How Dems plan to spotlight the GOP’s “parade of horribles” during recess
From town halls to district events to social content, House Democrats hope to inspire confidence in their constituents that they can forcefully oppose Trump 2.0.
First Things First
While the Senate returned to Washington this evening to vote on two more Trump cabinet nominees and discuss the blueprint for Republicans’ party-line budget plan, the House is in recess, offering Democrats the first chance to connect with their constituents since the government funding freeze jolted the party back to life late last month.
Members understand the urgency of the moment: Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency continue to take a sledgehammer to the federal bureaucracy when critics say a scalpel is more appropriate to prevent the harmful impact of DOGE has caused to civil servants, government agencies and the American public. At the same time, Democratic voters and donors have for a more aggressive response to the Trump administration’s attempted consolidation of executive power.
“Every opportunity to be back home in the district is a welcome opportunity to engage with the people that we are privileged to represent to make it clear that House Democrats are fighting hard to drive down the high cost of living, secure the border, while defending Dreamers, farm workers and families and make sure that we are keeping our communities safe,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told me last Thursday. “At the same time, the people of America are understandably alarmed at the parade of horribles and the extremism that is being relentlessly unleashed on the American people by this far-right administration.”
In the Know
I’m told Democrats will continue to focus on three areas: Congress (the on-and-off government funding negotiations), the courts (at least 74 lawsuits have been filed to stop Trump executive actions, 33 of which are DOGE-related) and the community (the Democrats’ messaging arm called for the recess to be nine days of visibility, featuring at least one town hall or telephone town hall and an event on GOP efforts to take over the government, supplemented with live social media sessions and short videos).