Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee has been in the news a lot over the past few weeks, from lackluster numbers in a poll from the University of New Hampshire, to new hires for his re-election campaign, to the announcement of a plan to replace the westbound Washington Bridge.
With those issues swirling, The Public’s Radio Political Reporter Ian Donnis sat down for a one-on-one interview with the governor.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Ian Donnis: You signed onto a letter from the Democratic Governor’s Association objecting to how President Trump mobilized the National Guard in California without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Since then, the president has also mobilized 700 active-duty Marines.
What do you think President Trump is up to here?
Gov. Dan McKee: Well, certainly it’s an overkill. And we did support Gov. Newsom as a core group, because governors are in charge of their National Guard unless there’s a reason to have a federal intervention.
So, it seems it is a show of force. And what California is saying right now is that it’s an overkill, because they are handling the situation and they didn’t make the phone call, which is expected. If I have a problem here and I need to get some help from Washington, I make a phone call.
Donnis: Do you think President Trump is trying to distract from the economy and his handling of the economy?
McKee: Well, I’m not sure. No, I think he’s very committed to this issue on immigration and I think he’s shown as much power as possibly he can. I don’t know what he’s doing with the economy, quite frankly. I think that he’s got some issues there with the tariffs, and it’s almost a self-imposed recession strategy right now that we’re very concerned about.
I think they’re two separate issues, to tell you the truth. I think he’s shown his hand. And his [border czar Tom Homan] speaks very strongly that this is what they’re gonna do. This is the policy. They believe that they were elected on that policy and he’s really overstepping in many ways.
When you start imposing on high school students in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts, as well — really it’s an overreach and it’s one that we should be very concerned about.
Donnis: There are a lot of Democrats who feel like their hair is on fire because of their intense dislike for what President Trump is doing.
I wonder, do you find yourself holding back criticism of the president because of concern that he controls the spigot on federal money, and that could imperil money for Rhode Island if you are outspokenly critical of the president.
McKee: Well, I think it is based on what is in front of you, right? I mean, we are working with the cabinet members. I think we just showed examples of that, with making sure that the funding that was appropriated for both the Washington Bridge as well as the other 15 bridges on Route 95 — I mean, in total it’s close to $500 million— so we’ve got that authorized and approved by [Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy]. And that’s important to do. But at the same point in time, like you mentioned before, we have been on the record, I have been on the record pushing back where I think that there’s an overreach. And you talked about the California issue, and the Los Angeles issues would be an example of that.
Donnis: A couple of questions about the Washington Bridge. My colleagues recently reported that RIDOT did not use some of the tests available to assess the bridge over time — there’s a kind of radar that can examine components that are not visible to the human eye. Do you think that kind of test should have been used on the Washington Bridge before the problems developed with it?
McKee: Well, I think that we discovered that there was a long-term problem with the bridge, right? And that’s one of the reasons that we have the lawsuit right now. I believe that we’re holding the people accountable that should be held accountable: those inspectors and the people who’ve worked on the bridge that felt as though that we could repair an un-repairable bridge. So I think that anything that comes out after the fact doesn’t — is not really particularly helpful, but I think that we are holding the people accountable that should be held accountable.
Donnis: The Washington Bridge is kind of unique, as we know, in how its structure was assembled — very complex. But there are some other bridges throughout the state that have similar components. Have you directed [RIDOT, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation] to put extra scrutiny on those bridges that have some of the same components as Washington Bridge?
McKee: Well, we certainly have continued to do the work on the eastbound side, on the Washington Bridge, and the inspections are ratcheting up. And clearly we’re continuing on doing that work on all the bridges in the state of Rhode Island.
Donnis: One aspect of the Washington Bridge that has gotten attention is the post-tensioning system. My colleagues unearthed a report indicating possible concerns with the post-tensioning system going back to 1992, more than 30 years ago, way before you were involved in state government. With the benefit of hindsight, do you think RIDOT should have been paying more attention to the bridge?
McKee: Well, hindsight is 2020, right? And all I can tell you is that I shut down a bridge to keep people safe. And we’ve accomplished that number one goal, that highest priority was to keep people safe. And we did accomplish that, and we’ve put in place the funding to build a new bridge.
Once we realized three months after the bridge was closed that the bridge was not repairable — I’m sure that all the court cases will look backwards on the things you’re talking about. I’m looking forward from the point of view of saying, ‘We’re going to build this bridge, it’s going to outlast our lifetimes.’
We got the financing in place. We’ve got a world class contractor that is going to build the bridge, and with a schedule to complete it in 2028, and we have the funding to pay for it. In the meantime, we’re going to try to make sure we keep people safe and accommodate the traffic flow as best we can.
Donnis: Last week you announced some new members for your campaign team. The effort seemed in part to put to bed any doubts that you indeed are running for reelection. Tell us about your thinking.
McKee: Well, I think that it’s important that you know outside the office that we’re planning a good campaign, and bringing professional help in is going to help do that.
(We’re) getting a little bit of a head start to coordinate and raise the dollars that we’re going to need to be successful in the campaign. So we’ve done that.
