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After a rudderless post-election run, Democrats are suddenly showing some fight against President Donald Trump.
Yet unlike the progressive ascendance of eight years ago, it’s not clear who is leading the charge.
“I can’t answer that. Give us a little time,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Semafor. “This is brand new.”
It’s not clear how much time they’ll get, however, as the fight to define Democrats’ future plays out in real time with unavoidable tests of clout for the party’s disparate wings. There’s a DNC chairmanship election around the corner, Senate Democrats are wrestling with how much resistance to mount to Trump’s Cabinet and House Democrats are gaming out how to use their significant leverage.
At this time in 2017, their base was literally marching in the streets and veteran Democrats responded by racing to airports to protest Trump’s travel ban. That’s not happening this time — yet this week’s sweeping Trump pardon of Jan. 6 defendants clearly reawakened the party’s moribund activist impulses.
“We’re obviously in a bit of disarray,” one Democratic senator told Semafor. “I don’t think people are really completely sure about what lesson is to be learned in this election.”
Not only that, but the party is clearly divided over tactics. Many Democrats were willing to accommodate a quick approval of Trump’s nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency this week. But Sen. Chris Murphy put a stop to that and made clear he’s not interested in playing nice.
“Personally, I don’t want to give Republicans an inch on their claims they care about national security after their pardons,” said Murphy, D-Conn. “My hope is that we’re going to be down on the floor and on TV and back in our states talking about the danger of these pardons.”
Ratcliffe was still confirmed Thursday, 74-25, with significant Democratic support.
The Democratic split between antagonism and accommodation is playing out in full view among the party’s most prominent members: Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is striking a collaborative note while voting against Democratic delay efforts, Murphy is embracing aggressive opposition, and others are trying to do both.
Take Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, among the dozen or so Democrats angling to be in the mix on border security negotiations. Even as he does that, he’s drawing red lines for Trump.
“I’m going to stand up against this guy when he does stupid stuff like he did the other day in pardoning these violent criminals,” Kelly told Semafor, referring to Jan. 6 offenders who attacked police officers. “Can I think of a worse decision that a president has made in recent history? I can’t come up with one.”
Know More
After Trump’s first win, it was fairly obvious that the left was leading much of the party’s messaging. Progressives like Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren became national figures and top-tier presidential candidates while opposing Trump’s policies and nominees, setting up the 2020 election as a referendum on him.
Trump won’t be on the ballot in 2028, though, and some of the newest Democratic stars are doing things differently. Take Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who has won two races in a red-leaning state: He voted for stricter detention policies for undocumented immigrants last week but has also led the charge on voting rights and weakening the filibuster.
Warnock said in an interview that he’ll try to support Trump nominees if he sees them demonstrate character and competence. He added that he’s open to bipartisan work on immigration, particularly a comprehensive proposal.
But he condemned Trump on the same front that Kelly did.
“The J6 pardons cross a real line,” Warnock said. “In one fell swoop, he gave cover and a permission structure for political violence in this country. This goes beyond any kind of partisan issues. We should all be concerned.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is giving his members space to work with the GOP on immigration and Trump nominees but kept his caucus together to oppose a Republican abortion bill this week. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Thursday his caucus would “make decisions based on what’s right for the districts that we represent, and the politics will take care of themselves.”
And though Democrats have gravitated toward senators current and former in their presidential primaries, governors like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania will undoubtedly help steer their party’s direction – along with some Democrats who you probably haven’t even heard of yet.
“We’re figuring it out,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a former DNC chair and vice presidential nominee. “There’s new leaders emerging. That’s a good thing. Our party needs that.”
The View From Bernie Sanders
Many Democratic stars from the first Trump term are still influential. Harris became vice president and presidential nominee and could yet run for California governor; Booker and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are in the top rungs of Schumer’s leadership team; Warren and Sanders are both on that team too, and leading the party on prominent committees.
When they speak, many Democrats still listen closely.
Sanders said in an interview that he’d work with Trump on reducing interest rates and drug prices but oppose mass deportation and tax breaks for the wealthy.
“You have to look at the issues. It can’t simply be ‘Oh, it’s a Trump idea, we oppose it,’” Sanders said.
“Our job is to say, ‘This is what you said: You want to cap interest rates, you want to cut prescription drug costs. Great, let’s do it … And if you don’t, then we’re exposing you as a hypocrite,’” he added.
Burgess’s view
Out of crisis comes opportunity. It’s a wide-open playing field for Democrats to redefine their party.
Perhaps the most interesting trend on view this year is the prospect that the party could embrace moderation and pragmatism more than ideological rigidity. But that may not last, for one big reason: Trump’s style of governing creates a target-rich environment for Democrats.
Just a few weeks ago, for example, Democrats were signaling they weren’t interested in delaying Trump’s Cabinet picks – but that’s exactly what they are doing today. His decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters and push ahead with Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon nomination have animated the opposition.
Kadia Goba contributed to this report.
Notable
- Whitmer is seeking a “fresh start” with Trump, the AP reported.
- House Democrats remain particularly divided over how to approach immigration as Trump cracks down, per Punchbowl.