Former U.S. Reps. Ann McLane Kuster ’78, D-N.H., and Alex Mooney ’93, R-W.Va., analyzed the role of Congress in maintaining the checks and balances of the Constitution in a discussion on April 16. Kuster and Mooney told the audience that there are more areas of bipartisanship in Congress than people would suspect, and they encouraged younger generations concerned about the future of the country to become involved in the political process.
The talk was the second in the nine-part 100 Days Series sponsored by Dartmouth Dialogues and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy that is bringing prominent public figures to campus to examine the first three months of the second Trump presidency.
Kuster and Mooney spoke to an audience of 90 at the Rockefeller Center, with 85 watching a . Rockefeller Center Director moderated the event along with Colin Jung ’28 of the Dartmouth Conservatives and Prescott Herzog ’25 of the Dartmouth Democrats.
In an era of what seems to be hyperpartisanship, it is important to remember that the other side, Republican or Democrat, often has good intentions, Kuster and Mooney said. Their experiences as Dartmouth undergraduates contributed to their perspectives on how to approach their jobs in Congress.
“Understanding that people have a different life experience, and being able to work together, was a skill that I learned here,” said Kuster, who retired from Congress last year after six terms.
Mooney, who served for a decade in the House before running unsuccessfully for the U.S. House last year, recalled that as an undergraduate, he befriended a fellow student who was as liberal as Mooney was conservative. Spirited but civil debate was the point.
“You know what we would never do? We’d never call each other names. We’d never insult each other. We wouldn’t impugn each other’s motives. We really believed each other was trying to do what they thought was right,” Mooney said.
It’s critical, Mooney said, to “see where we can work together. And, I think, working together, face to face, is better.” He pointed to such issues as transportation, foreign policy, and drug addiction as areas of largely bipartisan agreement on policy.
Despite that, Mooney said that Congress has surrendered too much power to the executive branch, particularly when it comes to spending and war powers.
“We’re supposed to have three co-equal branches of government,” he said.
The founders would be aghast not only at the spiraling national deficit of nearly $2 trillion but also at the way presidents have co-opted war powers, Mooney argued. Presidents from George W. Bush to Donald Trump have declared emergencies to keep American troops stationed abroad, rather than first having a debate in Congress, he said.
“The military should come to Congress and explain to us why they’re there. But the president, every President, is just doing that. And I really think it’s the fault of Congress, because we don’t rein it in. We have the power to because we control the purse strings,” Mooney said.
Congress’s creeping surrender of its power to the executive branch “has been happening for a while, but I also think President Trump has taken it to the next level,” Kuster said. “What the Trump administration is doing is pushing the envelope. They’re in a position to push and push and the courts are going to have to pull it back because at this point the Congress is not.”
Kuster said she agreed with Mooney about the need for Congress to have normal budget hearings to discuss where to appropriate funds, and how much to appropriate.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had just a normal process of the budget with hearings about, should we increase funding for (combatting) sexual assault and the opioid epidemic,” Kuster said.
She added that she thinks that the current administration is misusing its authority by “freezing” spending across a broad range of governmental departments.
“Using this expression, that is not a legal expression at all, that the funds are, quote, unquote, frozen. They were appropriated, they were authorized by Congress,” Kuster said.
Currently, Kuster added, New Hampshire is “losing $80 million in opioid funding that was authorized, appropriated, and (the Trump administration) is refusing to spend it.”
She also challenged the current role in the administration of Elon Musk, the high-tech billionaire who is overseeing Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“There’s a certain level of presidential appointments that have the consent and approval of the Senate. And I think we lost some of that. In particular, Elon Musk has had no vetting whatsoever,” Kuster said.
Mooney responded that every president has the right to appoint people to government, and that Trump’s appointment of Musk meets that criterion, adding that Musk is making recommendations, not enacting policy.
Asked what each admires about the other party, Kuster pointed to the Republican imposition of six-year term limits on their party’s committee chairs.
“I think that’s an improvement to the process. I think my party is facing an issue right now with aging, frankly, where we’ve gone for too long. The country would be better served if we had turnover, where people come and and get their expertise and do a good job. But it’s not your personal project to be there forever,” she said.
Mooney nodded agreement.
Mooney cited the Democratic party discipline under former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi when compared to the go-their-own-way factions of the Republican party.
“I don’t agree with Nancy Pelosi’s policies at all. But she was able to get the Democrats to just vote straight. And so we kind of wished we could do that as far as process goes,” Mooney said.
What concerns him, he said, is public apathy toward the political system. Simply voting is not enough.
“You think you’ve done all you need to do to be involved in the process. No. There’s a whole lot more you can do,” Mooney said, from working on political campaigns to donating money to writing an opinion letter to a newspaper. And while it’s a citizen’s right not to vote, voting is, Mooney said, a civic duty.
When asked how today’s generation of young people can be hopeful about the future, Kuster said that while “we’re in a rocky period right now, from my perspective, I believe that smart people are going to get us out of it, and that your life is going to be filled with promise and optimism, and you’re going to do great things.”
Mooney was in his 20s when he was first elected to a state legislative seat. In other countries, he said, candidates can’t run unless chosen by the leadership of their parties, while in the American system a candidate can run at a young age.
“Our system still allows the input and the activism at all levels,” Mooney said, adding, “I have a lot of optimism about the future, too.”
Deven Carkner ’28 liked hearing a Republican and Democrat in conversation. “I thought it was really cool, and I liked how bipartisan they were,” he said. The fact that lawmakers from both parties can find agreement is not always the impression that Americans get in the media, he said.
“I thought this event was amazing,” said Atticus Belcher ’28. “And I love the disagreement here, hearing both sides. It got a bit fiery at times, and I thought that was good, and I’d like to see more of that.”
Co-sponsors of the talk included the , Dartmouth Democrats, Dartmouth Conservatives, and the . Members of the student groups helped to plan the series and are also taking part in the discussions as co-moderators.
