’s about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory. This has hurt us incredibly with our international allies and made us seem like an unreliable partner.”
Watch the entire TV segment here.
Recent Comments