The Providence Newspaper Guild Follies are gone, but Rhode Island politics remains the gift that keeps giving. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go. 

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1. STORY OF THE WEEK: Despite the breakneck pace of President Trump and Elon Musk as they try to remake the federal government, Attorney General Peter Neronha said, “I think you can, for the most part, put Humpty Dumpty back together again.” Neronha is among a number of Democratic attorneys general suing the administration on a range of issues. One case argues that the Department of Government Efficiency is illegal because it wasn’t created by Congress and since Musk was not subject to Senate approval. The world’s richest man recently hoisted a chainsaw to dramatize his effort to cut thousands of government employees and reduce or eliminate whole departments. But whether Musk likes it or not, the federal government is very slow moving, Neronha said during an interview on Political Roundtable. “So I think that if these courts will rule on our cases quickly, as I hope they will,” he added, “I think we can reverse some of the damage.” That’s a big if, though, and Neronha takes a dark view of Trump’s motivation, since, he said, the president is trying to sideline Congress and the judiciary: “There are three branches of government, we all know that. When two get sidelined, that means all power rests in one place in one man, the president. To me, that is a path to authoritarianism.” Will courts prove to be a backstop? “I do believe that our arguments are right on the law,” Neronha said. “I wouldn’t be bringing them or participating in them otherwise. I do believe they’re harmful to Americans and I believe at the end of the day, the courts will side with us.”

2. 2026 IS COMING: Gov. Dan McKee plans to announce his re-election campaign via video announcement Monday morning. While McKee campaign spokesman Mike Trainor said McKee will be available to reporters later in the day, the video is a way of allowing the governor to control his message. For more on the race for governor, see item #5.

3. THE BIG SPEND: Elon Musk claims that his cuts equal $65 billion in savings, but a review by various news organizations shows the correct number is $2 billion. “At this point, the $2 billion in savings identified by Elon Musk would pay for 1/75th of 1% of the entire national debt,” Jessica Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and former GOP economics staffer, told the PBS NewsHour. Making more impactful cuts to federal spending to pay for a U.S. House budget plan would require digging into four big bucks -- defense, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and the thinking is that the latter, which pays for healthcare for low-income people could be on the chopping block.

4. RHODE ISLAND SENATE: Back in January, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, 76, had enough respect and well-wishes in his chamber to coast to victory in another term for his leadership role even as almost a third of senators voted against him. But the issue of Ruggerio’s health has not gone away, as seen by how he was hospitalized at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, as Kathy Gregg first reported, with what his office called “a touch of pneumonia.” This comes almost eight years to the day after Ruggerio ascended to the Senate presidency and it raises the question of whether the dean of the Senate will expedite a transition to different leadership. Ruggerio’s former majority leader, Ryan Pearson of Cumberland, has a group of supporters. Other senators to watch include Majority Leader Val Lawson of East Providence, Majority Whip David Tikoian of Smithfield and Judiciary Chair Matthew LaMountain of Warwick. Meanwhile, the Senate, in a move to catch up with the House of Representatives, announced a resolution requiring the online posting of written testimony received by Senate committees. And the Senate is shifting to meeting two days a week starting next week instead of one.

5. BLEAK HOUSE: Just 28% of Rhode Islanders believe the state is headed in the right direction, according to the findings of ace pollster Joe Fleming for work commissioned by the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. In 2016, a Brown University poll found Ocean Staters evenly divided on the right track/wrong track question, so what has changed? News reports about various state government gaffes are a hardy staple hereabouts, so the Washington Bridge saga and more recent cyber-breach probably didn’t tip the scale. A random sample of input from the usual suspects points to the uncertainty of our current moment. More to the point, the 28% finding is noteworthy for what wasn’t in the AFL-CIO -- any approval/disapproval findings for elected officials and potential candidates. AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley declined to confirm the existence of a separate poll with that data, although it strains credulity to think that Rhode Island’s most powerful umbrella group for organized labor would not test the popularity of Gov. McKee, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Helena Foulkes as we edge closer to 2026. In that respect, the 28% right track finding may be considered a flashing warning sign for the incumbent governor.

6. PAYDAY LENDING: Groups backing same-day voter registration and banning smoking at Rhode Island’s two casinos quickly seized on the Fleming poll in advocating for their respective causes. And for critics of payday lending, who have been stymied for more than 15 years in trying to curb the industry, the poll found that 55% of respondents favor capping payday APR at the equivalent of 28%. This is an issue where Senate President Ruggerio has been considered the top opponent (“Haven’t even looked at it,” he told me in the waning weeks of the 2021 session. “I didn’t know a bill was in”), so a transition in leadership -- sooner or later -- may deliver a different result. 

7. WASHINGTON BRIDGE: The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS are embarking on a cross-platform project, Breaking Point: The Washington Bridge, and we want your input about how the bridge has affected your life and what questions you have about it.

8. REPUBLICAN THUNDER: RI GOP Chairman Joe Powers will square off with challenger Jessica Drew-Day in an election taking place Saturday, March 1. Republican representation in the General Assembly remained static with 14 of 113 lawmakers after elections lat November. Drew-Day is pressing a change argument, while Powers appears to have strong backing from elected GOP officials. Nancy Lavin has a detailed look at the matchup. As Steve Frias tells her, it’s the first attempt to oust an incumbent GOP chair in 30 years. 

9. NERONHA NUGGETS: Added highlights from my interview with the term-limited AG --

***Neronha said his timeline on deciding on a run for lieutenant governor or other office in 2026 is this summer.

***Asked about how the federal lawsuit over CVS’ oversight of opioids poses a political headache for Helena Foulkes, Neronha said, “It’s something she’s going to have to answer …. Look, I’m a fan of others too. I think if the speaker were to run for governor, I think he would be an excellent candidate. I have no idea whether he will in the end, but he’s done a great job as speaker and our relationship is very close. I think Rhode Islanders need at a minimum a choice for change at the top of the Democratic ticket. And I’m looking forward to that array of choices.”

***Neronha said former U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha has not shared whether he plans to run for AG next year.

***Asked what former Secret Service agent-NYC cop-turned-right-wing podcaster Dan Bongino’s appointment as deputy FBI director means for how FBI agents operate in Rhode Island, Neronha said, “I know already they have been taken off some of their regular duties, like national security to, to focus on immigration when that should be the focus of Homeland Security, not the FBI. That’s why we have these different agencies. So yeah, I’m really concerned about it. Look, I think the Justice Department as a whole is going to need to be reconstructed after this president leaves office.”

10. CLASH: Is a conflict of interest complaint against U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, just another partisan volley between the progressive senator and his conservative critics, or something more substantive? Ted Nesi takes a detailed look at the back and forth, including this view from John Marion, executive director of Common Cause of RI, a top local watchdog on government ethics: “If money is awarded through a competitive grant process I would be very surprised if any ethics body would punish a legislator for voting on a bill as a whole that created the grant program. Typically ethics problems occur when legislators use their office to steer money to a particular recipient, like through the use of earmarks.”

11. HOUSING CRUNCH: House Speaker Joe Shekarchi is not minimizing the challenge of expanding the state’s housing supply, although he contends progress is slowly unfolding. Shekarchi this week unveiled the fifth consecutive effort in the House to nudge along progress. While the speaker is holding off on a punitive approach to cities and towns that resist more housing, he touted the issue as a political winner, based on strong support for last year’s housing bond, the voting out of Narragansett town councilors who he said were opposed to more housing, and victories by Rep. June Speakman (D-Warren) and Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-Coventry) over anti-housing candidates.

12. NEW YORK SYSTEM: David Wright has the bittersweet story of how a growing Newport restaurant group is taking over the storied Olneyville New York System wiener business. Excerpt: “Neither the restaurant’s staff nor its fiercely loyal patrons begrudge the Stevens siblings their retirement plan. But many do worry that things might change at the Olneyville New York System — and a big part of the place’s charm is that it hasn’t changed in years. The New York System is, oddly enough, a Rhode Island invention. At least that term is. Plenty of cities have their own beloved hot dog joints. There’s Pinks in LA, Ted’s Red Hots in Buffalo, Papaya King in Manhattan, and of course Nathan’s in Coney Island. But none of them offer the New York System. According to [longtime employee George] Saccoccio, the system refers to a style of lunch counter restaurants developed by Greek immigrants to New York, where the kitchen and dining area are separated just by the long countertop where customers sit. ‘There’s no separate area where the food is cooked. The customers see us prepare everything,’ he said.”

13. PUBLIC ACCESS: The RI ACLU has some good news and points to the need for improvement in remote access to public municipal meetings.

14. KICKER: The Providence Newspaper Guild Follies used to take place on the last Friday in February at the Venus de Milo in Swansea, a way for Rhode Islanders to laugh at ourselves and our foibles. There was “Chafee-Style” and any number of other funny skits. There was biting satire and booze and a cholesterol-drenched buffet. Raise a glass. 

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@thepublicsradio.org