PHOENIX — Arizona’s two Democratic congresswomen are taking a lesson from President Donald Trump and Project 2025.
U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva sat down with Arizonans on Saturday to hear their concerns about affordability and how lawmakers can fix them.
“It is critical for us to be thinking proactively and be ready to go on day one with the policies that we want to pass,” said Ansari, who represents Congressional District 3. “If there's one thing that I have learned from the Trump administration, is that they worked quickly and decisively, but to make life worse for people.”
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The Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups compiled Project 2025 ahead of Trump’s 2024 election win as a blueprint for his second term. The president and his administration have implemented as much as half of the document’s policies, according to groups that track it.
“Within six months of taking office, Donald Trump passed historic tax cuts for billionaires and corporations in this country, while taking away health care from 15 million Americans,” Ansari said. “They also handed $75 billion to ICE to have unprecedented food assistance cuts, so we should be doing the same as Democratic leaders when we have power to make life better.”
About 100 Arizonans met with Ansari and Grijalva on Saturday, the second of four sessions the donor network Way to Win is holding across the country to hear from voters about how high costs are affecting their families. Breaking into small groups, they discussed their concerns and brainstormed possible solutions, such as single-payer health care and using solar and wind energy to bring down utility costs.
“We need to make everything more affordable for working Americans, and we have the policies to do so,” Ansari said.
A focus on affordability
Going into the midterms, Democrats are focusing on affordability issues, such as the cost of housing, health care, and gas, in hopes of contrasting with Trump.
The president recently told reporters Americans’ financial concerns are not motivating him to reach a deal with Iran to end the war.
“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody,” he said Tuesday. “I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”
When asked about his remarks on Friday, Trump doubled down, telling Fox News it was “a perfect statement” that he would make again.
“It's very clear by his actions every single day that he does not care about Americans' financial situation,” Ansari said. “And the fact that he said it, I really hope is a wake-up call to so many people in this country that he really does not care.”
