Many Connecticut voters are expressing disapproval over the new Department of Government Efficiency (formerly United States Digital Service) and the department's leader, Elon Musk.
Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democrat representing Eastern Connecticut towns, including Groton, New London and Enfield, said his office received an influx of calls starting on Jan. 20.
Courtney’s communications director said his office received over 9,000 emails and phone calls during former President Joe Biden’s first month in office.
That’s compared to over 20,000 calls and emails Courtney’s office received during the first month of Trump’s second term. Courtney says his district is feeling the impact of the administration.
“There’s still new initiatives that have been going out from the Trump White House through DOGE that have hit hard in the Second Congressional District,” Courtney said. “Eastern Connecticut by far has the highest number of non-military civilian federal employees.”
The Naval Submarine Base in New London employs many veterans and civilians in the Department of Defense, Courtney said.
Courtney also spoke out against the proposed cuts to Medicaid.
“I used to do Medicaid budgets when I was in Hartford years ago, and that’s like a third of the funding stream that comes into the state.”
Connecticut resident, Lorra Jorden, said her son with disabilities relies on Medicaid for resources and accommodations. However, Jorden is worried that cuts to Medicaid could impact the Department of Developmental Services.
“Medicaid funds, Connecticut DDS, Department of Developmental Services, which in turn, helps my son,” Jorden said.
A recent study by the Connecticut Department of Social Services found the developmental disabilities sector is severely underfunded.
“There's almost like a tsunami of young adults, like my son, fresh out of high school, with higher needs,” Jorden said. “I'm talking about the higher needs population coming into the system. Where will they go? Where will they live? What will happen to them when we parents are no longer here?”
Other Connecticut residents like Ann Gruden, advisor and retired co-founder of the Ferret Association of Connecticut, are concerned about the impact federal cuts will have on environmental programs. Gruden stated data on ferrets the association relied on was removed during the first Trump administration.
“It was information on animals that were being used in laboratory research,” Gruden said. “It just disappeared. It was no longer there. When the Biden administration came back, that information came back out again.”
Recent cuts have now put the black-footed ferret conservation program in the United States on the line, Gruden warned.
Gruden said it is strange that Musk can make decisions without security clearances. “As far as I'm concerned, he has no business in there,” Gruden said.
Kwame Housey, a public school cafeteria supervisor, expressed similar concerns as Gruden. Housey questioned how Musk got into a high-security position, “We didn’t elect you to work for the President, and that’s what’s going on?”
However, Housey, a Black American, believes all history should be taught.
A page of the White House's website says schools are educating children in “radical, anti-American ideologies,” making children feel obligated to identify as either a victim or an oppressor because of their race.
Brushing over American history and acting as if certain parts did not happen is not helpful, Housey warned.
“They need to keep those curriculums in there, and let these kids learn about this whole thing, about racism in slavery,” Housey said. “Slavery that went on for years and years, and you're trying to make it seem like it didn't happen? No, it happened.”
Exasperated, Housey said, “This is people’s lives that he’s messing with the world.”
“It leaves us vulnerable, and it also leaves us vulnerable to other nations taking the lead ahead of us. We have been a leader. That removed our standing in the world,” Gruden said.
