After seeming hesitant to reflexively oppose Donald Trump, Democrats in Congress are increasingly finding themselves in a familiar place: diametrically opposed to the president and his agenda.
They’re protesting. They’re delaying votes. They’re giving speeches. They’re writing letters.
But not everyone thinks Democrats are handling Trump’s first weeks of shock-and-awe governing in the best way possible.
As some Democrats try to summon the resistance energy that blunted much of the first Trump presidency, other Democrats are warning that ostentatiously opposing Trump this time around could ostracize voters.
When NOTUS asked Sen. John Fetterman if he thought voters were responding positively to Democratic protest efforts, the answer was emphatic: “No!”
“I’m sure they are fundraising off of them,” he said of Democrats.
“I’ve chosen not to engage and get aggressive and yell or claim the extreme things of fascism, and that democracy is hanging on by a thread,” Fetterman added. “We are in a turbulent time, and that is what America elected. I am going to pick my fights.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego also said he didn’t think the early Democratic playbook was working.
“That’s not where the American public is,” Gallego, the newly elected Democratic senator from Arizona, said. “But I think it’s where we have to start. The majority of the American public is still focused on the price of food, price of rent, price of everything. What we’re talking about right now are things that are very much inside the Beltway.”
While Americans may be focused on those kitchen table issues, there’s very little Democrats can do to address those problems. But then again, there’s very little Democrats can do to address Trump, as he signs sweeping executive orders and dispatches Elon Musk to shred the federal bureaucracy.
Their inability to stop those actions, which are exclusively happening on the executive side and not legislatively, is a big part of the problem for Democrats. They don’t have the numbers to stop his nominees in the Senate, even as a handful of Republicans have voted against his most controversial picks. Budget reconciliation will allow Republicans to bypass the Senate filibuster and pass Trump’s legislative agenda without the input of a single Democrat.
And while Democrats have some leverage in the narrowly divided House, they haven’t had many opportunities to use it. That leaves members with protests, delay tactics and speeches. Those only go so far.
“It’s emblematic of the lack of planning there was in the high level of the Democratic Party. That there really was no plan, and they’re trying to throw spaghetti at the wall with these pop up protests,” said one recently departed Biden administration official.
“But I actually think it’s sort of worse than just leveling with Americans and being like, ‘Yeah, there is legit nothing we can do. We have no levers of power. This is what happens,’” this person added.
Many Democrats admit they aren’t sure how to best approach Trump. Many are still reeling from the 2024 losses and figuring out how to rebuild a winning coalition.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said members are in the “early stages” of rebuilding and “time will create opportunities.” But he did acknowledge that some efforts to delay votes on Trump nominees through floor maneuvers would get lost in translation.
“The ordinary person probably doesn’t register with this procedural process,” Durbin said, “but the activists do.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been at the forefront of much of the procedural protests in the Senate — as well as actual protests.
Schumer’s tactics, and embrace of Resistance-style images, have earned him a number of explicit critics, ranging from “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart to former Rep. Tim Ryan.
“I just don’t even know what to say anymore when I see this kind of stuff,” Ryan wrote on X, quoting a video of Schumer raising his hands over his head chanting “we will win” at a Treasury Department protest. “Is it Saturday Night Live or real life? Does anyone really think this is the future of the country? This is the only alternative to Trump’s America? It’s just so depressing.”
While Democrats on the Hill have mostly restrained themselves from directly criticizing congressional leaders, some acknowledge a somber tone about the overall situation.
“The mood is pretty down,” one Democratic aide told NOTUS. “Not only are people discouraged by what Trump is doing, it also sucks because it feels like Dems don’t have an overall strategy.”
“So far,” this aide added, “every member is out for themselves and there aren’t a lot of efforts to coordinate.”
Of course, there is some coordination brewing.
Sen. Adam Schiff said Democrats are working with a “four-part strategy”: investigations, litigation, legislation and messaging. And Sen. Tim Kaine said there is a “five-part strategy”: courts, congress, states, activism and elections.
“This is about a good agreement, and strong leadership, to use the powers that we have to stand up to Trump,” Sen. Tina Smith said, noting that an “understanding that Republicans are the ones that have the power to stop him.”
Some Democrats also said they saw some early bright spots in the Democratic response to Trump.
Action at the state level has already been promising. State attorneys, as well as civil and worker unions, have raised lawsuits that have become major roadblocks to Trump’s executive actions. And in the courts, judges have stymied Trump repeatedly.
“I think we’re seeing litigation be very successful,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said.
“Where I think the pressure needs to start to break, is show up at your board of supervisors, show up at your local state representative,” Warner continued. “You know, the programs that are being stalled, it’s not just in blue communities, but they’re being stalled in red communities, too.”
A government funding deadline is also on the horizon, giving Democratic lawmakers hope for meaningful negotiations.
In the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune will need at least a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to meet the 60-vote threshold for keeping the government running. And in the House, GOP leaders can’t count on just their lawmakers to get behind spending bills, meaning Democrats are likely to be part of the negotiations.
But Democrats still think there’s more to be done.
“Obviously we need to be more, we can always and definitely need to be more strategic,” progressive Rep. Summer Lee said. “We need to be more vocal in our dissent, more vocal and, you know, resisting. I don’t think that’s a question, I think that’s obvious.”
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Ursula Perano is a reporter at NOTUS.
Samuel Larreal is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.