At the Baltimore County Council Legislative Session on April 21, 2025, a hyper-partisan resolution to condemn the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal bureaucracy passed on a party line 4-3 vote. The resolution, sponsored by Councilman Izzy Patoka (Democrat – District 2) included false claims that Trump plans to cut social security benefits and that cuts to bureaucracy are intended to enrich “billionaires” or “the 1%”.
The Democrats County Council resolution also endorsed three federal bills. Two of these bills strip the federal executive branch of the power to manage the Social Security Administration and the other is a tax increase.
The Trump Administration is removing waste, fraud, and abuse from the Social Security Administration including removing payments to millions of non-citizens and deceased people. There are no cuts being made to Social Security for legitimate recipients.
Councilman Wade Kach (Republican – District 3) expressed his disgust with the resolution calling it a “scare tactic” to instill fear in elderly residents who rely on social security benefits.
Councilman David Marks (Republican – District 5) proposed an amendment to this resolution to bring the resolution in line with previous policy-focused resolutions. The amendment contained language that would have removed partisan rhetoric, false claims, and endorsements of the three terrible federal bills but was voted down by the four Democrats on the Council.
Marks pointed out that the proposed resolution strays from those historically passed by the Council. He then asked why the Council had not passed resolutions opposing the tax increases while they were being considered by the Maryland General Assembly. The Council Democrats downplayed the severity of the largest tax increase in state history.
After his common sense resolution was defeated, Marks proposed a subsequent amendment to support a federal bill that would eliminate taxes on social security benefits. This policy was strongly supported by President Trump during the 2024 campaign. It quickly received the same party line vote.
Councilman Todd Crandell (Republican – District 7) criticized the entire practice of the Council weighing in on federal policy, which had never been done before. Councilman Crandell asked, “Are we done playing Congress?”
The Democrats have reached a level of partisanship never seen before in the Baltimore County Council. All three Republicans expressed hope that this is a one-off resolution and that unproductive attacks like this do not become commonplace.