Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s Statement on President Trump’s First 100 Days

Washington, DC – United States Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) released the following statement on the Administration’s first 100 days in office:

“The first 100 days of the Trump Administration have been chaotic, costly, created economic uncertainty, challenged our constitution, and weakened our institutions, alliances, and credibility.  During the campaign, the President promised that on day one that he would reduce inflation, end the war in Ukraine, bring home the hostages from Gaza, and support America’s working families.  Instead, he has failed to fulfill any of those promises, overwhelmed us with a deluge of executive orders, and tried to distract us from his failures by talking about stealing Greenland, annexing Canada, running for a third term, and more.  Although the most successful part of the Administration’s agenda, increasing immigration enforcement, has significantly reduced the flow of crossings at the southern border, his deportation policy has become mired in legal challenges by disregarding due process, administrative carelessness, and defying courts of law.  The President’s self-imposed, short-sighted, and sweeping tariff policies have hurt our economy and are set to raise prices even higher with retaliation from our trading partners.  By giving Elon Musk unbridled power to cut federal programs and jobs, the Administration has jeopardized vital services like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance, and scientific research.  Without a clear strategy in the Administration’s trade and foreign policies, our nation has pushed away our allies and created strategic opportunities for our adversaries.

“President Trump made his intentions abundantly clear during the campaign. However, his chaotic actions, including instituting massive tariffs, challenging our constitution and courts, continued cozying up to dictators, and pardoning January 6 rioters appear to have no long-term strategy, degraded our credibility, and led to a steady decline in his national polling numbers on all major issues over the past 100 days. 

“As I said from day one of this Administration, America’s system of checks and balances must flex its muscles. The courts don’t act as fast as the executive branch, but they continue to be the bulwark against the Administration’s overreach and violations of our Constitution.  Although the President has shown little interest in working with Congress to pass any long-term legislation, we will continue to work on bills that constrain the Administration’s destructive actions, investigate any abuses of power, and serve our constituents.  Over the past few decades, Congress has relinquished its authority to the executive branch on trade, commerce, agency oversight, and even warfare.  However, the actions of this Administration must be a wake-up call for Democrats and Republicans to come together and take back our constitutionally mandated power. But ultimately, as we have seen throughout the history of our nation, our democracy isn’t about one person, one court, or one legislative body.  It’s about the collective power of Americans.  The President’s first 100 days will not be anywhere near as important as the remaining 1360 days of his term, and why our system of checks and balances must stay strong, and we the people must stay together in our fight for our shared democratic values.”

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