FIRST 100 DAYS

Lawmakers share thoughts on President Trump’s first 100 days

April 29 marks President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office.

The Morning Journal and News-Herald asked Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Bob Gibbs, Marcia Fudge, Dave Joyce and Jim Jordan their thoughts on those first 100 days of the new administration.

Trump’s proposed budget called for a complete elimination of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding. That decision was met with criticism from Ohio lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The president is “dead wrong” on that, Brown said, pledging to work with Democrats and Republicans to get it back. Portman agreed.

“I am strongly opposing his budget proposal to eliminate the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that has been critical to protecting Lake Erie,” Portman said.

Kaptur, D-Toledo, and Joyce, R-Russell Township, both represent communities along Lake Erie and both oppose the cuts. Joyce added he’s “not wild”

about other slashes to the budget, cutting what he called “vital” programs like Meals on Wheels, and Community Development Block Grants. Kaptur and Fudge, D-Warrensville Heights, were also critical of Trump’s proposed budget.

“Trump’s budget proposal causes me to reflect on something Vice President Joe Biden said, ‘show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.’ Well, President Trump’s budget apparently doesn’t value the people of Ohio,” Kaptur said.

While Joyce did not like the cuts in the budget, he said he liked the administration’s efforts to rebuild the military and “the decisive action to deal with the Syrian chemical attacks.”

Portman, Joyce and Jordan, R-Urbana, agreed on the president nominating Neil Gorsuch to become the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Jordan called Gorsuch a “committed constitutionalist” and Portman called Gorsuch “exceptionally well-qualified.”

“That is a transformational victory, which will have an impact for 30 years and beyond,” Joyce said.

Jordan and Gibbs, RLakeville, both noted Trump has loosened regulations on energy production, a point they support.

“The president has also taken the first steps to end Obama’s War on Coal,” Gibbs said. “Government should not pick winners and losers, and a trusted energy source like coal deserves a fair chance to be an energy leader. By ensuring a level-playing field for coal miners, President Trump is saving jobs and restoring energy security to the United States.”

Those representatives also said they want to work with the president to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

President Trump “has begun to loosen Obamacare’s regulatory stranglehold,” Jordan said.

“We need to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a patient-centered plan that will reduce the cost of premiums for everyday Americans,” Jordan said.

Kaptur dissented from that analysis.

“The president’s health care proposal would have decimated rural and urban health care systems in Ohio; it was just haphazard,” she said. “We need to repair and improve the Affordable Care Act, not spend precious time trying to turn backward.”

Brown said Trump has made a lot of promises to Ohio workers when it comes to trade, adding withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a good start.

“I’ve spoken with the president and his team about everything from Buy America rules to China’s cheating on steel, and I’m glad to see the White House is taking steps to re-examine our trade deals,” he said. But studies won’t create jobs — we need action to crack down on cheaters and put American workers first.”

Kaptur’s and Fudge’s assessments of Trump’s first 100 days were the harshest. Kaptur said his time in the White House has been “a lot of talk and little action.” Fudge said the first 100 days have been a series of “failures and scandals.”

“They’ve been nothing more than an ongoing attempt to destroy the legacy of President Barack Obama and put into place policies that make the rich richer,” Fudge added.

Joyce said we elect presidents to four-year terms, not 100-day terms.

“For me, I would rather the administration get it right than go fast on everything,” he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE President Donald Trump listens as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks at the Treasury Department in Washington on April 21. Trump’s 100th day in office is April 29.

PATRICK SEMANSKY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Crowds fill in the National Mall in Washington before the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the Untied States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration.

SUSAN WALSH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE President Donald Trump waves in front of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner while visiting the Boeing South Carolina facility in North Charleston, S.C.