A Brunswick farmer, a retired Lewiston police officer and a Portland attorney are the invited guests of Maine’s federal lawmakers to hear President Donald Trump address Congress on Tuesday night — his first speech to both chambers since he returned to the White House.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, invited Seth Kroeck, a Brunswick farmer caught up in the federal funding freeze. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, invited Jeffrey Baril of Sabbatus, a retired Lewiston police corporal. And Republican Sen. Susan Collins invited Ann Robinson, a Portland lawyer and lobbyist.
Independent Sen. Angus King is going solo — staffers say that is typical of the former Maine governor.
Trump is expected to lay out his agenda for a second term in an address that will feel like a State of the Union but technically is not because it comes so early in his term. That won’t happen until next year.
But an invite to a president’s first joint congressional address is just as hard, if not harder, to score than one to a State of the Union. Invites tend to go to hometown heroes or someone who will send a message about what the lawmaker thinks about the president’s first 50 days in office.
Each member of Congress can bring one guest to Tuesday’s presidential address.
Like Pingree, many Democrats are extending invites to constituents hurt by Trump’s federal firings and funding freeze. Her guest, Kroeck, recently learned that his federal agricultural grant was “paused” after he’d already spent $6,000 for outfitting a truck to mulch 70 acres of blueberries against drought.
“Seth’s story is a stark reminder that the administration’s policies aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet,” said Pingree, herself a farmer, when announcing her guest. “They have real consequences for real people, real families, and real livelihoods.”
Crystal Springs Farm has $90,000 worth of signed contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature climate law, that were paused by the Trump administration. Maine farmers have already spent $1 million on federally authorized work.
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to release these funds, but Maine farmers have yet to be reimbursed for federal funds already spent. Kroeck said he is attending the joint address to represent all farmers affected by what he described as Trump’s “heavy-handed policies.”
“As spring and the beginning of the farm season approaches, budgets have been set, seed and fertilizer ordered, labor hired and machinery readied,” Kroeck said. “These contracts were signed last year and are integral to the success of this season and many seasons beyond.”
Some Democrats who represent a purple or even red district, like Golden, are going the hometown hero route. Like Golden, Baril is a veteran of the U.S. Marines, having served in Kuwait in the first Gulf War. Baril retired from the Lewiston Police Department in 2014 after 25 years on the job.
“Public service like that provided by Cpl. Baril transcends partisanship and politics,” Golden said in a written statement.
Collins’ guest, Robinson, is a Portland attorney and lobbyist who is leading an advisory committee that will help Collins suggest candidates for high-ranking political or judicial appointments such as U.S. attorney, U.S. marshal, the Farm Service Agency and Northern Border Regional Commission.
Robinson is a partner in Pierce Atwood’s government relations practice group who served as regulatory reform adviser to former Republican Gov. Paul LePage. A seven-month investigation by the Press Herald in 2013 found that Robinson pushed for regulatory changes that benefited her clients.
Collins’ spokeswoman, Blake Kiernan, said the senator intended no symbolism with her choice of guest. Kiernan described Robinson as Collins’ longtime close personal friend and the co-chair of Collins’ 2020 reelection campaign.
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