PA-7 Democratic candidates discuss DOGE cuts and congressional divisiveness

EDITOR'S NOTE: Three Democratic candidates for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District — Ryan Crosswell, Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine — visited the Univest Public Media Center for one-on-one policy interviews.

The conversations are the basis of a five-part "PA-7 Talks" series this week ahead of the May 19 primary election.

A fourth candidate, firefighter union boss Bob Brooks, initially agreed to participate but later canceled. His campaign did not respond to requests to reschedule. The winner of the primary is expected to face U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, in November. Mackenzie is uncontested in the Republican primary.

Past episodes:
"PA-7 Talks: The Economy"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — While intense debates and deliberations are a feature of American democracy, the federal government has teetered into periods of dysfunction over the past decade.

The nation's two longest federal shutdowns have occurred over that period, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now is enduring a historic nine-week partial shutdown.

When Congress does pass significant legislation, it's often done along partisan lines. The resulting divisiveness can create uncertainty around programs and policies when the opposing side builds campaigns around undoing recently passed legislation.

That can make it difficult for citizens and businesses to plan long-term when matters like healthcare or tariffs are up in the air.

Lehigh Valley Public Media asked former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and energy engineer Carol Obando-Derstine about governing in this era of divisiveness and their thoughts on the shrinking federal workforce.

The size of the government

All three candidates said that shrinking the government isn't an inherently bad idea, but the trio was critical of how the Trump administration oversaw the contraction.

Each turned his or her attention to different downsides of how the cuts played out.

Obando-Derstine focused on cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting initiative Trump started in January. The decisions appeared to be driven by ideology and without considering the long-term ramifications of the changes, she said.

She pointed to cuts at the U.S. Energy Department's national laboratories. Many scientists there had been working on long-term energy storage, which could be critical to maximizing the effectiveness of renewable energy, she said.

Advancements in those fields could help address climbing utility bills, but they were cut without enough thought, she said.

"Trump never seems to have a plan," Obando-Derstine said. "He just shoots from the hip, and this is the wrong direction."

McClure offered similar criticisms, saying DOGE cuts and federal claw backs pulled funding from critical programs.

Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District lost millions of dollars that helped nonprofits get food to needy families and paid farmers to produce some of that food, McClure said.

Mackenzie, he said, bears responsibility for these loses because he supported the Trump administration as it followed through on those cuts.

"I'm not adverse to reducing the size of government, but you have to do it intelligently," McClure said. "You have to have clearly defined objectives."

Crosswell spoke more on the number of federal workers who were fired or willingly left their positions.

That included Crosswell, who was among several prosecutors who quit in protest after the Trump administration, for political considerations, ordered corruption charges be dropped against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

While federal leaders should be mindful about protecting taxpayer dollars, the Trump administration has focused more on ideology than on competency, Crosswell said.

The government works better with a non-partisan civil service, and talented people have either been forced out or quit in disgust, he said.

"There is no question that we are less safe than when the president came in," Crosswell said.

Runaway partisanship

When the conversation turned to the cyclical, divisive nature of modern American politics, each of the candidates offered a unique take.

McClure said that contentious debates over major policies are nothing new. While the tenor may change at times, political parties have long been on opposite ends of ideological divides.

He pointed to Republican efforts over the decades to scale back Medicare, and attacked Trump and Mackenzie for making Medicaid less accessible through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The enormous amount of money in political campaigns has turbocharged the rhetoric and made it harder for elected leaders to reach more lasting consensus, he said.

But until a constitutional amendment to undo the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision is passed, voters can't afford to shy away from important fights, he said.

"Right now, we are fighting for our democracy and we're fighting to save our economy," McClure said. "Bipartisanship, I think, it takes a back seat."

Crosswell said members of Congress need to try to remove some of the toxicity that has defined American politics for the past 10 years.

While he attributed its rise to Trump's brand of politics, he acknowledged Democrats have played into the phenomenon, as well.

Past generations of lawmakers built healthy relationship with people on the other side of the aisle, he said. More of that is needed, he said.

"Joe Biden and John McCain used to be very good friends," he said. "You don't see that anymore, and I think it's spilling over into legislation with how often it comes down to party lines."

Obando-Derstine painted herself as the ideal candidate to cut through the fighting.

Congress needs leaders willing to engage with people with whom they may disagree, and find common ground, she said.

She pointed to her work as a staff member for former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and her time leading the Children's Coalition of the Lehigh Valley as evidence she can unify people of different backgrounds to work toward a common goal.

"That's the only way it's ever going to truly function," she said. "If people are willing to talk to folks on the other side of the aisle to come up with solutions."