'Beyond comprehension': What Trump funding freeze could mean in CT for SNAP, non-profits and more
Gov. Ned Lamont said he was unsure which programs the order would affect but that his administration is bracing for major impacts, including to key programs providing health insurance and food assistance for needy residents.
"We hope it's not going to touch Medicaid, but we don't know. We hope it's not going to touch SNAP or WIC benefits, but we don't know," Lamont said. "All of our commissioners are doing the research right now to see what would be touched."
Richard Kay, a constitutional law professor at the University of Connecticut, said the order appears to violate both federal law and the U.S. constitution itself.
"I'm pretty cautious, usually, about making judgments ... but this one just seems pretty close to clearly unconstitutional to me," Kay said. "The President has no authority to essentially overrule the legislative judgment here."
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For what it's worth... Lamont has been less vocal in opposing Trump than others in his party over recent weeks, but said today that this time is different.
"I've told everybody, 'Relax, there's a lot of rhetoric that comes out of Washington, D.C., let's deal with it when it's real,'" Lamont said. "Now it's real."