The NJ GOP’s “Deafening Silence” on Republican Misconduct

Allegations of inappropriate behavior by a public official are serious, and the investigation involving Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell is no exception.

Governor Mikie Sherrill has said that any credible reports of inappropriate behavior or misconduct must be fully examined and that she will take appropriate action if the evidence warrants. Her administration has retained an outside law firm led by former New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino to investigate.

That measured approach stands in sharp contrast to the theatrical response from Senate Republican Minority Leader Anthony Bucco and his colleagues. Bucco called for Caldwell’s resignation almost immediately rather than wait for the results of the independent investigation now underway. He and Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio have since called for a separate legislative investigation with subpoena power.

“I believe in due process, but Caldwell resigning would be the best thing for our residents,” Bucco said.

That sentence isn’t quite an oxymoron, but “deafening silence” is—and that's what we seem to get from the NJ GOP whenever allegations of misconduct involve Donald Trump or anyone else in their own party, whether nationally or locally.

Consider Ohio Congressman Max Miller, who has refused to step aside amid serious allegations of domestic abuse and child endangerment, including claims that he held a gun to his ex-wife’s head and harmed their young daughter. Miller denies the allegations. Neither Trump nor House Republican leadership have called on Miller to resign. 

Consider Sussex County Republican Chairman Joseph LaBarbera, who was arrested on September 12, 2026 on serious gun charges, including aggravated assault with a firearm and endangering a child. He has pleaded not guilty. Republican legislators representing Sussex County responded by asking LaBerbera, who, again, has actually been arrested and criminally charged, to take a temporary leave of absence while the case proceeds. They did not ask him to resign. 

The double standard doesn't stop with personal misconduct. New Jersey Republicans also have remarkably little to say when the Trump administration takes actions that punish our state.

This September, the Trump administration rejected New Jersey's appeal for $84.4 million in FEMA disaster assistance following February's massive winter storm. FEMA had identified $84.4 million in eligible costs statewide, more than four times the threshold for federal assistance.

Morris County was directly affected. Parts of the county received as much as 20 inches of snow, and Morris was one of 19 counties included in New Jersey's request. Without federal reimbursement, costs that should have been covered by Washington will instead fall to state and local governments, aka New Jersey tax-payers.

Have Morris County's Republican legislators spoken up about this? Ah, here’s that deafening silence again. Not one Republican state legislator representing Morris County, including Bucco, has publicly called on Trump to reverse the decision.

They haven't always been so quiet. When Morris County was initially denied FEMA assistance after Hurricane Ida, Republican legislators demanded federal help. After the 2018 winter storms, Bucco himself pushed for FEMA reimbursement, arguing that municipalities couldn't afford to shoulder those costs alone.

Governor Sherrill is also fighting the Trump administration's coercive attempt to use more than $55 million a year in homeland-security funding as leverage to force New Jersey to help carry out its politically driven immigration crackdown. These funds are appropriated by Congress to help states and municipalities prepare for terrorism, cyberattacks and other threats, not to buy ICE agents electric-shock gloves and pimped out SUVs. 

And yet, none of New Jersey's Republican Congressional or legislative leaders have spoken up or joined the state's fight against this extortion. In fact, Bucco has argued for greater cooperation with federal immigration authorities and criticized restrictions on information-sharing. 

New Jersey already sends Washington more in federal taxes than it gets back in federal spending. Now we're fighting the Trump administration for disaster relief and public-safety dollars intended to protect our own communities, and NJ Republicans…blame New Jersey instead of Donald Trump?

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has institutionalized a culture of systemic insider grift, manipulating markets and turning federal policy into a private ATM. For example, Trump used the presidency to reshape federal crypto policy—weakening enforcement, expanding banking access and signing industry-backed legislation—as his family made more than $1.4 billion from the industry last year.

And the conflicts don't stop with crypto. Trump also disclosed more than 21,000 securities trades worth between $600 million and $1.86 billion in 2025 alone, many involving companies with business before the federal government. Those conflicts run right through Congress too. New Jersey Seventh District Rep. Tom Kean Jr. continues to actively trade stocks—including technology, energy and health-care companies—while serving on committees that oversee those industries. And he continued to sign off on stock trades during his almost four-month medical leave from Congress.

So this brings us back to where we started.

The allegations involving Caldwell deserve a serious investigation and consequences if they are substantiated. If Bucco and his colleagues believe in high standards for public officials, great. Apply them to everyone. Especially your own. Otherwise, spare us the lecture. 

Darcy Draeger, Morris County Democratic Committee Chair

Michael Delamater, Morris County Democratic Committee Vice Chair