Special to the Sun
On Monday night, U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch of District 8 held a virtual town hall via both Zoom and YouTube that provided an opportunity for listeners to submit questions, which Lynch fielded live.
The more than 90-minute event covered how Lynch views the cost cutting activities by the current administration and possible impacts affecting Distract 8 and more broadly. As a member of the Litigation Working Group, Lynch is involved directly in measures being taken to assess the legality of actions by the Trump administration. Lynch believes that Social Security and Medicare are not likely to be impacted, however it is unclear whether Medicaid will be affected.
Medicaid for Massachusetts residents is currently funded 50/50 between the Federal government and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If Medicaid is touched, Lynch thinks the result could require the Commonwealth to shoulder a higher percent of the cost, a significant state burden and one not possible as an immediate solution, given the Commonwealth’s budgetary process.
Lynch also discussed the impact of tariffs on Canada as the increased cost of lumber will affect our housing costs, which in turn may affect the construction industry.
In response to constituent questions, Lynch touched on the impact of Federal cost cutting on the US Postal Service, which has already undertaken its own efficiency program cutting more than 100,000 employees since 1980 with increased automation, the various Veterans programs, which are already underfunded, and the loss of aviation oversight funding, another area already short on personnel. In response to concerns about citizens’ personal information being assessed by the DOGE employees, Lynch said that initial access given to several young DOGE employees without the proper security clearances has been stopped, hence avoiding a security breach.
Lynch shared that there is a movement underway among some Democrats to ask all Democrats in the House to arbitrarily vote against every bill introduced by Republicans. He is not sure this is a good idea, as every bill needs to be read carefully and assess whether it is a “good” bill or not for Lynch’s constituents and in general. As examples, two current bills being sponsored by Republicans would actually help add employees in the Veterans area and another support Federally funded health centers throughout the country.
The bottom line was summed up by Lynch’s replies to a few closing questions. When asked why Elon Musk cannot be stopped in his role as head of DOGE, Lynch explained since Musk has been retained as a Special Employee, much like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner who were hired in the same status during the first Trump administration, an employee status the president has the prerogative to use. Musk has been empowered to execute the directive to make the Federal government more efficient, which is not in and of itself illegal. However, Lynch explained that he and others are pushing back on the aggressive approach Musk is taking in every way that they can. When asked if President Trump has yet to do anything that was an impeachable offense, Lynch replied “no, not yet.”
Representative Lynch is planning to hold more Town Halls, both virtual and in person. With District 8 encompassing three cities and eighteen towns, he hopes to get to as many of these areas in person, as soon as “he has breathing room” from the pace that the current state of play in Washington has required to date. were hired in the same status during the first Trump administration, an employee status the president has the prerogative to use. Musk has been empowered to execute the directive to make the Federal government more efficient, which is not in and of itself illegal. However, Lynch explained that he and others are pushing back on the aggressive approach Musk is taking in every way that they can. When asked if President Trump has yet to do anything that was an impeachable offense, Lynch replied “no, not yet.”
Representative Lynch is planning to hold more Town Halls, both virtual and in person. With District 8 encompassing three cities and eighteen towns, he hopes to get to as many of these areas in person, as soon as “he has breathing room” from the pace that the current state of play in Washington has required to date.