Democrats have been scrambling to counter President Trump’s blitz of executive orders the last three weeks. But in Congress, their options are limited.
So what will the minority party's resistance look like in budget talks and debates over executive power?
”What we have seen from day one in office is that Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress have betrayed the American people,” says House Minority Whip Democratic Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. “They ran on decreasing costs, making life more affordable, easier, safer, and they have done just the opposite.”
4 questions with Katherine Clark
Can you describe your party’s strategy?
“This is how we are fighting back. First, the Republicans are trying to go around Congress in everything they do, illegally, unconstitutionally. But that's their strategy. So, we are partnering with our Democratic AGs [attorneys general], with labor unions, with other groups to take these illegal actions to court. We have 55 pending lawsuits in seven different states and already we are seeing that the judges have sided with the American people and with the Constitution.
“Our next step is legislation. Last week we introduced a bill that would stop Elon Musk from accessing our most private and highest security data systems.
“Third is mobilizing. Just last week, more than 3,000 constituents contacted my office this weekend at a telephone town hall. I had tens of thousands of people join, and this is going on across the country. So that is the plan. We are going to litigate. We are going to legislate and mobilize.”
It's clear to many Democratic voters, activists, and some members in the House caucus who say, in other words, that the Democrats need to pause playing by the normal rules, take the gloves off and fight. What is your view?
“We've got to use every tool we have. This is a full-on assault on the American people, on where they are, on their place, their health care, the veterans programs, Head Start programs our firefighters and police officers.
“When Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who, by the way, is unelected and unvetted, go after and say, ‘We're going to freeze federal funding,’ what does that mean to our communities? That means our community health centers close. That means that we have child care providers who weren't able to make payroll.”
The government we know is funded for another five weeks or so until the middle of March. Does your party plan to stand firm and potentially shut down the government to stop what the White House is doing? Will the Democrats unanimously will stand firm on one side of this funding bill?
“ Yeah, we are going to unanimously stand firm on the side of the American people. But it is up to Republicans to use their authority to fund government. They are in the majority. And we continue to be at the table negotiating in good faith, but the ball is in their court.”
There's the negotiating table inside the halls of Congress. We remember in the first Trump administration at the outset there was a Women's March in opposition, hundreds of thousands. in the streets. But not this time. Is that something in your view that the party needs to make happen?
“This is what when it comes to mobilization, we have to continue to show that Democrats are fighting for them. We're going to fight to lower your prices and the cost of living. We're also going to fight to make you more secure. And when Donald Trump is betraying — as he has every single day, practically every hour of his very short administration — that trust with the American people, what he said he would do. We're going to join you in making sure that we use and recognize where the power truly is. And that's with the people of the Commonwealth [of Massachusetts] and the people of this great country.”
This interview was lightly edited for clarity.
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Original story HERE.