MONTPELIER, VT - Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director May Hanlon today issued the following statement in response to Governor Phil Scott's Tuesday statement defending his decision to provide the Trump administration with sensitive personal information of tens of thousands of Vermonters receiving nutrition assistance:

“Governor Scott said he does not want to live in chaos for the next three and a half years. Vermont Democrats agree. But Phil Scott fails to recognize one critical fact - the agent of this chaos is Donald Trump.

“The Governor does not have a monopoly on facts. Whether or not the Trump administration followed federal law in seeking Vermonters' private information is very much up for debate. Attorneys General across the country, including Vermont's Attorney General Charity Clark, disagree with our Republican Governor. To suggest that President Trump is seeking our personal, private information in some good-faith effort in service of "program integrity" is either willfully ignorant or hopelessly naive.

“The Trump administration, in both word and deed, has made clear that it will assert executive authority to unlawfully detain and deport our neighbors, unlawfully slash federal grant programs Vermont needs, and unlawfully punish political opponents. Vermonters of all political stripes are rightfully concerned. But the Governor's once-strong defense of Vermont and the Constitution has withered in the face of MAGA extremism.

“Confronted by the lawless presidency of Donald Trump, Phil Scott has chosen, once again, to roll over and play dead. Vermonters are right to be concerned about the motives of the Trump administration and are right to demand leadership - not weakness - to confront this ongoing threat.”