Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) expressed frustration with the Democratic Party's response to President Trump’s actions during his first few weeks in office.

“I don’t think that it’s been very effective, the Dem response, so far. In fact, I’m frustrated by it. If you make everything DEFCON 5, then eventually nothing is DEFCON 5, you know what I mean? And on questions of overreach of constitutional authority, it’s not always so cut and dry,” Golden said during an interview with The Washington Post published Friday morning. 

“There are some clear precedents of something that’s unconstitutional, right? But in a lot of cases, it’s not exactly self-evident and it takes time and patience and an interest in getting to facts before you can make these types of assertions,” he told The Post. “And I think if you rush right out and just say, like, ‘This is, like, dictatorial or illegal,’ you might end up being wrong, and that undermines your credibility.”

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Democrats-at-large have not been unified in opposing Trump and the work of his close allies, including tech mogul Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) officials have dug into multiple federal agencies, gaining access to payment systems and persuading workers to leave their positions. 

Some have argued the Democrats’ ire should be directed toward Trump and his work, not Musk. 

“Why are we so distracted here?” one top Democratic strategist told The Hill. “Our singular focus should be on Trump. Not the shiny object Musk represents. What’s our focus here? Winning back the House in 2026 or pointing at Musk while yelling, ‘You can’t do that!”

Others have said that Musk, owner of SpaceX, Tesla and the social platform X, is a good opportunity for forceful pushback since they view him as out-of-touch with average Americans and their priorities. 

“Going after Elon and DOGE isn’t going to solve every problem but it sure is a great place to start,” Democratic strategist Eddie Vale said. “Normal people — and even many MAGA people who like Trump — don’t want a bunch of Elon’s incels looking at their tax returns and messing around with the system that sends them their Social Security checks.”

Golden, who represents Maine’s battleground 2nd District, said he is not looking to instantly react to Trump’s remarks on a daily basis, but more so assessing the impact of the president’s actions and then “weigh in on whether or not I think he’s been effective or undermined American interests.” 

“I’m going to be paying attention to what the president does,” said Golden, who secured his fourth term in November. “And when it comes to the conflict between Israel and Gaza, what I’m interested in seeing him doing is bringing home the hostages, particularly the remaining American hostages.” 

The Maine Democrats sees tariffs and trade as two areas where he can work with the current White House.

“I think there’s obvious opportunity there, particularly because of the president’s views on tariffs, but also because we’ve got [the United States-Mexico-Canada] trade deal coming back up for talks,” he said. 

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