Maine Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree on Tuesday blasted the Trump Administration in the wake of a series of funding freezes and other changes handed down by executive orders.

Many of those orders, she said, ignore proper procedures and overstep the authority of the presidency.

“I don’t think any of us expected this last two weeks of chaos and illegal activity,” she said. “I just want to say that people are panicked.”

Speaking in Portland, Pingree voiced concern about the new Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, an unelected official unconfirmed by Congress. 

Musk, Pingree said, plans to cut $2 billion from the government’s budget, which she said will hurt Americans.

“I know as well as anyone, people love to hear about government spending cuts because they think the government spends too much, but when they think about those cuts, they don’t think it’s going to come to farmers, or to school lunch programs, or to daycare,” she said.

The House Appropriations Committee, of which Pingree is a member, is struggling to navigate where it can spend the government’s money.

“We are just in the middle of a daily lawless amount of chaos and confusion from the executive branch that really is trying to take over the government responsibility of funding,” she said. 

KENNEDY CAUSES CONCERN

Pingree said she believes that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, will be confirmed. 

She said she agrees with his concerns that Americans are eating too much ultra-processed food, and that the government could do more to help people find healthier options. 

She added, however, that Kennedy is incapable of running the department, citing among other criticisms his lack of understanding of key differences between Medicare and Medicaid. 

“Some of his conspiracy theories and his inability to understand basic science worries me greatly,” she said.

Pingree said she also worried that the administration was coming after education next. Trump has said he wanted to eliminate the Department of Education altogether, and Pingree noted that Maine received $60 million in federal funding for Title I education last year alone.

Pingree said, there are 20 lawsuits underway, levied by state attorneys general and various nonprofits, against 11 of Trump’s executive orders. She said she expects pushback against Trump will continue.

“We’re going to continue to see the bluster and the chaos, this blatantly unconstitutional illegal activity and we’re doing to do everything we can to fight back for the people of Maine,” she said. 

Spectrum News has reached out the Maine Republican Party for a response to Pingree’s comment.