5 ways Democrats can fight Trump and defend the republic
If Democrats in Congress have a serious plan to stop President Trump from violating the Constitution and the nation's laws, they haven't shown it yet. Here are some suggestions.
First, they should stop embarrassing themselves. No more grandfatherly rants by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, no more sophomoric fight songs on social media, and no more women in Congress making videos where they punch the air as though bad kung fu mimes will stop a renegade presidency.
Second, Democrats and independents should tell voters in specific detail what they would do if they were given back control of the White House, House and Senate. Trump's election was a repudiation of government-as-usual. Before last year's election, only 22 percent of Americans trusted the federal government.
As the Intelligencer summarized the day after the vote, "Trump's unlikely comeback coincided almost entirely with an election in which voters wanted change enough to ignore or embrace the dark side of his legacy and agenda." Absent a new contract with America, voters will assume the only alternative to Trumpism and a do-nothing Congress is the unsatisfactory status quo ante.
The outlines of a new contract are clear. The day before Trump's State of the Union address, the Pew Research Center reported that 72 percent of Americans want to reduce the role of money in politics; 67 percent are still worried about affordable health care; 63 percent chafe at inflation; and the majority rank the federal budget deficit, poverty, drug addiction and declining moral values among the nation's top problems.
Gun violence, the ineptitude of the political system, illegal immigration, instability in Social Security and Medicare, violent crime, and the quality of K-12 education also ranked high. The town halls that Democrats have begun holding, including those in or near Republican congressional districts, are good places to identify other issues that a contract with America should address.
Third, Democrats should demonstrate a more responsible way to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the federal system. The Washington Post points out correctly that Trump and Elon Musk use "overly broad claims of fraud to build political support for sweeping cuts to programs and offices" they don't like for ideological reasons.
Democrats should introduce a resolution ordering Trump to reinstate the inspectors general he fired. They should bring the Government Accountability Office before Congress to discuss better compliance with the agency's recommendations for cutting waste. The GAO issued a government-wide plan last year to prevent the government from losing more than $500 billion to fraud. Three days after Trump took office, the GAO reported that federal agencies had implemented only 463 of more than 1,800 recommendations it had made to improve government information systems.
One prominent example of waste, fraud and abuse is, ironically, the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been working rapid-fire to emasculate the workforce, programs and entire agencies authorized by Congress. Democrats should introduce legislation to withhold federal funds from Trump and his appointees, including salaries, benefits, travel reimbursements and other expenses, until the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office certifies that the administration administers its budget as Congress has directed.
Fourth, Democrats should force roll-call votes that put Republicans on record for willfully refusing to defend the Constitution and federal statutes against Trump's abuses. They should use this record to argue that Trump's loyalists have disqualified themselves from running for reelection or serving in any public office.
A related argument emerged a year ago when Colorado and several other states wanted to exclude Trump from their primary ballots, saying he violated Section 3 of Article 14 in the Constitution, the "insurrection clause," when he tried to remain in office after losing the 2020 election.
Section 3 reads, in part, "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress … or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
Trump's actions continue the insurrection he attempted on and around Jan. 6, 2021; having regained power, he is blatantly violating his oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" by abusing the separation of powers, failing to administer laws passed by Congress, threatening the judiciary and refusing to abide by its rulings.
By failing to use their powers to prevent these abuses, Republicans are aiding and abetting him. Democrats should challenge their right to continue in any public office.
With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, Democrats’ powers are limited. But even though they don’t have the numbers to pass resolutions and laws, Democrats can use their platform to dramatize how badly Trump is undermining democracy and the republic.
Some observers speculate that Democrats have avoided a serious counterattack against Trump because they want to give him enough rope to hang himself, figuratively speaking. However, that strategy will allow him to do irreparable damage to the federal government and the millions of Americans who depend on its services. That is too high a price to pay. Democrats should stop posturing and do everything they can to keep America safe.
William S. Becker is co-editor of and a contributor to “Democracy Unchained: How to Rebuild Government for the People,” and contributor to Democracy in a Hotter Time, named by the journal Nature as one of 2023’s five best science books. He previously served as a senior official in the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He is currently executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP), a nonpartisan climate policy think tank unaffiliated with the White House.
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