BOSTON — Washington, D.C. can some weeks seem like its own world 450 miles south of the Hub of the Universe — a place Beacon Hill can turn up its nose at for being more plainly partisan and political.
This was not one of those weeks.
Nope, last week delivered a near-complete fusion of federal and state storylines that played out through the middle of the week in both D.C. and Boston with central roles for all the big players: President Donald Trump, Gov. Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Seth Meyers, you name it.
Massachusetts is in a sticky spot and state government is beginning to grapple with the consequences, including the potential that some of the $16 billion of federal money baked into the state budget is no longer a sure thing — a problem that might require a significant legislative lift to deal with, if the state can deal with it at all. There were immediate and concrete examples last week too, like the U.S. Small Business Administration yanking its office out of Boston to “support President Trump’s agenda to secure our borders.”
About two-thirds of voters here disapprove of the job Trump is doing early in his second term and Bay State Democrats make no bones about their dislike of the president and his ideas. At the same time, Trump’s administration clearly disapproves of how things are run in Massachusetts, and in Boston in particular.
And the president also seems intent on using and even testing the limits of broad presidential powers to take action against places like Massachusetts that are not aligned with his administration’s political aims.
“Democrats sitting before me, for just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America, for the good of our nation? Let’s work together and let’s truly make America great again. Every day my administration is fighting to deliver the change America needs to bring a future America deserves and we’re doing it,” Trump said in a call to join the bandwagon during his Tuesday-night speech to Congress, before detailing some of the controversial executive actions his administration has taken since January.
He added, “What I have just described is only a small fraction of the commonsense revolution that is now because of us sweeping the entire world. Common sense has become a common theme, and we will never go back. Never, never going to let that happen.”
A few hours earlier, Wu made clear that she does not want Boston to go in the same direction as Trump and drew direct contrasts between her administration and his.
“We are a city that throws open the doors of opportunity for all of our residents, at a time when this administration in the White House is slamming them shut. … We are the city where people come to do good in the world, at a time when this administration seems dead set on the opposite,” the mayor said during a press conference Tuesday. “We’re a city that opens our arms and offers a hand, when this administration is more interested in turning its back.”
Wu was called before a U.S. House committee Wednesday to answer alongside other big-city mayors for their policies to limit local law enforcement interactions with federal immigration authorities.
Congressional Republicans went on the offensive with Wu and the mayors of New York City, Chicago and Denver, painting them as undermining Trump’s efforts to staunch illegal immigration. The mayors contended that their policies engender trust in local law enforcement, thereby keeping the entire community safer.
A Boston City Hall Plaza demonstration during the mayor’s testimony grew contentious as a comparatively smaller group of supporters of Trump’s immigration offensive shouted down pro-immigrant speakers addressing a rally of hundreds of people mostly there to oppose Trump policies.
“We’re all Americans. Let’s stand together and get rid of this hatred,” South End Rep. John Moran said, gesturing to the opposition ralliers. “This is embarrassing. This is Boston. This is the United States of America.”
During her time under Congress’ spotlight, Wu described Boston’s strengths as “not in spite of our immigrants, but because of them,” reminded the committee that Boston is “the safest major city in the country,” and tried to turn the tables on Congress by using her testimony to call on federal lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform, an idea that had momentum last year before it was derailed by Republicans and some Democrats.
Healey has used her megaphone to similarly call for immigration reform, but last week she had her hands full dealing with Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and with the threat that Trump’s efforts to slash federal government spending and support pose to Massachusetts.
Federal dollars support more than $16 billion of the state budget, and it was clear at the State House on Thursday that practically everyone is concerned about what the Trump administration’s moves could mean for the $62 billion budget Healey is asking lawmakers to pass.
“We’re going to have to sit down collectively and do it, because I can tell you, the problem is going to be too big for any one branch to think that they’ll have a proposal to solve it,” Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz said. The secretary mentioned legislation, taking a second look at both spending and revenue, and allocating resources “differently than we have in the past.” Everyone wants to know what he means by that, but even Gorzkowicz, who holds the state’s spending controls, said it’s difficult to follow everything that’s going on.
Healey talked about having to “keep real-time awareness in terms of what’s out there, what’s coming down, whether it’s by executive order or some other like DOGE-y whatever, exercise.” And Democrat lawmakers seem on board, too, with Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues calling this an “all hands on deck moment.”
Other than waiting and seeing, it’s not entirely clear what state budget managers can do. The budget hearing series that will continue for the next month will provide more and updated info on how federal changes are playing out, and the House budget rewrite due in mid-April will serve as a check-in on the defensive mechanisms Beacon Hill might try to build into the budget. Then there will be another month until the Senate updates the budget plan, and likely at least another month before Democrats finalize the budget.
Gorzkowicz said Thursday that the state’s fiscal managers are “stepping back” to take a wider look at the proposals from Washington and “what the impact on the state will be.”
In other words, stand by and hang on tight.
