Three weeks later, President Trump issued many controversial executive orders, fired officials across government agencies and began to dismantle important chunks of federal bureaucracy. Many of these actions have been challenged in court, including executive orders seeking to end birthright citizenship and the dismissal of government officials with protection of citizen services, and possibly proven illegal. There is. But these issues work through the judicial process, but Democrats fired for not making a more powerful statement on Trump’s policies. Recently, many Democratic governors have urged Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to be more opposed to the president’s actions.
I recently spoke to Brian Schatz, a democratic senator from Hawaii, on the phone. A few days ago, Schatz said he would place a “blanket hold” on Trump’s State Department candidates until the administration ends efforts to close the US International Development Agency. . In a conversation compiled for length and clarity, we discussed whether Democrats were doing enough to oppose Trump.
What do you think the Democrats have done in response to the Trump administration up until now? What didn’t work?
Like many, I think we got off to a slow start. Many people hugged a sliver of hope that Trump was not the Trump 2 roadmap. But now we understand that this President is engaged in multiple illegal activities at the same time. And whether it was a refusal to a birthright executive order, a public backlash against a freezing federal funding, and a reversal of the freeze in court, we may not have power. I remember that I might not, but we are not helpless. This president, like all other presidents, is still constrained by federal law and the constitution. And all political parties are constrained by the unpopular ones.
I’m not here to suggest that people shouldn’t worry. I think they should be worried, but I think one of the big advantages of Trump is that he is a very effective braffer. And while most of these things will cause a ton of damage, they will ultimately prove to be illegal. There is a real difference between realizing that this is a fatal and serious situation and destroying it by saying, “We are cooked.” We are not cooked. The roots of democracy are still strong. It relies on a massive move to back up not only the members of the legislative branch, but also us.
You said there was initial hope that Trump is not the Trump 2 roadmap. Given the people he’s around him, I think most people assumed Trump 2 was worse than Trump 1. Do you say there are people in your caucus who thought things were normal when January 20th arrived?
no. But I think there was a realization at the beginning of every administration that the people wanted the best of the new president. And they understand that, generally speaking, the success of the president represents the success of the country. And many of our voters would at least be – that’s why the president is at the pinnacle of their popularity when they normally take office.
We weren’t naive about what he was doing. We went crazy for four years about everything he said he was trying to do. And at that point it wasn’t unreasonable to wait and see what he was trying to do and see that he was just doing a yanma. Next, you need to sort out which administrative officers will immediately harm people, which executive orders can fight in court and respond accordingly.
Various Democrats in the House said, “You can’t completely panic with everything Trump does. You have to choose and choose.” I have to make a different political incentive for everyone. I know you have it, but you may disagree, but not surprising, how do you think about what you’re going to do much?
I focus on preventing immediate harm. When the Medicaid portal was closed, when the head was closed, when the highway construction funds were closed, it was relatively easy as it was quickly harmful and illegal. (The White House claimed that the Medicaid portal is not available due to technical outages.) And I also focus on maintaining the American system of checks and balance. It’s different from me and it’s my main story. However, I have pledged an oath to the Constitution. And I am not going to instruct the critics whether I will exercise my duties as a member of Article I Branch. I’m not suggesting to put it in TV ads –
Wait, what are you talking about with “some critics”? Who are you mentioning?
Ah, David Axelrod, James Kerrville. That is, those people have never been in the trench legislatively or electorally in the full generation. And then there are houses of democratic strategists. But to become a democratic strategist, you have to actually do politics, not just a podcast about it.
Are you mentioning them to criticize what was around USAID, saying foreign aid is not a good territory for Democrats to fight?
Yeah. And you don’t think I know that foreign aid is less popular than Medicaid? Of course, I know that. But what the US is doing is mass deaths from malaria and HIV/AIDS, and other preventable diseases and conditions. So, should I be thoughtful and sometimes smart about how to communicate it? yes. Are you planning on waiting for a more popular program? No, what they’re doing here is because they ignore federal law.
Which federal law are you talking about?
Foreign Aid Act, and of course, all expenditure bills that fund the State Department and foreign budgets. They ignore multiple federal laws. And I just – encourage me with something quaint about this – but I’m not going to gloss it and wait until they get stuck with the affordable care laws. It’s kind of criticism-brain vote-tested bullshit, like it’s been engaging us in this mess. We are always told that something hasn’t voted enough yet. And one of the things Republicans do well is not allowing voters to tell them everything. They invent the entire story, followed by votes. And that’s why we’re so focused on Russell Vote (Trump’s candidate to run a management and budget office). He is clearly not well known, but he believes that OMB directors of all positions are essentially the king’s hands, so he should exercise the authority of the president regardless of law or regulations. I believe it, so I need to name him. And the constitution. Spend 30 hours on the floor and talk about how dangerous the vision is for the US. (On Wednesday night, Democrat senators held the floor for the closing session that ended Thursday morning.)
