Congressman Jamie Raskin, D-Md., 8th District, answered questions from Montgomery County constituents about federal actions during a phone town hall Thursday night. More than 15,000 people joined the call, according to the congressman.
Earlier this week, Raskin joined a Zoom with the Not Above the Law Coalition, which called on President Donald Trump to end his “authoritarian takeover of Washington, D.C.”
Tariffs
Among many questions from residents about rising cost of goods was one question inquiring about what, if anything, Democrats have planned to temper the quickly-rising prices due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Raskin mentioned the Truth in Tariffs Act that he introduced, but said there has not been any Republican support.
The good news, he said, is that a House Democratic task force is leading litigation to oppose the tariffs as “completely unconstitutional.” He said they recently saw victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
“So far, we are winning all the way on that,” said Raskin.
Immigration
There were also a number of questions about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity and the immigrant community.
“We are doing the best we can under a very trying circumstance,” Raskin said when it comes to helping immigrant families being separated and living in fear of ICE.
Raskin said he and his staff are in regular communication with affected residents, and that they stand ready to help with pending immigration applications and talk with constituents’ family members detained by ICE. “And there have been many of those,” he said.
Federal Employees
During live questions, a fired federal worker asked Raskin about resources. Raskin referenced the Rise Up Legal Defense Network, which provides free legal assistance to federal employees who were terminated under the Trump administration.
The Epstein Files
As the Epstein files saga continues after a Justice Department official was secretly recorded on camera saying that all Republican and conservative names would be heavily redacted from the documents, Raskin said he will release a report next week about how the Trump administration is dismantling funding for programs that fight human trafficking.
“We’re going to document how they’ve been taking apart the infrastructure that opposes human trafficking,” Raskin said. “That’s something where I think, again, I will be able to find bipartisan support.”
Is Congress Doing Enough?
One resident shared a belief that there is a lot of talk from Congress, but not much is being done to “deal with this president who continuously usurps the law.”
“When you say that Congress is doing nothing, I just hope you would amend that to say the congressional majority is doing nothing to stop Donald Trump,” Raskin said. “But some of us are doing everything in our power to stop Donald Trump.” Congress currently has a Republican majority.
