I know a lot of folks have been wondering where the Congressional opposition to Trump has been. Yesterday, Democrats finally showed a stronger, and more united response to the tyranny unfolding in front of our eyes.
After being denied entry to the USAID building, Dems held a press conference to speak out against Trump’s attempted closure of the agency. Standing alongside USAID workers and contractors, they made it clear that this abuse of power would not go unanswered.
Sens. Schatz and Van Hollen pledged they would stall all State Dept. nominees, until Trump stops trying to close down USAID. Van Hollen went on to slam Elon Musk, saying he “may get to play dictator of Tesla…but he doesn't get to shut down USAID,” calling it a “corrupt abuse of power,” that’s “plain illegal.”
Sen. Chris Murphy firmly stated “this is a constitutional crisis,” and that “Elon Musk does not get to decide” how we defend the US. While Rep. Jamie Raskin said, “we don't have a fourth branch of government called 'Elon Musk’.”
Rep. Omar got it right: "Privileged billionaires who don't give a damn about America should not be making decisions that put Americans at harm."
In addition to the presser, House Dem Leader Hakeem Jeffries rolled out the initial steps of his plan to take on Trump and Musk. He says Dems are introducing legislation to prevent unlawful access to the Dept. of Treasury, and that at least 20 lawsuits have already been filed challenging at least 11 executive orders.
Jeffries also said that any attempt to defund Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, or “programs important to everyday Americans…must be choked off” in the upcoming funding bill.
In order to stop Trump, Democrats need to be fighting back like this every hour of every single day.
In 2016, when I formed one of the first groups ever to specifically take on Trump, it felt like we were on an island pushing back by ourselves. I was one of few sounding the alarm about Trump’s Russian ties on MSNBC, and calling for his impeachment.
But back then, we didn’t have the enormous and amazing community we have now—with readers in all US states and territories, and in 152 countries around the world.
We are independent pro-democracy journalists, who believe activism should be a part of what we do. Our Watchdog Coalition has already made thousands of calls and sent more than 139,000 letters to Senators, demanding they oppose Trump’s worst nominees.
And with one of the largest social media followings in all of politics, we’ll be sharing this post with millions of people—so we’re never just preaching to the choir.
100% of our funding comes from our paid subscribers. We have zero outside investors controlling what we write, and no advertisers telling us what to say. So if you haven’t yet and you’re able, please join us as a paid subscriber today to help us do even more:
Every day, we keep getting louder and stronger. I’m excited about the momentum we are starting to build. Let’s keep pushing.
Onward,
Scott
What else do Democrats need to be doing to take on Trump and Musk?
Join the Watchdog Coalition here--it also has all the links to contact Senators to oppose the terrible cabinet nominees: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition/
But what happens when the response from Musk is "try and stop me!"? He's just going to keep going, because there's no one who will arrest him or his band of hackers and thieves. I was chilled to the bone by Heather Cox Richardson's letter regarding how much further Elon's unelected, unconfirmed-by-Senate hands have gotten into our government.