Vice President Vance needs to 'go back to grade school,' Rep. Jayapal says

February 11, 2025 / 3:55 pm

caption: Pramila Jayapal United States Congresswoman talks with KUOW host of Soundside, Libby Denkmann. Seattle, November 6, 2024

Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal says that the Trump administration's defiance of judicial orders is another step toward the president's ultimate goal of "the destruction of our democracy and our Constitution."

"I think that is the giant concern in front of us right now, especially when you have the vice president indicating that we don't need to listen to the judicial branch," Jayapal (D-Seattle) told KUOW's Soundside. "Clearly, he is somebody who needs to go back to grade school, because every fifth grader knows that there are three branches of government in our democracy, articulated in our Constitution. And what dictators and authoritarians do when they get into power is they sideline those other checks and balances that exist, and they seize control of all the institutions."

Jayapal represents Washington's 7th Congressional District, covering Seattle and Vashon Island. While speaking with Soundside host Libby Denkmann, she argued the Trump administration has quickly undermined congressional and judicial powers. The administration is cracking down on the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, while attempting to nix USAID and the Department of Education. To get much of this done, the administration has frozen federal funding. Jayapal said only Congress has the ability to control federal spending and authorize such arms of the government.

Much of this action is being done via presidential executive order and memos, outside of the legislative process. Despite multiple judges ruling against the Trump administration's orders freezing federal funds, the administration has not complied and freed up the funding. Vice President JD Vance recently responded by suggesting that courts do not have the authority to check the executive branch.

If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal.

If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal.

Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 9, 2025

"And that is where I think Americans should realize that the Republicans in Congress, both in the House and the Senate, who are saying it's no big deal when JD Vance says we don't need to listen to the judicial branch, that they are giving license to and actively encouraging the destruction of our democracy and our Constitution," Jayapal said.

Jayapal continued to argue the Trump administration's tactic of creating chaos through constant controversy, aka "flood the zone," is part of a larger plan to allow billionaires to game the system.

"It's difficult to separate all of these things out, but they do have a singular goal of destroying the checks and balances that we have, of putting billionaires in charge of the federal government at the cost of average Americans, and the prices that average Americans are going to pay, or the wages they're going to earn, and essentially creating an authoritarian state," Jayapal said.

Listen to Rep. Jayapal's full conversation with Soundside by clicking the audio above.