Sen. Andy Kim: In these dangerous times, continue to express sentiments peacefully

Oct. 13, 2025 Cliffside Park - Sen. Andrew Kim (D-NJ) told members of the ethnic media on a dreary Monday morning that Americans are living in dangerous times, with the disintegration of government programs on health, education, and safety protections for people. But also noted the need to continue to protest peacefully.

Speaking before the ethnic press to respond to pressing concerns of New Jerseyians, Kim tackled issues - from ensuring government checks and balances at the Senate to protecting people from indiscriminate ICE rounding and disappearing, and the ongoing government shutdown.

Sen. Andrew Kim

In a nutshell, Kim said that as a senator, he has created measures to stop the overreach of power. “We just don't have the numbers. This is a Republican Senate. But we are talking to Republican senators. Certain actions are weakening us, like tariffs and health and education budget cuts, measures where we are supposed to improve on," he said.

The online press briefing was initiated by the Center for Cooperative Media of the Montclair State University in NJ and hosted by Anthony Advincula.

Senator Kim was raised in South Jersey. He attended public schools, and now lives down the street from his childhood home in Moorestown with his wife and their two sons. Kim is not only the first Korean American to be elected to the US Senate, but also the first Asian American to represent New Jersey in the Senate. He has been a strong voice for working families and for a more transparent and responsive government.

We are posting 1 of 2 parts of this conversation. Excerpts:

Senator Andy Kim (SAK):

I did want to just start by saying how honored I've been to be able to represent my home state. As mentioned, I'm the son of immigrants. I'm married to an immigrant. My father came to the United States a little over 50 years ago as a foreign student to try to build more opportunities and a family here. For me to, last year, about 10 months ago, be sworn in as the first Korean American ever in the US Senate, but also the first Asian American ever in the Senate from the entire East Coast of America. Senator Booker and I are the only all-minority Senate delegation in America right now, and I think it reflects the diversity of New Jersey. 

There's no doubt these have been challenging times in the United States, and challenging times in terms of what comes next. I feel ready for this and been stepping up to be able to represent my state and be able to protect people in this time of need. Whether that's from the challenges we're seeing facing so many people in this state when it comes to immigration, when it comes to healthcare challenges, as so many are facing in terms of potentially not being able to afford their healthcare.

And right now, during a government shutdown, our federal workers, our service members at the joint base and Picatinny and other military facilities that are working without getting a paycheck. I'm hearing from them and trying to do my best to be able to bring this shutdown to a close and be able to have the kind of support to the American people that this country deserves.

The Government Shutdown

Anthony Advincula: Thank you, Senator. Please allow me to open the Q&A by asking you the first question. We are still in government shutdown, and it creates a broader impact on vulnerable communities, particularly the low income, by disrupting essential services and stalling local economies. Does the cost for which you are willing to shut down the government is worth the economic harm it is causing these communities you represent in New Jersey? 

SAK: Well, first and foremost, it's the Republicans and the White House that are shutting down the government. They control the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives; they have the congressional majorities and the gavels. They are the ones that chose not to engage in negotiations. Donald Trump said not to deal with the Democrats. We've been asking since the summer for negotiations. We did not get a single sit-down meeting until the day before the shutdown. 

And while Democrats are showing up in Congress and the Senate has been in session, Speaker Johnson has given the House of Representatives a paid vacation. They are not showing up to work. They're continuing to get paid even though our military troops are not. He is preventing negotiations from happening. I'm showing up at the Capitol. I'll be back there tomorrow.

We're ready to negotiate and we've been talking in the Senate, but we don't have anyone in the House. I just want that to really hit home to people that this needs to be a negotiation, that's how it's always been. And that the lack of effort by this administration, in part because they just want to have it 100% their way. They are unwilling to be able to engage in any conversation, and we're seeing that. 

Yes, look, I understand the concerns about government services during the shutdown. I worked in government before as a civil servant in several shutdowns. I know how hard this is for federal employees as well as others. But what we've already seen is that this is an administration and a Republican congress that has been systematically gutting these programs already. The budget that they are trying to ram through without any Democratic input is a budget that would dramatically cut back on programs that are needed. I'm hopeful that we can get back to the negotiating table and to be able to come up with an agreed-upon budget, just as we have in past years, that's trying to help provide healthcare to millions of Americans rather than taking it away. 

Sen. Kim responds to questions on checks and balances: This is Republican Senate. We are outnumbered. But we continue to reach out to Republican senators.

AA: Checks and balances are something that we worry about. I'm going to ask Marivir Montebon to ask her question about this. 

Marivir Montebon: I know the Democrats are outnumbered in the Senate, but still, Filipinos are very concerned about the unfolding of dictatorship because we have seen this not so long ago in our home country, the Philippines. So, what is the Senate doing to effectively protect checks and balances in government now? Especially that we see President Trump has clearly been ignoring this and he has this character to just ignore it and push for what he believes? 

SAK: In this day and age, you can't talk about the Senate as a whole in terms of how it's engaged with the Trump administration. I have real concerns about the lawlessness. I just gave remarks on the floor of the Senate talking about how we're seeing mob boss tactics right now by the Trump administration, whether that's actions... I'm here in Newark right now.

I can look out into the projects of the Gateway Tunnel Project and the Portal Bridge. The efforts that they've taken to hold off and stop the money flowing to this project just because they're angry at Democrats for standing up against this lawlessness. That is very dangerous. 

That is the type of action that I saw when I was in diplomacy working abroad as a State Department officer. I saw that kind of action in authoritarian states. I never thought that I would see it here at home. And what we see right now is we don't have three functioning branches of government right now because the Congressional Republican leadership has abdicated their responsibility. The Constitution is what I swear my oath to protect. That's not to a political party or an individual president. 

The President of the United States has been engaged in efforts to rescind parts of the budget that we pass through the Congress by law. These types of actions are undermining Congress's authorities to be able to set the national budget. It's part of why we don't trust this president right now in terms of the agreements that we can come up to in this government shutdown. We have been taking actions as Senate Democrats against the lawlessness, standing up and trying to vote against these rescissions. We're going to keep trying and also let the American people know that this is not something that can continue to go on.

Peaceful Protest and Political Rhetoric 

AA: The next one is coming from Don Tagala. He works for a Filipino television station in New Jersey. Don, can you ask your question, please? 

Don Tagala: On October 18th, millions of people will be joining the peaceful No Kings Day protest, including New Jerseyans. House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as other Republicans, are calling this the Hate America Protest. They say it's part of a terrorist network and hell-bent on destroying America. So, how dangerous is this false talking point about a known peaceful protest, and what should New Jerseyans or New Jersey protesters and media covering the event keep in mind as they attend the No Kings Day? 

SAK: Well, look, first and foremost, everybody has the right for peaceful protest for their First Amendment rights, and that's something that we have to protect. And we've seen a lot of attacks and assaults upon those rights. We've seen that in the media in terms of how this administration is trying to crack down on journalists and others from being able to speak out. And with regards to the protest, we see it right now across this country where this administration has deployed federal agents and national guard, trying to say that they are trying to step up against a rebellion or insurrection, but it's actually just people trying to express their right and to be able to say and express what they want to in this country and the freedom to do so. That is really dangerous. 

I hope people in New Jersey, if they want to partake, they should, and that they should do so peacefully. And certainly, I'll do everything I can to try to ensure that that continues on peacefully and that any type of law enforcement or other presence respect people's right to be able to protest. The efforts by Speaker Johnson and others to try to shamefully call these protests as un-American and filled with hate, this is the kind of divisiveness and the kind of performative politics that honestly I just can't stand. I can't stand how they are trying to divide this country in this way.

I remember reading a survey that said that the majority of Americans would say and call people in the other political party the enemy. And I just think that that's such a dangerous place to be as a country. We should never use the word "enemy" to describe fellow Americans.

Optimism in the Current Administration 

AA: Senator, there is a very interesting question here from a Turkish publication. Essentially, he's asking, "What are the things that we can be optimistic about in this administration and in the near future?" 

SAK: I mean, look, there are goals that I would have been supportive of if it was done in the right way, but the way in which they've gone about this had been enormously damaging. For instance, I worked in federal government before. I know there's ways that we can make our government more efficient, and I would have supported working in bipartisan ways to be able to try to engage. But what they did with the Doge campaign and Elon Musk, and what they're continuing to do with Russell Vought in OMB, is absolutely wrong. It's something that is just trying to literally punish federal workers. 

I've tried to engage this administration on things that I see as potential common ground. So for instance, on innovation, I've been wanting to push on this. We helped get the CHIPS and Science Act through the last administration in a bipartisan way. And we've been trying to make some investments when it comes to artificial intelligence. This administration has taken some actions there that I find noteworthy and positive. 

I support the efforts, for instance, on shipbuilding that the Trump administration has been pushing on. I’m trying to find some bipartisan ways there to be able to engage. Yes, there are some actions there on shipbuilding that I think this administration is taking some good moves on and I will try to support that. But we also have to be mindful that it's not gonna happen overnight, and these tariffs are gonna actually make it harder for us to get the material here to actually do the shipbuilding. (To be continued)