Since stepping down last December after nearly six decades in elected office, former Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) has watched from the sidelines as the American political landscape has changed dramatically during the second Trump era.
Jmore recently caught up with Cardin, 81, who lives in Pikesville with his wife, Myrna, to talk about his views on the current political climate.
What have you been up to since leaving office?
I’m not planning on being retired. I plan to affiliate with a university, and discussions are taking place every day. I want young people to understand how our system of government works and how democracy needs to be preserved. That requires all of us to be engaged.
In my years of public service, I’ve been engaged in trying to make our community and world stronger, safer and more prosperous. I’ll use those examples to try to get young people more engaged in an effective manner to help our future.
What’s your opinion of the Trump administration so far?
I’m extremely disappointed. I chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and I know how important U.S. leadership is globally and in our alliances with other countries that share our values. That’s been badly damaged by President Trump. I’m not sure our allies consider America a reliable partner now.
We’ve certainly seen that in the president’s tariff policies. He’s announced them and then changed his mind about them several times.
I’m extremely disappointed in the most recent budget passed by Congress. It favors those who don’t need help, and the increase in the national debt makes us all more vulnerable.
Health care should be a right, not a privilege, and yet millions of people are going to lose their benefits in the health care system.
Perhaps most seriously, is the abuse of power. The way he has tried to take over the Justice Department; the federal workforce must pass a loyalty test to him rather than to the people of this country; federal agencies will provide different services depending upon whether they’re to a blue state or a red state; taking away the power of Congress.
All of this is problematic. People look to the president of the United States as our leader in ethics, in our morals, in the way we do business and in the ways we talk about each other. I’m not proud of President Trump and the language that he’s used.
How would you characterize the Democrats and Republicans in the Congress?
I know to get things done, you need to be able to work across party lines, to listen to people who have different views, to compromise but not compromise your principles. The Senate and the House need to reassert themselves. They are an independent branch of government, a critical part of our system of checks and balances. I know that members of the House and Senate take great pride in establishing spending programs and the priorities of our nation. That’s what the Constitution requires.
They need to reassert that power. They cannot be bullied, and President Trump is notorious for trying to bully people into his way of thinking.
You’ve got to stand up for what you believe in. You’re only in elected office for a relatively short period of time. You need to use that not only to do what is best for our country but also to preserve the democratic institutions that have served our nation for 250 years.
I believe damage is being done. But I also believe we’ve gone through periods in our history where people felt a similar concern about the state of our democracy. I think we’ll get through this. That doesn’t mean we won’t suffer, that people aren’t going to get hurt. It will be difficult to correct the abuses that have taken place during the Trump administration.
How can Democrats provide better leadership?
When the president does things that are unacceptable, you’ve got to speak out, you can’t be silent about things you believe are wrong. Make sure you put the record straight.
But also do this in a way that allows discourse.
Try to find ways that triage the damage that we see President Trump creating and establish a way that one day we’ll be able to get back on track.
To get through this, we must form alliances, not just with members of Congress but also with the public. For example, environmental groups in Utah have fought to protect federal land from being privatized for development. We must continue to protect this land. The budget and the deficit that’s been created for the wrong reasons allow you to form alliances that minimize the damage that’s being done and establish the priorities that protect our values.
Your view on the Supreme Court?
I am concerned that not only during the last six months but over the past several decades, we have seen opinions from the Supreme Court that have compromised what I think are the important values of our nation. The Citizens United decision, for example, gives corporations unlimited power to influence elections. That was a major mistake by the Supreme Court.
In reversing Roe v. Wade and in the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court went backwards. In the decision that limits the ability of federal judges to block executive actions throughout the country, the Supreme Court gave the president unusual power.
So there are a lot of Supreme Court decisions I disagree with, but I’m not yet ready to say the Supreme Court has been taken over by this administration.
Is the U.S. becoming an autocracy?
There has been more power ceded to the executive branch that normally would be in the legislative branch, and some in the judicial branch. That’s giving more power to one person. That’s not what I think the framers of our Constitution wanted with the separate branches and the checks and balances in our system. There’s been some serious damage done to our Constitutional protections.
I hold out hope that the congressional and judicial branches of government will draw lines that will protect us. Ultimately, the voice of the people through the ballot box will be checks on our system.
In the wake of the recent Israel-Iran conflict, how can the U.S. help foster a new era in the Middle East?
The challenge here is to find a pathway to peace in the Middle East. Given the history of Jews going back thousands of years and including the Holocaust and Oct. 7th, we know there are real risk factors for violence against Jews, not just in Israel but around the world.
The good news is there are a lot of countries in the Middle East that want to normalize relations with Israel. Many have already done that, and others are looking to normalize those relations, including the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All these countries bring into focus the real threat to security in the region — Iran and its proxies.
You need to isolate Iran and its proxies, and you also need to ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear weapons state. Yes, military actions are needed at times, though I’m not ready to comment on the current circumstances. You need to isolate Iran and, through diplomacy, make sure they never have a nuclear weapon.
But you’re never going to do that strictly by the military. Diplomacy is the best action to see exactly what is happening in Iran with regard to their nuclear programs and their interaction with their proxies.
I’ve worked very hard at one of the things we all must be concerned about, and that is maintaining bipartisan support for Israel. I fully support President Trump’s efforts in that regard, and I will fight any effort to criticize his support for Israel.
I don’t trust Iran. We cannot rely upon their word. We must make sure there is effective action through diplomacy.
U.S. leadership is critical. The United States is the leader of the free world because our foreign policies have been based upon our values. But now, we have that being questioned by some of our allies. I don’t think there will be any disagreement among our allies about the risk factors of Iran, but they also have to agree upon the policies we are using to achieve our objectives. That means including our allies in our discussions and planning.
What can we do to combat rampant antisemitism?
The rise of antisemitism is frightening, but antisemitism has been around for thousands of years and in this country since its birth. We protect the Jewish community by securing Jewish institutions through education, alliances and coalitions with other groups, and with our participation with other groups in the general community.
But it’s not just antisemitism. All minority groups are at risk and more vulnerable when people are threatened.
What about the growing political influence of billionaires?
There’s a wealth gap in America that is not healthy. There was a time when we had less of a wealth gap than other economies. Today, that gap has grown. Our economy would be better with a very strong middle-income, middle-class population. That is being threatened.
The power is still among the voters of this country, yet the wealthy have ways of influencing the middle-class and people who are struggling. I am concerned about wealth gaps. But I’m more concerned about campaign finance reform where the rich and powerful have an impact on our political system. Changing the way we finance campaigns could minimize this risk at election time.
Peter Arnold is a local freelance writer.
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