What’s at Risk: Climate, Justice, and Small Business

Ed Markey: Trump said to the oil and gas industry that if they raised $1 billion for him in his campaign in 2024, he would dismantle the entire clean energy revolution in our country. Of course, the Republican paradox is that they don't believe in government, but they have to run for office in order to make sure the government doesn't work. So what animates me every day is what Trump is trying to do to undermine all of these programs that make it possible for those kids on the streets of a blue collar community need, in order for them to maximize their God given abilities.

Dan Koh: Senator Markey. Welcome to the People's Cabinet. It's great to be with you. 

Ed Markey: It's great to see you again, Dan. Thank you. 

Dan Koh: Senator, you've been at this a long time, and you've seen a lot of crazy stuff, I'm sure, on Capitol Hill in DC. My first question to you is, you know, as people are trying to contextualize Trump part two, have you ever seen anything like this?

Ed Markey: No. Of course, the Republican paradox is that they don't believe in government, but they have to run for office in order to make sure the government doesn't work. So now they control the House, the Senate and the presidency. And Trump has arrived with a plan and handed over the keys initially to Elon Musk and Doge to go in to completely and totally destroy the Environmental Protection Agency, to dismantle the Department of Education, and to go agency by agency and by agency, to undermine, if not eliminate, the very programs which the Republicans had always historically opposed. So they do have an ancient animosity towards Medicare, towards Medicaid, towards Social Security, towards all these programs that they initially had voted against, and they were waiting for their moment where they could dismantle them and then return that money to millionaires and billionaires who, from their perspective, are unjustifiably being asked to subsidize ordinary families in our country for their health care and educational and environmental needs. So, no, this is the worst. We're at the bottom, and I'm not even sure that they're not going to lift up the sewer cover and go down even deeper into their attempts to undermine these programs, which have been central to transforming our nation over the last two generations.

Dan Koh: And you were elected to the House in 1978. Is that correct?

Ed Markey: So 1976.

Dan Koh: 1970, 1976. And you obviously are a huge believer in the legislative branch being a co-equal branch of government. Part of this podcast is to make sure people understand, you know how DC works, demystifying all the fancy jargon. And so can you just give a little overview of how the legislative branch should be acting regardless of party, should be acting as a co-equal branch to the executive now, and what is actually happening?

Ed Markey: Well, I have hundreds of laws that I'm the author, and in each instance, with one major exception, I had to find Republicans to partner with me. And then out of the legislative process, those bills passed. And obviously Republicans had to make concessions to me, a Democrat, and I had to make some concessions to Republicans as well. But that bill then stood as a consensus. It stood as something that had been agreed upon by the Congress. And then the president in almost every instance, then signed the bill, which made it a law. There's one instance where I was able to override a veto of a president. That was a bill that created the 18 inch satellite dish, but it was the only veto override of George Herbert Walker Bush's entire term. He opposed that action. So that's broken down when the whole debate is between Chip Roy, the most conservative Republican imaginable, and quote unquote, moderate Republicans that don't want to cut Medicaid or other programs as deeply as the right wing MAGA Republicans want to. That just leaves Democrats out of the equation, out of the discussion. And that is not how our country has been operating for generations. And Trump is encouraging it. It's my way or the highway. That's the way he views the way in which our government should be operating. But ultimately, it's going to, in fact, inflict great pain upon our country because it will not be a consensus. It'll just be something that is pretty much imposed by Republicans upon the country, across the board, every agency, every program. And ultimately that will collapse because it's not sustainable if it's not bipartisan.

Dan Koh: And what's your message to Republicans, both Senate and the House, who should be doing the things that you're saying?

Ed Markey: Well, ultimately, um, they should try to make our government work, which is the promise they were making outside a supermarket, shaking hands with voters back in their home states when they were running. That's how the American people want to see our government operate. And right now, uh, they are ignoring the wishes of those voters, those constituents, uh, those constituents do not want dramatic cuts to educational funding to clean air and clean water and safe land protections. Uh, they don't want to see a dismantlement of the Department of Education title one money which goes into the schools that need extra help for students or or funding for kids that need a little extra help because they may have some learning disabilities that need to have some extra funding, which is going in to those programs. Those voters who gave Trump a shot last November, but they did not sign up for that kind of draconian dismantlement of programs that have worked for generations. And so that's where the Republicans are going off the rails. And if they don't stop, they're going to run into one of the biggest political waves we've ever seen in 2026, because those programs are at the heart of what serves blue collar working families all across our country. They qualify for Medicaid. They qualify for these title one funding, funding for education going into their schools. They qualify for each and every one of the protections which they are seeking to undermine, and those voters that, for better or worse, Democrats did not speak well, um, to successfully in 2024, they're going to come back in droves. Uh, because they will now see that it was all about the billionaires, uh, in the first place. Okay. It was all about dismantling the programs that helped the, the the ordinary families, the blue collar families, the working families in our country.

Dan Koh: Speaking of 2026, you've announced you're running again. Um, there's been a lot of talk, uh, in the Democratic Party and just in general about age, about, um, different races that are happening. I'm curious what your thoughts on that. And you've been very vocal about saying it's the age of your ideas, not your numerical age. So I'm curious in your thoughts and your message to people who are concerned about your age in general and just not necessarily about the age of your ideas, but just the realities of being an older person and health, uh, involved.

Ed Markey: Yeah. Well, you know, from my perspective, Div. I'm like Paul McCartney. I just keep on rocking. And Donald Trump gets me up every day. And he is absolutely producing in me an energy level that I've never had before, just fighting him as he seeks to dismantle all of those programs. And by the way, I would say the same thing is true about Bernie Sanders and others who are up and fighting and providing leadership for our nation. I live in Malden. It's a blue collar community just north of Boston. Uh, and last year at Malden High School, um, only one quarter of the graduates were white students. All the rest came from the minority community. And I still live in Malden. Uh, Cory Booker and I are the two senators that live in gateway communities in the United States Senate. So I know how privileged I am to be able to have the opportunities which I was given, even though my father drove a truck for the Hood Milk Company. So what animates me every day is what Trump is trying to do to undermine all of these programs that make it possible for those kids on the streets of a blue collar community like Malden, uh, need in order for them to maximize their God given abilities. So Trump is bringing out the Malden in me every day. He's bringing out the fight in me. And, uh, and it's something that I bring into every single hearing, every single debate that we have here in the United States Senate.

Dan Koh: Speaking of, one of the ideas that is very appealing to young people is Climate and Green New Deal. You were obviously a leader out in front with representative Ocasio-Cortez. One of the things that I think Democrats could use help on is that there's a lot of conversation about slogans and message, but there isn't a lot, I feel, at least done to really explain to the average voter how these things are affecting their daily lives. So can you just talk a little bit more about the Green New Deal itself, how an average voter who maybe know the name but don't know what was in it, how it would affect them, and how they should think about it in the era of Trump.

Ed Markey: What Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I did in drafting the Green New Deal and introducing it in February of 2019, was to lay out a plan for transforming our energy system in our country from this fossil fuel agenda, uh, which led to pollution, cancers, asthma, uh, and was blocking a transition to wind and solar and all electric vehicles and battery storage technologies. So we set out a very ambitious goal to make this transformation in our country. It ultimately resulted in the IRA, uh, passing in 2022. It's called the IRA. I would call it the biggest climate bill in the history of the world, which is what it was unleashing, uh, about $1 trillion worth of public spending, which was going to unleash, uh, 3 to $4 trillion worth of private sector.

Dan Koh: And can you talk about maybe like, 2 or 3 things that people may not realize is in that bill that would have big implications for someone listening?

Ed Markey: Well, it has for the first time, and which is something that we were very concerned about, environmental justice, money. Uh, it has $65 billion that would go to communities that historically have been victimized by the fossil fuel industry, historically victimized by the, um, the harm which is done, especially in the poorer in the working class communities when industries move in.

Dan Koh: And is there one that comes to mind for you when you think about that?

Ed Markey: Well, when when I was a boy growing up, the Malden River was three blocks from my house. I still live in Malden. The Malden River is three blocks from my house. When I said to my mother I wanted to swim in the Malden River, my mother said, Eddie, whatever you do, never swim in the Malden River because the chemical companies, the rubber companies, the coal companies had used them all in the river as a dumping ground in Ward two in Malden. Uh, my mother would say, don't swim in the Malden River. And it had a kind of a pretty Jimi Hendrix purple haze over it. Um, the river was black. Uh, and so that's our goal. Our goal in the bill was to say no. Finally intersectional. We have to make sure that we are intentional in putting in the funding that is going to clean up all of these fossil fuel era legacy, uh, damages that are done to communities that are, that are poor in our society, that's brand new. That had never happened before. But on top of that, we also talked about the need to have health care for everyone, to have a high quality education available to everyone that we needed to block and break up monopolies that were harming families, that were harming competition in our nation. So, to a very large extent, the Green New Deal changed the whole discussion in the Democratic Party about those issues that we should be focusing upon. And to a certain extent, it's all going to be on the table in 2026. And I'm very confident that our vision of talking about, yes, a cleaner environment, but also housing, education, breaking up monopolies, making sure that there's opportunities for everyone, regardless of income, regardless of race is going to be a very powerful and winning message in 2026.

Dan Koh: Climate is an issue that I think transcends states. It transcends, you know, blue districts, red districts, ET cetera. So I'm curious, as people think about what climate issues or legislation is on the chopping block now that's like very tangible to their communities. What are the things that you say? Here are some of the things that I would be very concerned about under a Trump administration. And here's what you should be doing right now to help fight back.

Ed Markey: Well, you know, Trump said to the oil and gas industry that if they raised $1 billion for him in his campaign in 2024, he would dismantle the entire clean energy revolution in our country, meaning all tax breaks for solar fall, wind, for all electric vehicles, for battery storage technologies, that he would kill the offshore wind industry, which he is committed to doing off the coast of Massachusetts, but all the way from Maine down to Virginia. And why is he doing it? He's doing it so that more natural gas pipelines would have to be built into communities that otherwise would have their own indigenous resources of wind, of solar, of battery technologies that could make a transition to a clean economy. Now millions of jobs will be created if we continue down that pathway. And interestingly, 80% of all of the funding thus far since 2022 has gone to red states. It's unleashed 400,000 new jobs and $400 billion worth of investment. That's just the first two years. It's a ten year program. And so they're afraid of that. In the oil and gas industry. They can see this transition that we've made, but it's going to ultimately pay a huge price that will be borne by by ordinary families. There'll be higher levels of asthma if they're successful, higher levels of cancer if they're successful, higher prices for energy. If Trump and his buddies are successful, and there'll be a couple of million fewer jobs that will have been created, that could have been the next generation's not just job, but a career in clean energy technology that they're trying to destroy. And by the way, they're trying to do the same thing in the biotech industry by undermining the research in that industry as well, and handing both of those industries to clean energy and the biotech industry over with a big bow on it. Over to the Chinese. They're in a state of disbelief right now that we would dismantle the industries. That should be those that we're focused upon for the job creation of the 21st century.

Dan Koh: Another issue that I'd like to talk to you about, especially in this era of Trump, is civil liberties. And it's an area that you've been out very out front on. Um, Rümeysa Öztürk, uh, who was detained, uh, in Somerville, I believe. Um, there has been a lot of calls for evidence as to why she was. Um, so far, only an op ed has been proven as justification for that, which obviously isn't justification at a macro level. You've been very outspoken about this. You went and visited her when she was transferred to Louisiana. you were able to help lead the fight for her to return. I want to understand where your motivation for this comes from. There are a lot of issues out there, especially in Massachusetts. This is not a voting citizen. And not to say that we shouldn't treat people who can't vote as as not people we need to take care of in our states. But it felt to me at least, that this was something that was more than just about a voting constituent. It was something that was more inherent to who you were. So I just wanted to give you the chance to talk about that.

Ed Markey: Well, Rümeysa is a graduate student, is a graduate student at Tufts University, 30 years old, a Fulbright scholar from Turkey who wrote an op ed with several others in the Tufts undergraduate newspaper. And based upon that, the Trump administration determined that she was a threat to our country and put her in handcuffs and ultimately in shackles, moved to to Vermont and then ultimately to a prison for women 100 miles outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the most conservative circuit court of appeals in the United States, which is rubber stamping all of this.

Dan Koh: And can you just elaborate. A little bit for a listener who may not understand how that works, why that was strategic for the Trump administration?

Ed Markey: It's strategic because they wanted to get them out. They wanted to remove Romney from Massachusetts and Vermont, where the judges would probably be more responsive to an argument that her First Amendment rights of free speech, that her Fifth Amendment rights of due process were being violated. And so that's why I went down to the prison to go and visit her, along with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Congressman Jim McGovern. And visiting her in this prison was very powerful.

Dan Koh: And by the way, were they hospitable to you visiting or how did how do you logistically set that kind of thing up, especially being a Democratic senator with a Republican president who would help facilitate. This.

Ed Markey: Well, we were fortunate because, uh, Congressman Bennie Thompson of the House Homeland Security Committee cooperated with us and used his power as well in order to ensure that they opened up this prison to us so that we could visit and visit the prisoners. Um, and, uh, and there was definitely a reluctance on the part of this private prison that exists in Louisiana to have a congressional delegation come in to inspect what they're doing. And again, with Promesa, uh, they weren't providing her with the, the food that, um, that, uh, her religion, uh, was required, you know, for her to be eating, um, when some, when some of the prisoners were requesting blankets at night because it was too cold, they weren't providing them to them with regard to medical care. There is a big delay down there in terms of these women getting the medical care which they which they deserve. So it helped. I think all of us do to be able to put a spotlight on what's happening. Uh, and then just, um, a couple of weeks ago, we were able to greet Roma at Logan Airport, uh, because they they had not charged with the crime in 45 days. They had not produced any evidence in 45 days. And I think, thankfully, for a lot of people in our country, they were glad that the spotlight had been put upon this because they realized that could happen to them as well in the Trump era, that there could be a curtailment of their Fifth Amendment due process rights, that there could be a curtailment of their First Amendment rights of free speech, and that Trump was weaponizing, um, his government to go after people who he considered to be threats to the country, but without any evidence. So for me, it was it was a powerful, um, experience. Uh, Rümeysa was picked up off the streets just a couple of miles from my house in Malden, right over in Somerville. So I took this very personally. But I also knew that it was something that was a part of a much larger story in our country. And the more that we could focus upon her is, the more we could tell that story to the whole country.

Dan Koh: I know that she's spoken out somewhat in a press conference about this, but I'm curious, and I'm not asking you to share private details that she wouldn't want you to. But I think we often and I think the Trump administration specializes in trying to dehumanize people in general. Has she talked to you a little bit about how scary it probably must have been for her to all of a sudden be apprehended? She was basically on campus right at the time it happened. Um, and just having no idea what was going on.

Ed Markey: They never showed her the warrant. She asked at every juncture for her to be able to call her a lawyer to find out what her rights were. They would not allow her to do that. They were denying her fundamental due process rights that are in the Constitution. So she was frightened. She told us that even when they asked her her name, she was afraid to even give it to them. She was afraid at many points that she might actually be killed. So that was a good example of how callous, how indifferent this administration is as they as they empower six law enforcement officials wearing masks to pick up a young woman who's a graduate student off of the streets of Somerville and without any information given to her or to her lawyers, just whisk her away to a remote part of Louisiana. So for for me, meeting Rümeysa, seeing how strong her spirit continued to be, how courageous she is, um, made her a perfect example for all Americans of why we have to be fighting back against this authoritarian instinct, which the Trump administration is trying to bring to our entire country. We cannot have people walking around our nation afraid that their government can act in such an arbitrary and capricious way.

Dan Koh: Has it altered? And again, you may not know this, but has it altered her perspective on the United States at all through this experience? And secondly, have they produced any more evidence other than this op ed as justification?

Ed Markey: They have produced no additional information. And she still loves America. She loves Americans. When she returns to Logan Airport, all of her friends from Tufts, all of her, all of her mentors as she's writing her thesis, by the way. Her thesis is on how social media can be used positively for children. If anything is not a threat to democracy, a threat to the security of our nation. It's what she is writing her thesis on. So she loves her friend. She loves her community in Somerville. She loves Tufts. She loves her professors, her friends, her fellow students. And so she is still in love with America, but not with the Trump administration, and not what they're trying to do to terrorize not only her, but people like her all across our nation.

Dan Koh: I think the Trump administration has been doing that's been hurting the countries around small business and tariffs, the implications of tariffs on small business. I should say you're the ranking member of the Small Business Committee. I first want to start, um, with you just talking about what you're hearing from business owners directly about this. And then what you've been proposing as to try to make that better?

Ed Markey: Well, I'm I'm listening to small businesses all across Massachusetts and all across the country. And uniformly, they are terrified by Trump's tariff regime. Uh, 97% of all, uh, of the businesses that engage in trade or small businesses, and that constitutes 30% of all trade in our nation. And a larger business, a larger company, they might be able to ride out for a year. The uncertainty of the tariffs. But for a small business, they they live week to week, month to month. They can't have that kind of cloud over them indefinitely.

Dan Koh: And can you give an example to I think a lot of people don't fully appreciate how tariffs will affect a small business. Maybe just an example of the kind of materials they bring in or what have you that hurts their bottom line.

Ed Markey: Well, if you're a small business, a toy store. And I met with one of those companies last week. And and you are importing toys from all around the world. And there are different tariffs now imposed, 10%, 30%. That's dramatically raises the price of those toys. It raises the cost of doing business for that small business on Main Street America. Because you're importing that. From because they're importing from overseas. And there is no substitute in America for that same toy that people are used to walking in and being able to purchase at that small, that small business. And so for them, um, they just have to make a decision as to how big of a risk they want to take. Long term. Should they borrow money in order to make up for this extra tax that's being imposed upon all of those products that they were able to put on their counter shelves to sell in America, but are now much more expensive. Because for small business, that's a big decision to make, to take on more debt in order to make it through a tariff war where they have no idea when it's going to end, if it ends at all. So the most vulnerable businesses in America are small businesses, which is why I have a bill which would exempt small businesses from the tariffs. And the National Chamber of Commerce is saying that small businesses should be exempt. It's not often when Ed Markey from Massachusetts and the National Chamber of Commerce agree on something. So I'm bringing out onto the Senate floor the bill to give the Republicans an opportunity to vote for it, to protect small businesses. You know, a lot of times it's just crocodile tears that they're shedding. So I'll give them a chance to show how much they do care about small businesses, because the National Chamber of Commerce and representing pretty much every chamber of commerce across the country, realizes that this could be an existential threat to small businesses. It could be an extinction event to the most vulnerable small businesses with no benefit to them in the short term or even necessarily in the long term. And they are the ones who will pay the price by losing their ability to even exist as a business.

Dan Koh: What's curious about this is that, you know, this isn't some the implications for these tariffs isn't like some districts or some states where, you know, there's a big industry that's affected just in Massachusetts, but not necessarily in Georgia or some other place. Every single district has small businesses, every single district, uh, have small businesses who are affected by these tariffs. So in many ways, I think the bill that you're proposing almost forces Republicans and Democrats alike to take a side right between the small businesses in their districts and President Trump, where do you think these Republicans are going to land on that?

Ed Markey: I don't know, because Trump is conducting this big economic experiment that ultimately has the risk borne disproportionately by small businesses. And you are right. This 330 million people in America, and it's 33 million small businesses. There's a small business for every ten people in our country. And those small businesses aren't like the Nasdaq or S&P 500 or Dow companies, which you see. No, they don't have that kind of capital. They don't have that kind of ability to ride out a longer economic war. So so I'm going to give these Republicans a chance to vote to protect them, you know, let the big companies fight it out with China or with other countries, but not these small businesses. They're just not ready for a sustained Of economic pain to be inflicted upon them, and I don't know how Republicans are going to vote. I hope that they vote with us, but at the same time, they've disappointed me. Since Inauguration Day for Donald Trump back on January 20th. I keep waiting for Republicans of conscience to turn into Republicans of courage. Will they stand up? Will they fight? Will they see something as fundamentally wrong? And there's nothing more wrong than this burden that's being imposed upon 33 million small businesses all across the country, and they should be exempted from that battle. Let the big companies who say that they are being unfairly treated in the global trade war. But but again, I'm not confident that they'll have the courage to cast a vote to protect those small businesses.

Dan Koh: Last year, I last year, excuse me, that I want to talk to you about is democratic messaging. And so, as you know, at the 100 day mark, President Trump's approval rating was the lowest of any president in modern history. The only group that seems to be getting low approval ratings, however, are the Democratic Party in general. Some polls have it at 27% or even less. Um, there's been a lot of criticism about Democrats not having a message. Uh, when you were, uh, reelected last, uh, in a primary challenge, I think the consensus was that you were, uh, you were very strong in your message about why you wanted to be reelected. You talked a lot about climate. You talked a lot about, um, issues that identified, especially with young people and got people fired up. So how do we get out of this current situation that we are in as Democrats, where it would feel like there is a momentum against what President Trump is doing statistically, but there seems to be a lack of consensus around a message. And in your answer, I'm curious on like the kind of labels that people like talk about progressive versus not progressive, centrist versus not. You have taken some issues and really push them forward that I think some would perceive as progressive. I think you've also had many positions that people would see as more moderate. So I'm curious in your perspective on how we move forward as a party together?

Ed Markey: Right. Well, you know, the Republicans in Donald Trump, they're they're running on this umbrella message. There's too much waste and fraud and corruption inside of the federal government. And they ran on that last year. That problem is that you have to then go to the specifics of where you think the waste and fraud and corruption is. So what the Republicans are saying is it's in the Medicaid program. 50% of all children in the United States are on Medicaid, 70% of all people in nursing homes, half of them with Alzheimer's are on Medicaid. Uh, between, uh, women, infant and children and and and Snap programs, 50% of all children in the United States will be. Will be receiving food assistance at some point of their lives. The EPA, if it's taken off the beat, we'll just see a return to dirty air and water. You know, across our country. So they may say broadly that there's something wrong. But when they get into the specifics, the public by 65%, 70, 75% is saying, no, don't touch those programs. They help my family. And and you could just go all the way down the line, including small businesses or education programs that that are central to people's social mobility, their sense of well-being. So I'm from Malden. I know that I got to be a United States senator, um, in not because I work harder than my father who drove a truck for the Hood Milk Company. Not because I'm smarter than my mother who didn't go to college, but who could do calculus for fun? At the kitchen table, they just didn't get the opportunities. So to the extent to which these opportunities are now being shredded, uh, that that families are very much dependent upon because those programs really help a lot of those families who left the Democratic Party or did not even get off the couch last year to vote. So what I'm seeing is a reanimation of an interest in politics. Uh, I led a march of 100,000 people from Boston Common over to Boston City Hall Mall just in the beginning of April. I had 1500 people in Malden, 750 people out in Pittsfield, 750 people in Northampton. This is a growing movement that is going to absolutely see turnout for a rejection of Donald Trump hit historic highs. And if the Republicans don't stop, then that rejection is going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. But on top of defending all the old programs, we need new programs to that. We're going to be talking about housing, access to education, where the new jobs are going to be created in our country. And all of that is is the responsibility of the Democratic Party, not just in defending these programs that Trump is trying to take off the books, but also having a positive vision for where our country has to go in the 21st century. And that's going to be our challenge. And if we meet it, then I think that Trump, um, control of the House and Senate is going to be very short lived.

Dan Koh: Of of that positive vision. Are there like 2 or 3 of those that come top of mind that you say, like, this is what we should all be behind and pushing out?

Ed Markey: Without question, we need to even make, um, access to, um, to Pell Grants broader for for young people to have access to the schools. And we should also broaden that out, that it can be used for vocational, it can be used for programs that are part of what this generation is really interested in. We should see an expansion of the of the loan programs for small businesses that they can expand. Young, young people want to, you know, take advantage of of the opportunities which they have been given to. But capital is very much, um, sometimes difficult for them to gain access to. Uh, I think that ultimately even Medicaid, Social Security, uh, can be expanded. Um, working with Bernie Sanders, who have been calling for Medicare for all so that there can be a broader, um, access to the health care system in our nation as well. So there are issues that I think if we put out there that They'll. They'll excite young people. Unfortunately, fewer young people by far voted in 2024 than in 2020. I don't think there was enough discussion about climate change. I don't think there was enough discussion about clean energy technologies creating jobs by the millions while simultaneously solving an existential threat to the planet, greenhouse gases, and the consequent harm that they're doing to our planet. So it gives us a chance to have a positive vision going forward. And if we do it, I'm very confident that we will have a resounding victory in 2026. But it's still all on the Democratic Party to wage this fight every single day to block his draconian cuts, but then to present that positive vision of what a better America would look like.

Dan Koh: My last question to you is you had you just made a reference to the 100,000 people, and especially the hands off my Medicaid rallies and the things that we saw in not just Massachusetts, but everywhere in the country, was maybe the first time. I think people are starting to see tangible physical demonstrations in their communities that felt like it wasn't there right after the election. Those are people who are excited and are taking action. My question to you is, what is your message to the people who still feel scared to do anything? They're feeling really disaffected after the outcome of the election, or even the voter who maybe voted for Trump this time, who had voted for Biden last time, who is now just kind of reconsidering their decision but still kind of doesn't have faith in the system.

Ed Markey: Well, when we see the lowest level of consumer confidence in a generation, those are the voters that we're talking about. When we see those who could be affected now by a 70% chance of a recession, those are the people. Those are the jobs that could be lost. When we see a dismantlement of the environmental protections, It's going to be largely those voters, not the suburban well-off, but those voters in communities that did decide to give Trump a chance. So our message to them has to be one of of protection, but also opportunity for them and their family. They want to have the same chance for a future as as I had as you had when I ran for the Senate in 2013. My father's from Lawrence, Massachusetts, which right up where you're from, and I decided to ring the doorbell at 88 Phillips Street, a triple decker three family in South Lawrence at 88 Phillip Street. See who lives there now. My father and his four brothers and sisters, and my grandmother and grandfather worked there in the mills of. My parents. Too. And I rang the doorbell and out on to the steps came a Dominican American family with their children. And the accents were different, but the aspiration is the same for the Dominican family as for the Marchi family. And we have to protect that sense of opportunity for every family on every porch. That might have just felt that maybe it wasn't worth voting in 2024. And I think if we I think if we continue to build upon this fighting spirit that the Democratic Party has shown in the first 100 days, and we deliver a positive message of where our country should go, then I think Trump's control of the of the troika of all three House, Senate and presidency is going to be very short lived.

Dan Koh: Senator Markey, thank you for coming on the people's Cabinet. Great to be with you. 

Ed Markey: Thank you. 

Dan Koh: I'm Dan Koh and that's it for the people's Cabinet today. Follow us on social media, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and see you on Tuesdays for new episodes. Let's Go.