Key Hawaii Republicans offered differing viewsw of President Donald Trump three months into his second term, with some continuing their full support while others are hearing from constituents who regret voting for him.
State House Minority Floor Leader Diamond Garcia (Ewa-Kapolei) continues to back Trump and his administration’s efforts to slash spending and reduce the federal workforce through his new, unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, arguing both are long overdue.
“The vast majority of the American people support the efforts of DOGE and what they’re doing,” Garcia said. “The American people want accountability.”
Assistant Minority Leader Kanani Souza, like Garcia and other House and Senate Republicans, also represents a West Oahu district, Kapolei-Makakilo.
But she’s heard differently from her constituents, including fears about Trump’s elimination of federal programs aimed at supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, and his often- conflicting messages about possible cuts to programs including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps.
Souza said some people are “concerned about funding cuts for Native Hawaiian programs.”
“A lot of my constituents, both sides of the aisle, are concerned with whether Social Security will be cut in the future. A lot of what we’re seeing is a wait-and-see scenario,” she said.
Souza and Garcia represent different ends of Hawaii Republican ideology in the nine-member Republican House caucus and three- member Senate Republican caucus.
House Minority Whip Elijah Pierick, who represents the West Side district of Royal Kunia-Waipahu- Honouliuli, agrees with Garcia that America should focus on its own citizens rather than send aid to foreign countries, sometimes for programs that “mainstream” Americans may not support.
“I think our U.S. citizens in our state are much more important to be focused on than people in every other country,” Pierick said.
Unlike Souza’s constituents, Garcia said voters in his district tell him they like Trump’s policies after years of feeling “left behind.”
Trump’s predecessors, Garcia said, “were focusing on all of these ridiculous other things like climate change and gender issues versus the cost of living. That’s why West Oahu has pretty much flipped red.”
“People were just frustrated that this is what the government was focusing on, not on lowering the cost of living, not on bringing Hawaiians back to Hawaii from the mainland.”
Similarly, Assistant House Minority Leader David Alcos III (Ocean Pointe-Barbers Point) said he and his constituents share conservative values and their confidence in Trump’s decision making.
“While I acknowledge that there are differing opinions, the overwhelming majority I encounter are supportive of President Trump,” he wrote in a text to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “My constituents feel that for the first time in a long while, their voices are being heard, and they see real action being taken on the issues that matter to them.
“Many have also expressed their support for the work being done by Elon Musk, particularly regarding a wasteful overspending by the government, and savings of our taxpayers’ money.”
But Souza has noticed what she calls a “shift” toward common ground between some Republican and Democratic voters over their concerns for Trump’s actions.
“I have some other constituents who are telling me, ‘I voted for President Trump and I’m not happy with what I’m seeing,’” she said.
“This is a very different scenario than maybe even six months ago or eight months ago when I was campaigning. It was very polarized.”
Under the new administration in Washington, the Legislature now has to look to “forecasting our needs at the state level in case some of these programs are cut from (federal) funding,” Souza said.
Pierick trusts Trump’s decision making and thinks Hawaii should rely less on federally funded programs.
“I don’t think we should feed anybody that’s not working as an adult that’s able to work,” Pierick said. “Everybody that’s getting these free handouts needs to go to work, get a job, use a paycheck to buy their own food. Hawaii needs to grow up and not have a baby mentality of ‘We need more resources.’ We need to be more self sufficient.”
Tamara McKay, chair of the Hawaii Republican Party, called the reaction among local Republicans to Trump’s first months in office “definitely mixed, of course.” But she believes in the overall goals of Trump and his administration, even if it means reduced funding for Hawaii’s nonprofit organizations, education and other programs, including a reduced federal workforce across the islands.
“Once he cleans house, we will be able to move forward in a healthy way for the country,” McKay said. “A lot of people are saying they want DOGE to come to Hawaii because they feel the level of corruption in the state of Hawaii is out of control. I agree. We need a good enema. It’s not exclusive to one party. Our whole state needs to be reset.”
She wants the Trump administration to investigate Hawaii’s nonprofit organizations, the state Office of Elections, state Department of Education and the federal veterans affairs and Social Security agencies in how they operate and spend money.
At the same time, McKay said she understands the ongoing questions and concerns over how Musk has been operating DOGE.
“I agree there is some frustration and lack of transparency,” she said. “I can see both sides. In some cases, it’s too fast and not strategic and using a hatchet approach. With some of the programs (that were cut), I have to agree it was too much too soon. But I do believe you’re going to see in the next couple of months that it’s going to get better.”
While Trump promised to end the wars in Gaza and Ukraine immediately, as well as turn around the U.S. economy, McKay said he promised instant results he could not deliver on.
“We love Trump. We love Trump,” she said. “But sometimes it’s unrealistic to say the economy’s going to get better on Day One. He was not being realistic.”
House Minority Leader Lauren Matsumoto (Mililani- Waipio Acres-Mililani Mauka) said she’s more focused on state issues than paying attention to every Trump administration headline coming out of Washington on a daily basis.
But constituents still turn to her office seeking explanations about the effects of the president’s actions, especially his recent executive order to close the U.S. Department of Education and what it means for education in Hawaii.
Some constituents have reached out to Matsumoto, mistakenly believing that “I talk to Trump every week because they want to know, ‘What is Trump thinking about this or that?’ I say, ‘I know just as much as you.’”
Asked to characterize constituents’ reaction to Trump so far, Matsumoto said, “We get a mix of calls from people who are fearful of what’s going to be happening next. … I do think the media, especially the national media, stirs up fears that may not be warranted. So they’re hearing mixed messages about what the media are saying.”
Overall, Matsumoto’s waiting to see how Trump’s early actions affect Hawaii and the rest of the country.
“Maybe a shake-up is what needs to happen,” she said. “… No matter what side you’re on, people can admit that there’s a need for changes. Change is not always easy, and sometimes there will be changes that people will have to reverse or fix.”
As for now, Matsumoto said, “There’s so much we don’t know, and so much is speculation. But as a state, we need to take a deep-dive look at what we’re spending and ensure we have a responsible government.
“I’m glad these conversations are coming to light.”
