K-ZONE WPKZ FM105.3/AM 1280

Your Hometown Radio

listen nowLISTEN NOW
listen nowLISTEN NOW
K-Zone Studio Line 978.348.1280

Republicans

Trump says he expects to be arrested, calls for protest

by

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, JILL COLVIN and ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that his arrest is imminent and issued an extraordinary call for his supporters to protest as a New York grand jury investigates hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president.

Even as Trump’s lawyer and spokesperson said there had been no communication from prosecutors, Trump declared in a post on his social media platform that he expects to be taken into custody on Tuesday.

His message seemed designed to preempt a formal announcement from prosecutors and to galvanize outrage from his base of supporters in advance of widely anticipated charges. Within hours, his campaign was sending fundraising solicitations to his supporters, while influential Republicans in Congress and even some declared and potential rival candidates issued statements in his defense.

In a later post that went beyond simply exhorting loyalists to protest about his legal peril, the 2024 presidential candidate directed his overarching ire in all capital letters at the Biden administration and raised the prospect of civil unrest: “IT’S TIME!!!” he wrote. “WE JUST CAN’T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”

It all evoked, in foreboding ways, the rhetoric he used shortly before the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. After hearing from the then-president at a Washington rally that morning, his supporters marched to the Capitol and tried to stop the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s White House victory, breaking through doors and windows of the building and leaving officers beaten and bloodied.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg is thought to be eyeing charges in the hush money investigation, and recently offered Trump a chance to testify before the grand jury. Local law enforcement officials are bracing for the public safety ramifications of an unprecedented prosecution of a former American president.

In an internal email following Trump’s statements, Bragg said law enforcement would ensure that the 1,600 people who work in his office would remain safe, and that “any specific or credible threats” would be investigated.

“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” he wrote, and added: “In the meantime, as with all of our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, and speak publicly only when appropriate.”

There has been no public announcement of any time frame for the grand jury’s secret work in the case. At least one additional witness is expected to testify, further indicating that no vote to indict has yet been taken, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to publicly discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

That did not stop Trump from taking to his social media platform to say “illegal leaks” from Bragg’s office indicate that “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.”

A Trump lawyer, Susan Necheles, said Trump’s post was “based on the media reports,” and a spokesperson said there had been “no notification” from Bragg’s office, though the origin of Trump’s Tuesday reference was unclear. The district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Trump’s aides and legal team have been preparing for the possibility of an indictment. Should that happen, he would be arrested only if he refused to surrender. Trump’s lawyers have previously said he would follow normal procedure, meaning he would likely agree to surrender at a New York Police Department precinct or directly to Bragg’s office.

It is unclear whether Trump’s supporters would heed his protest call or if he retains the same persuasive power he held as president. Trump’s posts on Truth Social generally receive far less attention than he used to get on Twitter, but he maintains a deeply loyal base. The aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, in which hundreds of Trump loyalists were arrested and prosecuted in federal court, may also have dampened the passion among supporters for confrontation.

The indictment of Trump, 76, would be an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.

Even as Trump pursues his latest White House campaign — his first rally is set for Waco, Texas, later this month and he shook hands and took selfies with fans during a public appearance Saturday evening at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma — there is no question an indictment would be a distraction and give fodder to opponents and critics tired of the legal scandals that have long enveloped him.

Besides the hush money inquiry in New York, Trump faces separate criminal investigations in Atlanta and Washington over his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election.

A Justice Department special counsel has also been presenting evidence before a grand jury investigating Trump’s possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate. It is not clear when those investigations will end or whether they might result in criminal charges, but they will continue regardless of what happens in New York, underscoring the ongoing gravity – and broad geographic scope – of the legal challenges facing the former president.

Trump’s post Saturday echoes one made last summer when he broke the news on Truth Social that the FBI was searching his Florida home as part of an investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents.

News of that search sparked a flood of contributions to Trump’s political operation, and on Saturday, Trump sent out a series of fundraising emails to his supporters, including one that claimed, “I’m not worried in the slightest.”

After his post, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy decried any plans to prosecute Trump as an “outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA” whom he claimed was pursuing “political vengeance.” Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, issued a statement with a similar sentiment.

The grand jury has been hearing from witnesses, including former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who says he orchestrated payments in 2016 to two women to silence them about sexual encounters they said they had with Trump a decade earlier.

Trump denies the encounters occurred, says he did nothing wrong and has cast the investigation as a “witch hunt” by a Democratic prosecutor bent on sabotaging the Republican’s 2024 campaign. Trump also has labeled Bragg, who is Black, a “racist” and has accused the prosecutor of letting crime in the city run amok while he has focused on Trump. New York remains one of the safest cities in the country.

Bragg’s office has apparently been examining whether any state laws were broken in connection with the payments or the way Trump’s company compensated Cohen for his work to keep the women’s allegations quiet.

Porn actor Stormy Daniels and at least two former Trump aides — onetime political adviser Kellyanne Conway and former spokesperson Hope Hicks — are among witnesses who have met with prosecutors in recent weeks.

Cohen has said that at Trump’s direction, he arranged payments totaling $280,000 to Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. According to Cohen, the payouts were to buy their silence about Trump, who was then in the thick of his first presidential campaign.

Cohen and federal prosecutors said Trump’s company paid him $420,000 as reimbursement for the $130,000 payment to Daniels and to cover bonuses and other supposed expenses. The company classified those payments internally as legal expenses. The $150,000 payment to McDougal was made by the then-publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer, which kept her story from coming to light.

Federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute the Enquirer’s corporate parent in exchange for its cooperation in a campaign finance investigation that led to charges against Cohen in 2018. Prosecutors said the payments to Daniels and McDougal amounted to impermissible, unrecorded gifts to Trump’s election effort.

Cohen pleaded guilty, served prison time and was disbarred. Federal prosecutors never charged Trump with any crime.

News that law enforcement agencies were preparing for a possible indictment was first reported by NBC News.

___

Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Colleen Long in Washington, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina and Sean Murphy in Tulsa, Oklahoma — contributed to this report.

MassGOP picks Amy Carnevale to steer party’s future

by

Massachusetts Republicans nearly stuck with party chairman Jim Lyons for another two-year term, despite disastrous election results over his four-year tenure, but instead narrowly decided Tuesday night to give Amy Carnevale a shot at running the shrinking party.

Members of the Republican State Committee voted 37-34 to pick Carnevale as the MassGOP’s next top leader, placing the job of restoring the Grand Old Party’s diminished influence on Beacon Hill and among voters in the hands of a longtime lobbyist and former Capitol Hill staffer.

Republicans needed two rounds of voting to make a final decision after no candidate earned the needed 37 votes on the first ballot, according to POLITICO, a reflection of the tense fight that had played out in the weeks and months leading up to the leadership shuffle.

“Congratulations are in order for the newest chair of the party, Amy @CarnevaleMHD!” the official MassGOP account tweeted Tuesday night. “Best of luck to Amy, a very capable leader, who will work to unite the MassGOP!”

The vote boots Lyons, a former state representative and conservative hard-liner, from the party chair role after a four-year stint during which he repeatedly clashed with popular moderate Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and fellow state committee members.

In that span, the Republican super-minority in the House and Senate shrunk even smaller, the party’s finances fell into disarray, and Democrats seized back the corner office with the election of Gov. Maura Healey, giving them trifecta control atop Beacon Hill.

Carnevale spent a decade working for former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, a Washington Republican who entered office in 1995 after unseating House Speaker Tom Foley, eventually as his chief of staff.

Since 2005, she has worked in both state and federal government affairs for K&L Gates, an influential firm, according to her LinkedIn. Baker appointed Carnevale to the Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disability in 2017.

The Boston Globe reported that Carnevale pitched fellow state committee members Tuesday on rebuilding and professionalizing the party’s operations.

“By every metric, we are failing,” Carnevale said, according to the Globe. “For the sake of the conservative policies we advocate, our remaining officeholders, members of our party, and future candidates, we need a fresh start.”

Like Lyons, who made his vocal and repeated support of former President Donald Trump a central theme of his chairmanship, Carnevale was a backer of the Republican president. She helped campaign for Trump in 2016 and praised him during his time in office.

She condemned the violent Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn President Joe Biden’s election, calling the intrusion “a serious crime” and arguing that Trump “should have made absolutely clear that he was committed to the orderly transfer of power.”

Carnevale criticized Lyons’s approach as chair, telling talk show personality Howie Carr in December that he was “a distraction to Republicans running for office and a hindrance to raising money.”

Methuen billboard targets Lori Trahan after she recalled her support for term-limit pledge

by

LOWELL — U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan is in the spotlight for having “reneged on her promise” to support term limits, according to one political advocacy group.

The organization, U.S. Term Limits, recently contracted a billboard in Methuen on Interstate 93 at 55 Hampshire Road that reads, “Rep. Lori Trahan is breaking her U.S. term limits pledge.”

That pledge, which the group sends out to candidates for Congress, is a commitment to support an amendment that would limit House terms to three terms and Senate terms to two, according to their website.

About 133 federal legislators have signed the pledge, including 113 in the House and 20 in the Senate, said Nick Tomboulides, executive director of U.S. Term Limits.

Trahan, who recently began her third term representing the 3rd Congressional District, signed the pledge in 2018, while she was first running for Congress in the Democratic primary, but now views that support as somewhat of a mistake.

“I ran for Congress because I thought Washington wasn’t working and wanted to make things better,” Trahan wrote in a statement. “I honored my pledge in my first term and cosponsored this legislation. Now that I’ve learned more, I have chosen not to continue cosponsoring a bad bill.”

The current proposed legislation, reintroduced this term by U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, states that representatives should be limited to three two-year terms, or six years, and senators to two six-year terms, or 12 years, and no longer limits.

Instituting congressional term limits requires an amendment to the Constitution, meaning it needs two-thirds support in the House and Senate.

The potential amendment has attracted 58 co-sponsors, all but one of whom are Republicans.

The goal of the billboard is to inform voters that Trahan is “not keeping her word” and is an effort toward “public accountability,” Tomboulides said.

Tomboulides, who describes himself as an independent, said he’s “puzzled” by that party divide, since the vast majority of Americans, both Democrat and Republican, support term limits.

“I think perhaps what they don’t realize is this is a super unique issue,” Tomboulides said. “It’s the most popular bipartisan issue in the country, so it should be viewed differently, I think, than everything else up there on the hill.”

About 82% of Americans support term limits for senators and representatives, according to a 2016 Quinnipiac University poll.

Tomboulides said U.S. Term Limits is “totally nonpartisan,” but its superPAC counterpart does not appear to be. In the 2018 and 2022 election season, Term Limits SuperPAC spent a total of $555,855 against Democratic candidates and $202,353 in support of Republican candidates, according to OpenSecrets. The PAC spent no money for Democrats or against Republicans, according to that data.

The PAC is “a separate entity” from the advocacy organization, Tomboulides said, and he could not speak to those decisions. He said the PAC had endorsed a progressive Democrat in Texas, but The Sun could not find evidence to confirm that claim.

While she is not against term limits, Trahan stated that efforts to call her out lack context.

“I think term limits of some length make sense, but I will not be bullied by a partisan group to continue supporting a proposal that is too rigid and would make it harder to get results for working families like the one I grew up in,” she wrote. “I remain committed to enacting reforms that will finally make government work better.”

U.S. Term Limits also recently put up a similar billboard in San Francisco against U.S. Rep. Young Kim, R-California, who apparently broke the pledge as well.

Philip Blumel, president of the organization, wrote in a statement that he hopes “Rep. Trahan has a change of heart and decides to keep her promise.”

“Lori Trahan made a promise to the voters of her district to support the U.S. Term Limits amendment,” Blumel stated. “Yet, once she was elected, she decided to ignore the promise she made to her constituents.”

Term limits allow underrepresented groups, including women, to be elected, Tomboulides said, bringing “new ideas, new faces” to the table. It also allows constituents to establish stronger connections with their representatives, who will not be tied to lobbyists and special interests, he added.

“Ordinary people can run for office and win when a seat is open. Nobody really has a shot at challenging an incumbent who’s been there for 20 or 30 years, that person is just too powerful and has too much money,” Tomboulides said. “Term limits, it brings down the barriers to entry and allows more people to run for office.”

MassGOP chair under fire over alleged illegal probe of Maura Healey

by

MassGOP Treasurer Patrick Crowley said the party is now on the hook for a $52,467 payment, racked up as part of Chairman Jim Lyons’ alleged investigation into the governor’s personal life.

Crowley also provided emails to committee members — obtained by the Herald Wednesday — that he has alleged indicate Lyons may have violated state law in the process.

In an email to committee members, also obtained by the Herald, Crowley said documentation provided by private investigations firm STIRM group proved that Lyons had hired the firm to conduct opposition research into Healey, a Democrat, during the gubernatorial campaign.

Lyons, according to a demand letter that was sent to him by the firm, had also been working closely with Anthony Nader, chairman of the Mass Freedom Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee, in apparent violation of state law, which prohibits parties from working with PACs in any fashion.

“Attached is the information I received from the STIRM group regarding the bill for $52,467,” Crowley wrote. “While there is no signed engagement letter, in my opinion this information shows that Jim Lyons, as chair of the MA GOP, hired the STIRM group to conduct opposition research as outlined in the invoice and demand letter.”

As a result of this finding, Crowley said he amended MassGOP’s year-end Office of Campaign & Political Finance report “to show this as an outstanding liability.”

According to a demand letter from the firm, STIRM group “expended over 232 hours in services,” as part of the investigation into Healey’s purported romantic relationships with two state employees during her time as attorney general, but MassGOP made no payments.

Crowley informed committee members last week that he had reported Lyons to state authorities for potential violations of campaign finance laws.

State law prohibits parties from working with political action committees. According to a Herald columnist, Lyons was aware of these restrictions; he had sought an opinion from the OCPF last February regarding the legality of these interactions and was told they were prohibited.

Lyons did not respond to a phone call seeking comment, but is shown to have been in contact with STIRM representatives and Nader in the months leading up to the election, the emails allege. Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl lost to Healey in a landslide.

“Most disturbingly, Chairman Lyons has directed STIRM group to seek payment of its outstanding amounts from Anthony Nader,” wrote George J. Nader, the firm’s counsel. “Anthony Nader has refused to answer any calls or emails from STIRM group.”

Crowley, who Lyons sued last year for control of the party’s bank account, did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Healey declined comment.

Lyons faces at least five challengers in his bid for re-election as party chair. Committee members will vote on the leadership position Jan. 31 at Apex Entertainment in Marlboro.

McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote

by

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot early Saturday, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and floor tensions that boiled over after a chaotic week that tested the new GOP majority’s ability to govern.

“My father always told me, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” McCarthy told cheering fellow Republicans.

Eager to confront President Joe Biden and the Democrats, he promised subpoenas and investigations. “Now the hard work begins,” the California Republican declared. He credited former President Donald Trump for standing with him and for making late calls “helping get those final votes.”

Republicans roared in celebration when his victory was announced, chanting “USA! USA!”

Finally elected, McCarthy took the oath of office, and the House was finally able to swear in newly elected lawmakers who had been waiting all week for the chamber to formally open and the 2023-24 session to begin.

After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus.

He fell one vote short on the 14th ballot, and the chamber became raucous, unruly.

McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Republican Matt Gaetz, sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and violence apparently just averted.

At one point, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama, shouting, approached Gaetz before another Republican, Richard Hudson of North Carolina, physically pulled him back.

“Stay civil!” someone shouted.

Order restored, the Republicans fell in line to give McCarthy the post he had fought so hard to gain, House speaker, second in the line of succession to the presidency.

The few remaining Republican holdouts began voting present, dropping the tally he needed. It was the end of a bitter standoff that had shown the strengths and fragility of American democracy.

The tally was 216-212 with Democrats voting for leader Hakeem Jeffries, and six Republican holdouts to McCarthy simply voting present.

The night’s stunning turn of events came after McCarthy agreed to many of the detractors’ demands — including the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office.

Even as McCarthy secured the votes he needs, he will emerge as a weakened speaker, having given away some powers and constantly under the threat of being booted by his detractors.

But he could also be emboldened as a survivor of one of the more brutal fights for the gavel in U.S. history. Not since the Civil War era has a speaker’s vote dragged through so many rounds of voting.

The showdown that has stymied the new Congress came against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which shook the country when a mob of Trump’s supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the Republican’s 2020 election defeat to Biden.

At a Capitol event Friday, some lawmakers, all but one of them Democrats, observed a moment of silence and praised officers who helped protect Congress on that day. And at the White House, Biden handed out medals to officers and others who fought the attackers.

“America is a land of laws, not chaos,” he said.

At the afternoon speaker’s vote, a number of Republicans tiring of the spectacle temporarily walked out when one of McCarthy’s most ardent challengers, Gaetz, railed against the GOP leader.

Contours of a deal with conservative holdouts who had been blocking McCarthy’s rise had emerged the night before, and took hold after four dismal days and 14 failed votes in an intraparty standoff unseen in modern times.

One significant former holdout — Republican Scott Perry, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who had been a leader of Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election — tweeted after his switched vote for McCarthy, “We’re at a turning point.”

Trump may have played a role in swaying some holdouts — calling into a meeting of Republican freshmen the night before, and calling other members ahead of voting. He had urged Republicans to wrap up their public dispute.

As Republican Mike Garcia of California nominated McCarthy on an earlier ballot Friday, he also thanked the U.S. Capitol Police, who were given a standing ovation for protecting lawmakers and the legislative seat of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021.

But in nominating the Democratic leader Jeffries, Democrat Jim Clyburn of South Carolina recalled the horror of that day. “The eyes of the country are on us today,” he told his colleagues.

Electing a speaker is normally an easy, joyous task for a party that has just won majority control. But not this time: About 200 Republicans were stymied by 20 far-right colleagues who said McCarthy was not conservative enough. Only the 12th ballot on Friday afternoon did McCarthy start making gains, flipping their votes to support.

The House adjourned Friday until late in the night, giving time for last-minute negotiations and allowing two absent Republican colleagues to return to Washington.

The disorganized start to the new Congress pointed to difficulties ahead with Republicans now in control of the House, much the way that some past Republican speakers, including John Boehner, had trouble leading a rebellious right flank. The result: government shutdowns, standoffs and Boehner’s early retirement when conservatives threatened to oust him.

The agreement McCarthy presented to the holdouts from the Freedom Caucus and others centers around rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting and passing legislation.

At the core of the emerging deal was the reinstatement of a House rule that would allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” essentially calling a vote to oust the speaker. McCarthy had resisted allowing a return to the longstanding rule that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi had done away with, because it had been held over the head of Boehner. But it appears McCarthy had no other choice.

Other wins for the holdouts are more obscure and include provisions in the proposed deal to expand the number of seats available on the House Rules Committee; to mandate 72 hours for bills to be posted before votes; and to promise to try for a constitutional amendment that would impose federal limits on the number of terms a person could serve in the House and Senate.

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking and video journalists Nathan Ellgren and Mike Pesoli contributed to this report.

Lori Trahan celebrates passage of Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Reauthorization Act

by

The U.S. has long faced a mental health crisis, a problem that has been exacerbated in recent years, in part because of COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.

Often stigmatized, it can prove difficult for those that struggle with their mental health to find the necessary resources or support. But now, through the latest renewal of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, Congress has taken a significant step toward addressing that crisis and advancing mental healthcare.

Since its inception, the GLSMA — named for the son of former Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, Garrett Lee Smith, who died by suicide in 2004 — has provided federal funds to community-based programs that focus on suicide prevention and mental health. Part of the omnibus package signed into law by President Joe Biden last Friday, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Reauthorization Act is set to “renew and strengthen” that commitment amid the ever-growing crisis.

Under the bill, the federal government is able to award up to $71 million annually to help states and nonprofits with youth suicide prevention efforts. As part of that $71 million, $50 million is for state and tribal grants, $12 million is for campus grants and $9 million will go toward the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, (D, MA-03), who helped introduce the legislation, called the GLSMRA a “top priority, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Later, she celebrated its inclusion and passage as part of the omnibus and thanked both the Senate and House of Representatives for the “near-unanimous support” of the measure.

“We were already behind the eight-ball as far as mental healthcare was concerned before COVID — and the pandemic has only made the crisis worse,” Trahan said. “We have an obligation to meet this moment with urgency, with comprehensive solutions and resources that our children need — and (GLSMA) programs have a long track record of success in communities across our country.”

“I couldn’t be more grateful for the near-unanimous support we had every step of the way, culminating in the legislation being included in the omnibus that was signed into law by President Biden,” she said.

With GLSMA funding set to expire on Dec. 31, Trahan said it was “critical” the legislation be extended. The reauthorization push began in March and, spearheaded by Trahan and Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, WA-05), Young Kim (R, CA-39) and Cindy Axne (D, IA-03). The legislation passed through the House as part of a larger mental health and addiction package in June.

While it had stalled in the Senate, the GLSMRA would later pass through the chamber as part of the year-end omnibus last week.

Trahan stressed the effectiveness of GLSMA-funded programs and said such “science-backed investments” would be crucial to the future of mental health and mental healthcare across the country.

“When [programs funded by the GLSMA] are implemented on the local level, they save lives,” she said. “These are the kind of science-backed investments that need to be made and that we need to continue to make in the future as the country’s mental health crisis reaches a real tipping point.”

“The pandemic has exacerbated our need to focus on mental health and wellness, mental healthcare, so it was a no-brainer to push for these programs and call to attention how effective they can be. Letting [the GLSMA] expire wasn’t an option,” Trahan said.

In the future, Trahan said she would like to see Congress push for “longer-term strategies” to address mental health and mental healthcare. She reiterated, however, that the passage of the GLSMRA was a win for those that have struggled or continue to struggle with their mental health.

Trahan also declared that, as long as she should serve in Congress, she would continue to fight for positive mental healthcare-related legislation.

“I can sleep easier knowing that [GLSMRA] programs are at work in our communities, that people in need can receive adequate care or be directed to the proper resources,” Trahan said. “But we can’t stop there, we have to make sure we’re not only intervening when issues arise but that we continue to fund prevention programs and get out in front of these issues with longer-term strategies.”

“I’m going to continue to fight [for mental healthcare-related legislation] for as long as I’m in Washington because I don’t see any other issue that rises to a level of more importance than that, especially with our younger kids,” she said.