Out of power, Democratic lawmakers take to the streets to rally opposition to Trump
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are staging protests outside federal agencies, holding resistance-themed news conferences back home and taking to social media as they try to combat President Donald Trump’s moves to remake the government with executive power.
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are staging protests outside federal agencies, holding resistance-themed news conferences back home and taking to social media as they try to combat President Donald Trump’s moves to remake the government with executive power.
Relegated to the minority in Congress and left with few legislative tools to check Trump, Democrats are seeking to rally voters against his push to freeze federal loans and grants, dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies and allow his government efficiency czar, billionaire Elon Musk, to access Americans’ federal data.
On Monday, congressional Democrats staged a protest outside USAID. On Tuesday, they appeared outside the Treasury Department. On Wednesday, they spoke to a crowd near the Capitol and another outside the Labor Department. It all comes as Democrats seek to find their voice and break through in a cluttered media environment while Trump overwhelms the national discourse with one disruptive action after another.
“This is not America First — this is America in retreat,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said at the Capitol rally. “And we are not going to retreat from American values.”
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who represents more than 70,000 federal workers in his district next to Washington, said the protests will help mobilize support and sway public opinion.
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