Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said President Trump’s first week in office was filled with “crickets” from Democrats who he claims did very little to oppose new executive actions.
“I’ll be honest, this week there was more to destroy the rule of law than in trumps first term,” Kinzinger wrote in a Tuesday statement on the social media platform X.
“And I have no idea what the Democrats are doing to fight back. Or even saying,” he continued. “Crickets.”
Trump began deportation flights on military aircrafts, new orders for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and moved to deny birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants all in his first few days in the Oval Office.
Democratic attorneys general across the nation pushed back on the latter measure with a formal lawsuit. A federal judge to later blocked the order.
Fellow Democrats also shared their outrage over ICE raids, which one New Jersey mayor described as an effort for people to be “unlawfully terrorized.”
Trump’s own party members have acknowledged the swift action from the president but urged lawmakers to consider each action independently of others.
“You have to take each one of the actions separately. For me, I’ve asked for more information on the support or the legal ramifications of actually firing the individuals,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told The Hill in previous comments.
“I think the president wanted to hit the ground running and I think he really has a concern about a bureaucracy that could be in his way,” Rounds later added.
Some spoke out against Trump’s pardons for Capitol insurrectionists while officials questioned his decision to fire 17 independent inspector generals.
“I don’t understand why one would fire individuals whose mission it is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. This leaves a gap in what I know is a priority for President Trump. So I don’t understand it,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said while arriving at the Capitol for a Saturday morning vote.