We’re nearing the end of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, so Cincy Jewfolk is publishing interviews with two Jewish Cincinnati elected leaders – State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn, and Congressman Greg Landsman – as they speak about this controversial and tumultuous time. You can read the interview with Isaacsohn here, and Landsman here. These interviews were done in February and March.
For State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), it’s been “alarming” to watch how quickly the second Trump administration has reduced fundamental services – which include deep funding cuts and mass firings, throwing the likes of social security, veteran’s affairs, and health services into chaos.
“They’re going to make it harder for veterans to access quality health care,” Isaacsohn said. “They’re going to make it harder for kids to get lunch and breakfast at schools. They’re going to make it harder for students with disabilities to access federal funds.”
The cuts have been led by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While Isaacsohn agrees with the need for more government efficiency, he says DOGE serves Musk and other “crony oligarch friends,” rather than most working people.
As a result, Isaacsohn sees everyday life getting more expensive for families across the Cincinnati area. That’s the opposite of Trump’s campaign promises of lowering prices after years of high inflation.
“What did the President say – that we’re going to win so much we’re going to get tired of winning?” Isaacsohn said. “Well, it doesn’t feel like we’re winning. Because [the Trump administration] are just jacking up prices when things are already too expensive.”
Making matters worse, for many people it feels like there’s no way to push back. Democrats are largely fighting amongst themselves, and no matter the strong rhetoric against Trump, they are locked out of the decision-making process with a Republican-controlled Congress.
So what is there to do, especially for an elected official like Isaacsohn?
“I get that question all the time from constituents and even friends and family,” he said. “What I usually start by saying is, one thing I will not let the Trump administration do…is strip me of my optimism, my belief that we can work towards something better, and my willingness to do that work.”
Everyone has a different answer for how to approach taking action, but for Isaacsohn, it means focusing on what he can do at the state level for people in Ohio.
Among his priority issues: Bringing down property taxes, funding education, and addressing the housing crisis.
“I do think there are things we can make progress on, and I won’t let the negative spiral coming out of DC and the chaos make me cynical or jaded,” Isaacsohn said. “I hope other people don’t either, because we’ll lose a lot more than just policy fights if we let that happen.”
Among the reasons to stay positive is a remarkable increase in the Jewish Caucus at the Ohio Legislature. Before the 2024 election, Isaacsohn was one of two Jewish lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse.
Now, he’s one of six – all Democrats. As a group, they’re guided by the classic Jewish public service value of Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world, he said. They also are trying to build bridges with other minority communities and create solidarity against bigotry.
“We are the only Jewish elected officials in Ohio with a statewide purview, and so we focus a lot on how we can be a part of not only reducing hate, but increasing tolerance and inclusion and diversity,” Isaacsohn said.
Still, times are tough. Like Congress, the Ohio Statehouse is dominated by Republicans, who scored a major victory this year by passing a contentious overhaul of higher education.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1, bans diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at universities. It also takes aim at faculty by banning strikes, making it easier to fire tenured professors, and enforcing “intellectual diversity” while mandating professors not to “indoctrinate” students with specific perspectives on “controversial beliefs” in the classroom.
A provision of the bill could also directly endanger the Judaic Studies department at the University of Cincinnati.
“It’s an infantilization of our students, and it really harms the ability for Ohio to provide high-quality higher education, which is at the bedrock of any sort of economic development and future for the state,” Isaacsohn said.
Meanwhile, as federal cuts stack up, there’s little Isaacsohn can do at the state level to support people losing essential funding and resources.
“There are some things that only the federal government can provide, and so the state could attempt to make up some of the gap,” he said. But “I don’t trust that the majority party in the Ohio Legislature would even attempt to – quite the opposite.”
As Isaacsohn balances this fraught reality with his sense of hope and perseverance, he also takes a note from the history of American Jewish activism.
“Among the things that make me the most proud to be a Jewish American is the history of Jews always standing at the forefront of social justice issues and fighting back against fascism,” he said.
“We stand on the shoulders of some giants in those spaces, and so we have to honor that legacy by never turning our back on those core principles and values: that we stand up for people who are marginalized, who are getting taken advantage of, who don’t have the ability to fight for themselves.”
Isaacsohn recognizes that the Jewish community doesn’t necessarily have one set of political beliefs, and many Jews are divided over the policies that the Trump administration is pursuing.
Nonetheless, “I do think that now is the time to really lean in to those values and not let the cynicism and chaos of the moment weaken the things that have helped make us who we are.”
