Early on in Trump’s second term, congressional Democrats have struggled to get an effective message out about the new administration’s actions. However, they are finally turning up the heat and should continue to do so.
In the past week, Democrats were roused by the illegal efforts of Trump and billionaire Elon Musk to dismantle the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID). Brian Schatz, a Democratic senator from Hawaii, responded by placing a hold on all State Department nominees. Schatz then joined many of his Democratic colleagues, including Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, on the Senate floor overnight on Feb. 6 to protest the confirmation of Russell Vought, new head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Vought was a major architect of Project 2025, the extremely conservative and politically toxic plan to remake and dismember the federal government, which Trump disowned during the 2024 campaign. Vought was eventually confirmed, but the round-the-clock speeches from Democrats, performative as they were, showed that the left wouldn’t just lie down and let the majority steamroll them without a fight. Another spectacle occurred when several House Democrats were barred from entering the Department of Education headquarters. Trump has promised to shut the department down by executive order, another illegal act, and Democrats showing up at the gates confirmed that they are paying attention.
As the Democrats recover their nerve, people across the U.S have stepped up their efforts to resist the actions of the Trump administration. Congressional phone lines have been receiving approximately 1,500 calls per minute, as opposed to the usual 40, and many of the messages have been from constituents angry with Musk and Trump for trying to dismantle important parts of the federal government. At the same time, demonstrations occurred in cities around the country on Feb. 5, protesting Trump’s unlawful designs—the first major series of protests to make headlines in the wake of the 2024 election’s red takeover.
The emerging groundswell of resistance should encourage Democrats to continue their fight, as massive protests did during Trump’s first term. The next major battle in Congress will be about funding the government, and some Democrats have already talked about using their leverage as the minority to hobble attempts from Republicans to keep the government open. But others, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have cautioned that Democrats should be careful of a shutdown, fearful that they will be blamed for any repercussions. Similarly, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries directed his members to not “swing at every pitch.” In other words, Jeffries wants Democrats to be calm and collected. He has also spoken of bipartisan attempts to reach a spending deal.
The issue with Jeffries’ view is that the government no longer operates in a calm or collected way. Bipartisan is a quaint word which has very little meaning in the Trump era. Republicans have previously had no problem using ruthless leverage, and Trump is currently busy destroying several agencies with Musk, who is operating as an extremely powerful, unelected advisor. Republicans have fallen in line to make the federal government dangerously conservative and obliterate the rule of law in the process. In our two-party system, Democrats are one of the only entities with any hope of providing resistance, especially because Trump has ramped up attacks on judicial decisions and the Supreme Court is uber-conservative. It’s time for Democrats to stop being afraid of what the public will think, and to follow the example of those in their caucus who aren’t worried about speaking up for the truth.
The message from the Democrats should be clear: The U.S. is embroiled in a constitutional crisis where the powers of the executive branch and Musk are threatening to overrule both Congress and the courts. This message must also be one of wholesale action. Democrats, like their Republican colleagues before them, should make it impossible to get anything done by placing the price of a shutdown on the table and stalling more nominees from getting through. There is no more playing nice; Republicans already know this fact.
Protecting democracy cannot be a stand we take halfheartedly. When the government is being corrupted, the Democrats cannot pretend that the upcoming spending fight is normal. They cannot pretend that everything is business as usual with their Republican colleagues. They cannot pretend that the U.S. is not under attack by its own president. The Democratic Party must fight back.