Philadelphia lawmakers pass legislation condemning Trump for ‘acting like a king’ | City Council roundup

Philadelphia lawmakers continued their efforts to castigate President Donald Trump on Thursday, passing legislation condemning the president for “likening himself to, and acting like, a king.”

The largely Democratic City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution that says the president, who began his second term in January, is “moving our nation closer to a constitutional crisis” and has “put the United States of America closer to tyranny than we have been since 1776.”

Councilmember Brian O’Neill, the chamber’s only Republican, opposed.

Also Thursday, a Council member introduced a bill to add automated speed cameras to five school zones in the city. Here’s what went down.

Condemning Trump for “acting like a king”: City Council members have taken a handful of actions to express their disdain for the president, including holding hearings about how the city should protect residents against the administration’s policies on immigrants and LGBTQ people.

This week’s action was more or less ceremonial and put lawmakers on the record condemning the president for likening himself to a monarch.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, a Democrat who represents parts of West Philadelphia, introduced the legislation after Trump earlier this month posted on social media about his efforts to end a congestion pricing effort in New York City, writing on his Truth Social website: “LONG LIVE THE KING!”

The White House’s official social media accounts followed up with posts that said the same and included artwork of Trump wearing a crown.

Gauthier said Philadelphia elected officials have a unique responsibility to call out Trump through legislation, given that the city is “the place where the Constitution was ratified.”

“Since the beginning of our democracy, we’ve had every president ... respect the separation of powers,” she said. “To have this president come in, and in such a short amount of time try to destroy that, and be quite up front about his intentions, is alarming.”

The ceremonial legislation from City Council condemning national Republicans didn’t stop with Trump. Also on Thursday, Councilmember Jim Harrity, a Democrat with deep ties to organized labor who represents the city at-large, introduced legislation opposing the National Right to Work Act, a bill introduced by two U.S. senators this week.

» READ MORE: Empty chamber? Philly lawmakers continue notably slow pace of legislation

The legislation, authored by Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), guarantees workers the right to decline to be in a union if their workplace is unionized.

Adding speed cameras to school zones: Councilmember Isaiah Thomas introduced a bill Thursday to allow for the installation and use of automated speed-enforcement cameras in five school zones in an effort to limit traffic fatalities.

Thomas has named seven possible locations, which were determined by the city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems’ evaluation of crash data, for the speed cameras:

The bill, if passed, would implement a five-year pilot program that was authorized by a state law enacted in late 2023. City Council can authorize all seven locations to receive ASE cameras, but state law prohibits more than five within this pilot program to be active at any given time.

Thomas said in an interview that the legislation is a way to address traffic deaths while the city seeks “more flexibility and freedom” from the state to add cameras itself.

He said the city “constantly” has to seek permission from the state to add speed cameras, even on roads where there are documented speeding problems, such as Roosevelt Boulevard and Broad Street. Since cameras were installed on Roosevelt Boulevard, speeding violations and crashes on the throughway dropped sharply, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

That was Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke on why he sees value in the ceremonial resolutions that Council has increasingly relied on as lawmakers consider fewer bills than they have in years past.

O’Rourke, of the progressive Working Families Party, was defending a resolution he authored that calls on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Philadelphia resident Sereyrath “One” Van from custody.

Staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed reporting.