Rep. Chellie Pingree, shown here while giving a speech in Westbrook last month, was elected to a ninth term in the House of Representatives. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

When U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree is sworn in for her ninth congressional term in January, the governing dynamic will be much different than it is now, with Republicans having gained majorities in both houses of Congress, and Donald Trump set to begin his second term in office.

It will be only the second time that Pingree, a progressive Democrat who has been in Congress since 2009, will be serving in a Congress where Republicans control the executive branch, the House and Senate.

The first time occurred during the first Trump administration when Republicans also held the House and Senate for two years until Democrats regained control of the House in the 2018 elections.

Pingree won reelection easily on Nov. 5 in the more liberal 1st Congressional District, defeating Republican challenger Ronald Russell and independent Ethan Alcorn. Pingree’s commanding win contrasted with the razor-thin vote in the 2nd District, where incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden defeated Republican Austin Theriault in a ranked choice runoff.

Pingree, 69, of North Haven, is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Appropriations Committee and the Agriculture Committee.

The Press Herald caught up with Pingree less than two months before the Jan. 20 inauguration and the beginning of Trump’s second term. This Q&A is lightly edited for clarity.

What do you expect from a second Trump administration?

I’m deeply concerned about what the new Trump administration will bring since Republicans have control of the House and Senate and a strong majority on the Supreme Court. We are in unprecedented times.

I don’t even know where to start on the list of things that could disappear. I’m worried about Head Start early childhood education, abortion care, health care, subsidies eliminated in the Affordable Care Act, and reversing investments we made in the Inflation Reduction Act regarding climate change. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has a huge target on its back.

All of these things will be vulnerable, even something as fundamental as Medicare and Social Security, possibly even raising the retirement age.

I expect tax cuts for the wealthiest will be in the budget.

Trump has also said he would close the U.S. Department of Education, which some fear could threaten special education funding.

It is hard to fund local school budgets as it is now, and cutting special education funding would be a serious problem for us. Six hundred and ninety-eight teaching positions in Maine are supported by Title 1 funding (Title 1 is funding to help support districts with a higher proportion of low-income families.)

What do you make of Trump’s plan to increase tariffs on goods coming to the U.S.? Does Congress have any role?

The executive branch has inordinate power when it comes to tariffs. I’m concerned we are going to have huge tariffs across the board, and we are going to see run-ups in the (federal budget) deficit in ways we’ve never seen before.

During Trump’s first term, after the tariffs he did impose, we had so many retaliatory tariffs from other countries that we had to spend billions to prop up farmers who were dealing with the retaliatory tariffs.

One of Trump’s priorities is mass deportation. What impact will that have?

How are they going to define who they will deport? We have a lot of people who are here legally in Maine, applied for asylum, and now they are five years into the process, and have a work permit. They are here legitimately. Will they (Trump officials) go after them?

Many of these people work in sectors like the service industry, food processing, manufacturing and construction.

What about all the people who are here on H-1B and H-2B visas? These are doctors and engineers. Will this be a blanket deportation?

Members of the House don’t get to vote on Trump’s nominees, but what is your opinion of some of the more controversial nominees, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services, and Pete Hegseth for defense secretary?

(Hegseth) falls in the category of a person who appears to be deeply unqualified for the job. I don’t have trust in him and the policies he might implement, especially for women in the military.

On RFK Jr., I have deep concerns about his pushing back on (proven) science, everything we’ve heard about him not believing in vaccines. But from the agriculture side, I’m happy to work with him on organic farming and reducing the impact of ultra-processed foods.

RFK Jr. is an advocate of raw milk, which public health experts point out causes sickness. You support the interstate sale of raw milk. (Pingree has co-sponsored raw milk bills with Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie.) Do you see it getting across the finish line in a Republican Congress? 

Raw milk is one of those things that is highly debated. You could sell raw milk with a good safety inspection system. I’m not saying to have a free-for-all (with no food safety inspections). We have to figure out how it would work with state-based inspection systems.

Why do you think Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump, and why did Democrats lose control of Congress?

The popular vote margin was close, but it was a major loss in the Electoral College. It was a perfect storm of circumstances, people angry about the cost of things and the Democratic messages not getting through to people.