Auditor General DePasquale Speaks Against Attack on Medicaid Expansion, President Trump’s Un-American, Reckless Executive Order

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 30 -- Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued the following news release:

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today held a news conference in the state Capitol to express his dismay and outrage at actions in Washington that will directly impact all Pennsylvanians.

Attack on Medicaid Expansion

"Last week, I sounded the alarm about how eliminating the Medicaid expansion provision in the Affordable Care Act could jeopardize health care for more than 675,000 Pennsylvanians," DePasquale said. "Now, we know the threat is real. Late last week in Philadelphia, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), urged his colleagues to completely eliminate Medicaid expansion.

"Today, I'm calling on every member of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation to stand up and make their voices heard. Voters deserve to know where these elected officials stand."

President Trump's Executive Order

"As a statewide elected official, I have sworn to protect the constitutions of both Pennsylvania and the United States," DePasquale said. "President Trump's executive order banning immigration is a disgusting and cowardly document that should be torn up and burned.

"What we saw in Philadelphia -- a scene that played out in airports across the country -- when legal residents were detained was disgusting on many levels and made us look like a third-world country. The order was so poorly implemented by the Trump Administration that it looked like a drunken fantasy football draft party. The way people were treated at the airports was a travesty of justice."

DePasquale echoed the words of Republican Sen. Rob Portman from Ohio, who said of the executive order: "You have an extreme vetting proposal that didn't get the vetting it should have had."

"It's appalling that President Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security, retired General John Kelly, did not get to weigh in on this executive order," DePasquale said.

He praised Pennsylvania Congressmen Charlie Dent and Brian Fitzpatrick for being among the first Republican leaders to speak out against the executive order.

The impact of President Trump's order is already being felt: Companies such as Google -- which has a large presence in Pittsburgh -- and universities are scrambling to ensure that their workers, professors and students are safe.

"Because this executive order potentially violates the Pennsylvania constitution, I directed my chief legal counsel to offer any appropriate support to the legal teams of Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro to ensure that no Pennsylvania resident is denied their constitutional rights," DePasquale said.

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