Perez skips opportunity to point out lawlessness

Published 1:30 am Saturday, July 19, 2025

During her 2 1/2 years in Congress, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has aggressively placed the needs of her district ahead of partisan concerns. A new kerfuffle over education funding places those interests at odds and presents difficult questions about balancing local interests against party desires.

Perez, D-Skamania, ranks among the more conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives. She often has rejected party dogma, reflecting the interests of a congressional district that favored Donald Trump in three presidential elections.

So it is not surprising that Perez recently declined to sign a letter promoted by Rep. Marilyn Strickland, D-Tacoma. The letter demands answers from the Trump administration following the freezing of $7 billion in education funding nationwide, including $137 million meant for public schools in Washington. The money would be used to maintain after-school and English-learning programs, teacher development and family and student support.

As The Washington Post explains: “Trump’s Office of Management and Budget suggested that it needed to investigate whether any of the money has been used by school districts to fund a ‘radical left-wing agenda.’ The administration is investigating whether the funds have been used for purposes such as scholarships for undocumented immigrant students or teachings on LGBTQ topics.”

The administration said a final decision regarding funding has not been reached, but money was expected to be doled out July 1.

Strickland and six other representatives from Washington signed the letter, with Perez the lone Democratic holdout. The lawmakers wrote, “This pause is disruptive for public schools in our state and their ability to finalize budgets … teachers will lose access to the resources they need to encourage and empower student success in their classrooms.”

Many voters in Perez’s district likely share the administration’s concerns — however specious they may be — about a “radical left-wing agenda.” But Perez should recognize that such concerns are a secondary issue.

The more pressing topic is the fact that the money was approved by Congress in March through a continuing resolution that appropriated $45 billion to support K-12 education. It passed both chambers with almost no Democratic support (Perez voted “no”) and was signed into law by Trump.

Despite that, the administration is now withholding some of that funding. It is a dictatorial move that reflects Trump’s imperious approach to the presidency. He routinely has withheld funding approved by Congress in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, and he has demonstrated disdain for the checks and balances that are a hallmark of our republic.

As The Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberties organization, writes: “Ironically, this might be Trump’s greatest legacy: forcing Americans to learn what the Constitution actually says — by violating it. Unfortunately, Trump himself remains constitutionally illiterate.”

That is the issue that underlies education spending, and it is the reason that congressional members from both parties should speak out forcefully against a pause in that spending.

It is predictable — but shameful — that Washington’s two Republican members of Congress would avoid speaking out against the administration. But it is unconscionable that a Democratic member would not seize every opportunity to point out the lawlessness of the Trump White House — regardless of whether or not her constituents agree.