CATTY CHATS

Welcome to Catty Chats: claws-out interviews with people trying to make things suck less in new and different ways.

I am thrilled that I get to share with you my conversation with Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen.

He's had a long political career in the Maryland Statehouse, the U.S. House of Representatives, and most recently the U.S. Senate since 2017.

I always thought of him as smart, and capable, and doing and saying all the right things on issues I cared about.  And also, I didn't really think about him THAT much.  I wasn't worried about what he'd do on this or that vote.  

He wasn't a flashy guy.  He wasn't a spotlight hog.  To me his vibe was "I'm the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy" (shout out to Markie Mark in "The Departed").   

And that was GREAT, by the way.  Gold stars.

Then something shifted in 2025.  And he became a loud and out-in-front advocate at the most important time.  When others who had wanted the spotlight BEFORE started to shy away from the spotlight - for their own careers, or their own convenience, or to avoid hearing angry questions from constituents.  

Chris Van Hollen was out in front for Kilmar Abrego Garcia; for ICE detainees and anti-ICE protestors; to people who were trying to bring just for the illegality and immorality of ICE and DHS, which continues to this very day.  He was and is out in front of all of that, and so much more.

We discuss all things ICE: how we got into the position that we're in; how we can fight; what he has seen in ICE that has changed; what might be coming down the pike; how to be ready; AND WHY IT'S GOOD TO HOLD ONTO THE ANGER.

...he's also pretty funny!  

Despite being far more in the spotlight over the last year or more, he's still the guy just doing his job, and if you're asking "who does he think he is?" you must be the other guy.

What is CATTY CHATS?

Founder of Cat Ladies for America, comedian, and angry optimist, Blaire Postman, conducts real-talk, claws-out interviews with people trying to make things suck less in new and different ways.

Blaire Postman:

Welcome to CATTY CHATS, clause out interviews with people trying to make things suck less in new and different ways. I'm cat lady, fun and comedian, generally loud person, and founder of CATTY CHATS, for America, Blair Postman. Hey, gritty kitties. I am thrilled that I get to share with you my conversation with Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen. He's had a long political career in the Maryland state house, then in the US congress, and then most recently starting in 2017 in the US senate.

Blaire Postman:

I always considered him smart and capable and hardworking and for the most part, staying and doing all the right things on the issues that I cared about. And, also, I didn't really think about him that much. I didn't worry about him. He wasn't a flashy guy. You know, he wasn't a spotlight hog.

Blaire Postman:

To me, his vibe was, I'm the guy doing my job. You must be the other guy. Shout out Marky Mark and the departed. And that was great, by the way. Gold stars.

Blaire Postman:

And then something shifted in 2025, and he became a loud and out in front advocate at the most important time when other people who had wanted the spotlight before started to shy away from the spotlight for their own careers or for their own convenience or because they didn't wanna hear angry voices from constituents. Chris Van Hollen was out in front for Kilmar Obriga Garcia, for ICE detainees and anti ICE protesters, people who were trying to bring justice to the illegality and the immorality that was pervading ICE and DHS and continues to this very day. He was out in front of all of that and so much more. And there's so many things that we could talk to Chris Van Hollen about that would be time well spent. But in this interview, as you'll hear, we are primarily speaking about all things ICE, how we got in the position that we are in, how we can fight and are fighting at different levels and in different ways, what he is seeing in the actions of ice, what has changed, what has shifted, what might be coming down the pike, and what we all need to be doing now.

Blaire Postman:

And I tell you what, he's also pretty funny. He's a pretty funny guy and, but very smart, plain spoken. Despite being much more in the spotlight over the last year or more, he is still the guy doing his job. And if you're asking who he is, you must be the other guy. We drop new episodes every Tuesday, and once in a while, special ones in between.

Blaire Postman:

Don't forget to join us, by the way, at Cat Lady Palooza, our free livestream event on YouTube, April 19, which, yes, happens to be national cat lady day. We're activating cat folks and friends around the country, so they're ready to both take care of each other in the now and come out scratching into the midterms. Go to catladypalooza.com. You sign up. It is free.

Blaire Postman:

Please enjoy my first and hopefully not my last conversation with Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen. Welcome again to CATTY CHATS. Today, I am talking to senator Chris Van Hollen from Maryland. Senator, welcome.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Blair, it's great to be with you.

Blaire Postman:

Well, it's wonderful to have you. Now we're gonna be talking about a lot of serious stuff today, but we do always ask all of our guests whether they have ever had a cat, whether they're a cat person, whether they've ever known a cat lover who has made a difference in their life. We are, after all, Cat Leagues for America. So I ask you, are are you a cat guy? Are you cat guy adjacent?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

So I I do like and love cats. That's good. And my mother-in-law has a rescue cat.

Blaire Postman:

Okay.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And his name is Gus.

Blaire Postman:

That's a good cat name.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Gus can stand up to any dog. And

Blaire Postman:

Well, we love our uncatted allies too. But but, yeah, that's usually how that goes.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And I will say I will say that my team, we did a little survey on my staff, we have a large segment, at least about 10, just lovers, but also people who love cats and have cats. So Yeah. We have a very upbeat office in large part due to their cat friends.

Blaire Postman:

Yes. You're well you're well represented. Your office is is representing cat ladies, cat daddies, cat folks. Can get me with me after this. And if they wanna join a chapter or something, you let me know.

Blaire Postman:

I will. I'd like to take a minute to set the stage. So I live in Baltimore. I used to live in Silver Spring. And you so you are my senator.

Blaire Postman:

You've been my senator since I moved back to Maryland in 2018. '18. I voted for you in 2022. You seem good on economic fairness issues and international affairs and everything in that sphere. You were a guy who was smart, who worked hard.

Blaire Postman:

I think saying that you were not flashy is fair. And so now we're fast forwarding to 2025. You had a little bit of a Clark Kent to Superman moment in my vision. I think when, at least, most of America first noticed it, you had taken up the case of Kilmar Abego Garcia, who is one of your constituents, but it went so much further than that. And now you're essentially, in my eyes, a spokesperson for getting justice for people who've been mistreated by ICE, DHS, and to prevent further illegal actions and just immoral actions.

Blaire Postman:

What broke you open and sort of made you be a little bit, not flashy, but a little bit more loud out there at a time when, frankly, a lot of Americans were so grateful to have somebody doing something loud?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Well, first, thank you for your your voice and all the attention you've put on this really important issue, this outrageous, out of control, illegal Trump ICE operation. And the short answer is I just got really mad. Right? I just, you know, I saw this guy, Kilmer Abrego Garcia, get abducted, literally abducted off the streets of Maryland. He was driving in his car with his five year old son who has autism and disappeared.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Disappeared to this notorious prison, SECOT, in El Salvador that's known for its torture. And then when I met his wife, Jennifer, and I met his mom, and I met his brother, and they explained what had happened, we just decided to go to battle. And the Trump administration admitted that they had quote, erroneously. That was their kind of benign word for -Santing this guy off the streets of Maryland illegally, abducting him. They admitted that they'd taken him wrongly, but then it was like, too bad.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

We're gonna keep him down in Secot. And so I got mad. It was right around the time that the president of El Salvador, whose name is Bukele, he calls himself, by the way, the world's coolest dictator. He's not cool. He is a dictator.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And he visiting Donald Trump in the Oval Office right around this time. And I wrote to the ambassador from El Salvador, I said, Bukele's in town. I'd like to meet with him while he's in Washington DC to talk about the fact that he's complicit with the Trump administration in abducting my constituent off the streets of Maryland. Long story short, they said they ignored it. I put in the letter, if I don't get to meet you in Washington, I'm going to El Salvador.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

I got on a plane and went and tried to see him at SECOT. They put soldiers, they had a roadblock, But they ultimately relented. I got to meet with him and called his wife that night, Jennifer, to let him know that he was still alive. And none of us knew that. I mean, had been a complete blackout.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And I'll end here, just coincidentally, this all happened about a year ago from where we are from today. In a couple days, it'll be the one year anniversary of when I traveled down there. And of course, now he's at home with his wife and family, but the Trump administration is still engaged in this vindictive prosecution against him because he exercised his first amendment right, his due process right. So that's where things stand. I got mad and I've stayed mad about everything that this Trump administration's doing with respect to their ICE operations, but so much else.

Blaire Postman:

And just as one person, I thank you because I am so mad. I have stayed mad. I have only gotten more more mad, And I think that reflects so many other people. They are just yearning for people in elected office who are willing to show they're mad and stay mad and try their best to come up with creative solutions or or ways to help, and in your case, some creative thinking too. Why is it so important to fight ICE?

Blaire Postman:

Why is it so important to fight DHS, especially if there's someone who says, hey. I believe in rigid immigration laws. And and maybe they wanna know, hey. Why do I have to stand in line longer at the airport? Why is there this funding holdup?

Blaire Postman:

Why should we even bother? Let's just open everything and and move on and fight another day.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Sure. Well, let me start with the first point you made, which is, you know, why we fight. Because it does make a difference. If you look at what happened in Minneapolis, the fact that people came out to protect their neighbors and by the way, getting out their cameras to show just how lawless the ICE operation is, including on film, you have DHS agents killing two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Preti. Just an awful thing.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

But imagine if that had not been on camera. Because we know ICE lied and DHS lied. They called the victims domestic terrorists. But the American people got to see with their own eyes what actually happened. And so showing up makes a difference.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And I will say in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, you know, it was a year ago, there were a lot of people that did not wanna rock the boat at all. Right?

Blaire Postman:

Most people, it felt like, from my side, you were the boat rocker.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Thank you. And I got back, and there were a lot of people that were critical. They were sniping. But if you go back and look at the beginning of the turn of public opinion, it's when a lot of Americans recognize that Trump was lying when they said they were just going to go after the worst of the worst. And people also recognize that it wasn't only an immigration issue.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

It was an issue of due process rights, constitutional rights and that they were stripping away his rights. And if they stripped away his rights, it could undermine and threaten the rights of everybody. And so you you had Joe Rogan and others saying at that point, this is kind of crazy. And the tide did begin to turn. And now you fast forward today and a couple of weeks ago, the Trump administration sent up to Republican members of Congress a memo.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

It said, don't talk about mass deportation. Oh. Imagine Because they know the American people don't like what they're seeing and witnessing because overwhelmingly, the people that they're detained and deporting pose no public risk according to their own numbers. So long story short, I think the American people are with us in wanting to rein in the lawless ICE operation. And they want really meaningful reforms at ICE too.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And the position that I've taken from the start is not one more dime for a lawless ICE operation. We've also said from the start that as we try to negotiate meaningful reforms and between you and me, I don't think the Trump administration's ever going to agree to meaningful reforms.

Blaire Postman:

It's not going to be.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

I don't think they're going agree to it. So what we said was and we said this weeks and weeks ago, let's go ahead and fund TSA. We shouldn't have long lines at the airport. That's ridiculous. Let's fund FEMA.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

They provide emergency response. Let's fund the Coast Guard. Let's just fund those entities while we negotiate over reforms at ICE. And they said no. They are the ones that wanted to create these long lines at airports because they thought that by creating that pressure, that we would just say, okay, you can have all the extra ICE money and you don't need to reform it.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And we said, no. And at the end of the day, in the Senate, Republicans actually agreed with all of us. And we sent this bill to the House that does fund TSA FEMA, and they all they've blocked it so far. But I'll end with this because this is it turns out that because in their big beautiful bill last year, when Republicans gave billionaires this huge tax cut, a permanent tax cut, and they cut health programs. They also provided a boatload of money to ICE and to DHS.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And so they had this money that could be spent. And all along, it turns out, Trump could have used that money for TSA. He's finally doing it now. But the question is, why did he wait forty five days? And the answer is they thought that those long lines would force us to just, you know, give the whole ICE operation a blank check.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

We didn't do it. The fight goes on. And, you know, I'm glad finally they released the money for TSA.

Blaire Postman:

Thank you so much. And I think to your point to the the due process and the First Amendment issues, those aren't those aren't limited to people who are immigrants. I mean, it would be bad enough. If it's being done to somebody with less power, it's just a preview for what can be done to everybody, I think. And I think you've been really strong on that too.

Blaire Postman:

Thank you. I'm sure you've heard. We have a new DHS secretary, Marghwaite Mullen. Do you think that's gonna change anything?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

New face, same policy. Yeah. I don't think it's going to change anything. They're trying to change their rhetoric. You know, I mentioned this memo they sent up to Republicans on Capitol Hill saying don't talk about mass deportations.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

So they realize that what they're doing is very unpopular with the majority of American people. So they're going to try and change the tone. But Steve Miller is still there, the architect at the White House, given full control by Donald Trump. So bottom line is they're gonna pretend they're doing things differently, but they're not doing things differently. We're we're seeing in Maryland that they're really not doing things differently.

Blaire Postman:

That that actually brings me to my next question, although I do have one about Stephen Miller as well. But in Maryland, I believe we were the first state to sue DHS over one of these so called ICE detention warehouses. Right, outside of Hagerstown, Maryland. I have been there. The state and the attorney general have pointed out very clearly, that there were many impacts, environmental, for infrastructure, and so forth, that were going to really hurt the area in the immediate time and possibly in an ongoing way if they retrofitted this, you know, shipping warehouse into something that was allegedly going to detain people in any kind of humane way.

Blaire Postman:

There was a filing by the new secretary that said to the court, hey. You know what? All that stuff, that just seems so negative. We're gonna house, like, maybe 500 people. It's not gonna be a big deal.

Blaire Postman:

One, do you think that that is accurate? Do you think they're telling the truth there? And if not, it just seems like a lie. How do we call them out? And do you think they're likely to overcome or at least get this case as it stands right now thrown out because they're gonna say, well, there's really not standing.

Blaire Postman:

There's really not the issues that are described.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

So first, I will say you can't trust anything they say. And when they phrase things as you described, they're trying to leave themselves a lot of running room. In the Kilmar Arbrego Garcia case, the folks at the Justice Department ordered some of the Justice Department lawyers to lie to the courts. And there's an ongoing whistleblower case where, to his great credit, one of the lawyers, by the way, who'd been actually heralded during the first Trump administration for work he did on something, said, no, I'm not going to lie. And so he quit.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

So you really can't trust them. In the case of Hagerstown, and this is, as you said, in Washington County, it's actually close to Williamsport in Washington County. I will say it's another case where public opposition resistance has been strong. I mean, I remember we had a rally months ago in freezing weather. We had hundreds of people turn out to say, we don't want an ICE detention center here.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And then, as you say, our attorney general in Maryland filed the lawsuit. So we are pushing back hard. The DHS has already wasted over $100,000,000 of our money, taxpayer money, purchasing this warehouse. And then they're saying they're going to spend hundreds of millions more to retrofit it and then detain up to 1,500 people. As you said, this facility, even if they wanted to do that, doesn't have the real capacity in terms of local water and sewer and all of those impacts to do that.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And so they're trying to backpedal a little bit, but we need to keep the pressure on. I mean, bottom line is remain vigilant, keep pushing. I want to really salute other counties in Maryland, like Howard County, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Baltimore City, others. They've all passed laws prohibiting ICE detention centers in those counties. Howard County had to move very quickly because they got word that ICE was going to build one.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And I remember within a week, they passed a local ordinance barring it. So other counties have been good in responding. Unfortunately, the Washington County Commissioners did not act to block it. In fact, they said they kind of wanted it.

Blaire Postman:

They really did.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

But people don't want it. And so we're all pushing back. But remain vigilant is the bottom line.

Blaire Postman:

And by remaining vigilant, just as basic as if there's a protest and you can show up, show up. Just keep sending emails even to the people who are in government who you don't think agree with you. Is there anything else along those lines you'd recommend?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Right, those are the main things. Showing up matters. And again, I think it mattered when we all showed up in Hagerstown months ago. It's mattered that people in Minneapolis showed up. So keep showing up, but keep doing the other things you're talking about as well.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And sometimes we benefit from information that comes in the hands of somebody locally, right? They see a filing at the local courthouse or at the local Washington County Department of Environmental Services. And having that information close to real time also can make a difference.

Blaire Postman:

Yeah. I know Hagerstown Rapid Response and some of the other groups are really

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Yeah.

Blaire Postman:

They're doing great. Really made it almost These people have second full time jobs now. So much appreciation to everyone who's doing that. You know, they they are acting as if things have calmed down in Minneapolis or or across the country. Like, oh, we're much less intense now.

Blaire Postman:

Is that accurate? Should people believe that ICE has tamped down its its procedures, its work, that it's being a kinder, gentler ICE out there right now?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

No. That's just not true. In fact, you mentioned a case we just had in Maryland within the last forty eight hours. A fellow by the name of Ever who has ICE has not even alleged that he has any kind of past criminal record. He's married, he's a member of the community.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

He was rear ended by ICE vehicles, he ended up in the hospital, the Johns Hopkins Hospital. They would not allow him to see his lawyers in his room. They wouldn't allow the hospital to share any of his medical records with his lawyers so that they could understand his medical situation. As we speak he's now in the Fallon Building. So he is now in ICE detention and we're very involved in monitoring this case and in touch with his lawyers.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

But as we were discussing, they continue to take people off the streets who by their own account pose no risk to public safety.

Blaire Postman:

And may have legal status.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

In many cases they have legal status. In many, many cases they have legal status. And despite that, they just decided to ship them up ship them away. And we have been successful in getting some of them brought back home. But in the case of this small businesswoman in Hagerstown, she was had a nail salon, Vietnamese American woman.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

She had been here twenty years, beloved in the community, very popular business. They took her, they sent her to detention in Washington state and then they brought her back. But when she showed up at her ICE monitoring session, they picked her up and deported her to Vietnam.

Blaire Postman:

I was there at at outside the Fallon Building the day that Camaro Brigo Garcia was he had come back. It's the day he came back on like a Friday and they're like, oh, guess what? You have a a check-in hearing on Monday. And they, of course, picked him up again. That's the thing I think that gets everyone so frustrated and why they're so grateful to see someone go say, go to El Salvador or do other things just to bring spotlight on it, that it just seems completely lawless.

Blaire Postman:

And there are no rules, and it just they wanna send people to a black hole and so they can never complain. That was just me talking. I had a frustration outside. Your mommy dream.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

This this is the other why it is so important for everyone to shine a light on it, whether it's with their camera or with their voice. I mean, take the Baltimore Holding facility. You probably remember when that video went viral of people just crammed in there, totally inhumane conditions. I tried to go the next day. They refused to let me in.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

We were able to go back a number of weeks later because a judge had made clear what we all understood, which is that members of Congress have a right and I believe a responsibility to go conduct oversight. But when we went, it was interesting, day we went there was nobody there. A federal judge from Baltimore who works out of that same building, it's a government building, federal government called the Fallon, as you know, you've been in front of it, had just issued an order saying that they could not hold more than 55 people there at once. Now, just to give you an idea of how many people they had been holding there, they claimed it could take up to two twenty six people. In fact, they claimed that just one room could humanely take more than the 55 people the judge said was the capacity.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And they have five rooms there. Totally inadequate conditions, inhumane conditions. But my point is that all of this, you, the protesters, the people with cameras, the judges, all of this is part of the system to protect people's rights, including their constitutional rights to due process and free speech.

Blaire Postman:

Yeah. Those are pretty important. They just don't seem to exist when it comes to ICE in my view. I was a lawyer for a hot minute a very long time ago. I did wanna ask about Baltimore, the detention center in the Fallon Building, which is maybe less than a half mile from where I'm sitting right now.

Blaire Postman:

We understood that there was maybe an expansion going on there, that they were going to put try to put even more people there. Do you know anything about the current conditions there? You were able to go and check-in a couple of weeks or so ago, but have you heard anything else since then?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

I don't know of any expansion. There was a period of time when we noticed an increase in the number of ICE vehicles at a parking garage in Baltimore and we inquired about it and the vehicles disappeared, went somewhere else. I don't know of any plans to increase the use of that holding facility because the judge now has said, you know, you cap it at this many people, 55 people. So we really don't know what their plans are. And you're raising another point.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

It's not that we haven't asked. We ask repeatedly. I I and members of our Maryland delegation, we have sent lots of letters former DHS secretary Christy Noem. We will make more inquiries to the new guy, Mullen. And they just it's it's like a black hole, you know?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

They just don't want people to know what's happening. And because they understand that when people know, people don't like what they see.

Blaire Postman:

Going just quickly to Stephen Miller. I call him beta vampire. He's the least charismatic vampire. So he's not he's not confirmed by congress or the senate, but he clearly has an influence even as this has gotten more and more unpopular. You see in every poll, he's still very close, obviously, to the president.

Blaire Postman:

This is something that is apparently his whole reason for being. Is there anything that can hold somebody like that accountable? It's not somebody who can be impeached by the senate. This is something where we have to hope to, you know, take back one of the houses or both in congress.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

So with Steve Miller, as long as Donald Trump wants to keep him there Yeah. He's gonna be able to stay there. Now, you know, look what happened to, you know, Kristi Noem. Ultimately, you know, Trump decided she was a liability for a lot of reasons. We obviously saw that happen with Pam Bondi.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

There are, you know, rumors that others are going to fall from the cabinet. Unfortunately what we know about Steve Miller and Donald Trump is that they really are peas in a pod and Steve Miller is the implementer for all of the outrageous Trump actions when it comes to ICE lawlessness. And I think what we need to do is continue to really shine a spotlight on his comments, because what Trump has tried to do, as we've said, is put a new image on all this, right? Like that memo, don't call it mass deportations. But Steve Miller often cannot help himself.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

He wants mass deportations. I mean

Blaire Postman:

He loves talking about them. He just

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

This is his thing. I mean, we don't have to talk about all all the things that may have happened when he was a kid. I don't know.

Blaire Postman:

Right. But what We we do not have the time for that.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

No. But whatever but, you know, he is somebody who, you know, cruelty is part of the purpose in terms of how he wants to implement these plans. And I don't see him changing at all. However, he's one person that when he's asked, usually just says that, yeah, this is mass deportation, even though Trump is trying to pretend that this is a different policy, trying to pretend that they're focused on the worst of the worst when we know again that overwhelmingly the people that they're rounding up and deporting do not pose a public safety risk.

Blaire Postman:

What next? Which may be more of the same. You know? But what's next for anyone in this fight, including elected officials? What can they do?

Blaire Postman:

And then what gives you hope?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Well, what's next is also kind of what gives me hope as long as people keep showing up and keep pushing back. Because a year ago when I went down to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and begin to try to bring him back in accordance with a nine-zero Supreme Court decision. Back then, people were not willing to push back. That has changed dramatically. And we've seen, starting then, a shift in public opinion.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And so what that has done is it has put the Trump folks on defense on these issues. And it is what is also the it's public sentiment that has given a lot of my Senate Democratic colleagues you know, the willingness to push back and say not one more dime for this lawless ICE operation. And so we need to keep doing the same. We need to make it just harder for Trump to do what they want to do. And the more we can get this into the court system, you know, the better overall.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

So what really gives me hope are people who are not giving up. I mean, was around throughout the state of Maryland on No Kings Day. There were thousands of people. I did five stops in Aberdeen. I mean, there were like thousands of people out in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

For those of you who don't know Maryland who may be listening, it's a pretty rural overall conservative red area. People are mad and they were showing up. And so that's, as we were saying at the beginning, don't lose the anger because we have a good reason to be mad. Our democracy is under attack, our constitution is under attack and we are kind of like the antibodies that are protecting our democracy. And that's what gives me hope is that we are seeing people turn out and fight back.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And of course the midterms are another opportunity. I mean, the Trump folks are trying to do everything they can to rig those elections.

Blaire Postman:

Including possibly sending ICE agents out?

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Yeah, no, they're trying to win by subtraction. They want people who they think are going to vote against them to be scared away, stay home. And so the other thing people can do is don't be scared. They want us to be scared. They want us to shut up and it's great to see people are responding to their efforts to shut people up by speaking out even louder and showing up in bigger numbers and show up at the polls.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

And so, it's all sometimes I'm asked what can we all do? And I say there's no posse coming. It's not like there's you know, the cavalry is not over the hill. It's all of us. It really is.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

That's what gives me hope.

Blaire Postman:

We are the heroes we've been waiting for. Well, thank you so much, senator. I would love to talk to you some other time about all of your other your expertise in foreign affairs, all the time you spent overseas, but this issue really seems to permeate. It seems to touch everything else that they're trying to impose that's bad on all Americans. And so I appreciate you taking the time to do the deep dive on this.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Well, it's great to be with you and the cat ladies.

Blaire Postman:

Thank you. I do a little clause out at the end. That's my little ending there. Sorry. So I do a one two three clause out and then a little you wanna come in on a you know, you're very welcome to.

Blaire Postman:

No pressure. Governor Moore did. But the but but also, you know, I'm gonna do it.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen:

Hey. You're in? I'm all for claws out.

Blaire Postman:

Right? Okay. We are we are a claws out vibe organization. One two three, claws out. Wow.

Blaire Postman:

Thank you, senator. And thank you to your team. Good to be with you.