The Growing Resistance

More can be done, though

When organizers announced a protest at the Treasury Department in response to the news that DOGE had burrowed into the Department’s databases, not a single Democratic lawmaker had agreed to attend. That was disgraceful and emblematic of the futility that has characterized many members of the Democratic caucuses of both houses.

As outrage mounted over Donald Trump’s all-out assault on the federal government, the speaker list increased. Finally, more than two dozen Democratic members of Congress including Chuck Schumer, spoke at the event, which drew hundreds of protesters last Tuesday. Members to a man and woman pledged to do anything and everything in their power to keep Trump from implementing Project 2025.

Democratic legislators have been under relentless pressure from all sides to get more rambunctious as Trump and Musk shove aside Congress. Members’ phone lines have been jammed with thousands of calls from constituents demanding action. Senator John Curtis and Representative Becca Balint reported overwhelming numbers of calls against Trump’s nominees and to Musk.

Democrats are in the minority in both houses. That doesn’t mean they are impotent. They could take a page out of Mitch McConnell’s playbook and obstruct anything and everything they can. Hakeem Jeffries response was that “we are in the minority and are powerless.”

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats conducted an all-nighter trying to delay the inevitable confirmation of the diabolical Russell Vought for a second go-round as head of the Office of Managemend and Budget (OMB). Vought upon being confirmed immediately announced that he was taking over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the organization responsible for curbing corporate excesses. We know how that will go.

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut promised to vote against every Trump nominee. Most others have said they will vote against all of Trump’s nominees as well. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said he will put a blanket hold on all of Trump’s state department nominees until the administration restores funding to USAID after Musk shut it down. Meanwhile, John Fetterman sounds for all the world like a Republican.

In Hakeem Jeffries’ defense, the House minority leader recovered his fight and promised to use his party’s leverage in a closely divided House to protect federal programs that Trump and Musk have tried to defund. He promptly introduced legislation that would protect citizens’ personal data from Musk and his pubescent disciples. While it won’t pass it will produce public attention, which is desperately needed.

A delegation of House and Senate Democrats appeared at USAID’s headquarters to stand with the many furloughed and fired workers, after being denied access to the agency’s headquarters. The same thing happened at the Departments of the Treasury and Education, the latter on Trump’s and Musk’s chopping block.

This is all well and good. It is important that the public be made aware of what is happening in their name. But the real job is to translate that outrage into building up members who will face close races in 2026, in both houses of Congress. A lot of damage can be done to Trump after 2026 with Democratic majorities.

It is worth noting the names of the vulnerable House members. I’ll address the Senate races in a future post. The House races present risk and tremendous opportunity as well. Here they are Democrats first, Republicans second:

Democrats

§ CA-13 Gray

§ CA-45 Tran

§ ME-02 Golden

§ NC-01 Davis

§ NM-02 Vasquez

§ NY-04 Gillen

§ OH-09 Kaptur

§ OH-13 Sykes

§ TX-34 Gonzalez

§ WA-03 Perez

Republicans

§ AZ-01 Schweikert

§ AZ-06 Ciscomani

§ CO-08 Evans

§ IA-01 Miller-Meeks

§ MI-07 Barrett

§ NE-02 Bacon

§ PA-07 Mackenzie

§ PA-10 Perry

We need to support the Democratic members and oppose the Republican candidates, nearly all of whom have allied with MAGA. These are all toss up races and can he won if we can demonstrate to casual Trump voters the terrible impact of Trump’s and Musk’s overreach. Keep the phone calls coming and look for ways to help Democratic candidates in both federal and state races.

We have a lot to do, but I have confidence that a critical mass is building and Trump and Musk will give us welcome help. Let’s unite, have heart and stop this disaster before any more damage can be done.