By EMMA TUFO and JACK BOWMAN
ANNAPOLIS– The Maryland General Assembly just concluded its scheduled spring session, but Democratic leaders are already looking ahead to an uncertain future driven by President Donald Trump’s “chaos.”
In comments to reporters, Gov. Wes Moore boasted about the legislature’s accomplishments – stressing that Trump’s shadow still looms over them.
“You cannot talk about those things without acknowledging the chaos that is taking place in Washington, DC,” Moore told reporters.
Maryland could potentially lose the new FBI building it was supposed to get, while also facing stock market volatility and a tariff policy Moore described as a “national sales tax.”
“While I’m thankful for the progress we’ve made in this session, we know that protecting Marylanders, and caring for Marylanders and defending Marylanders does not happen over 90 days,” Moore said.
To prepare for the work they expect is ahead, lawmakers in the waning hours of the session announced the formation of a Joint Federal Action Oversight Committee. The bipartisan group will be tasked with monitoring the ripple effects of the federal government on Maryland.
Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, told reporters that lawmakers have spent this spring session bracing for external threats.
“We have been working this year to protect the state of Maryland against the draconian slash and burn actions of the Trump administration,” Ferguson said. “And with Elon Musk, who has been talking about efficiency, but really destroying Marylanders’ lives.”
Ferguson and other Democratic senators told reporters that Maryland will continue to be uniquely affected across a spectrum of concerns, ranging from the dismantling of federal agencies to the removal and detention of suspected illegal immigrants.
Fear of Trump and Musk’s plans also loomed large in the minds of Democrats on the Senate floor, as debate heated up in advance of Monday’s midnight deadline for adjournment.
In a conversation about how to help laid-off federal workers, Sen. Jim Rosapepe argued that it’s hard to work out cost estimates in the current political climate.
“It’s hard to estimate this because we don’t know how much damage Mr. Musk and his merry band are going to do,” said Rosapepe, a Democrat representing Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties.
Senate Republican Leader Stephen Hershey Jr., of the Eastern Shore, interrupted to say, “I know, you’ve said that a few times.”
Rosapepe raised his voice.
“That’s the important point here,” he said. “It’s unclear what these people in Washington are doing to our state.”
“We know it’s bad,” he said, “but we don’t know how bad it’s going to be.”
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