Why Are Dems Surprised?

Donald Trump has unleashed a "flood the zone" strategy: a cascade of executive actions aimed at rapidly reshaping the federal government and the country. 

The scope of changes is staggering: massive reductions in the federal workforce, the dismantling of USAID, signaling departments of labor and education are next, and the firing of Justice Department prosecutors. Trump granted Elon Musk's so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" team unprecedented access to the Treasury Department payment systems. Trump's executive orders aren't just changing policy — many appear to openly challenge existing laws and constitutional boundaries. The sheer volume of changes has left government watchdogs struggling to respond.

Amid this whirlwind, a critical question emerges: Where is the opposition? What concrete steps are Democrats taking to counter this aggressive agenda? 

Currently, the answer is obvious: not enough.

On this week's episode of The Intercept Briefing, foreign policy analyst and Voices contributor Sunjeev Bery says it has a lot to do with who makes up the party leadership. “I'll say that from my perch, what I'm seeing is a window into the broader culture of the elected officials of the Democratic Party. They are not organizers, by and large. They are not people who build and channel power to extract concessions from the powers that be. They are ladder climbers and aggregators of pre-existing power. And that's why the Democratic Party is losing. You have folks like Chuck Schumer, he's not a critic of concentrated wealth. He's a product of concentrated wealth.”

Senior politics reporter Akela Lacy says there are some very obvious things the Democrats could be doing. “Movement people are asking the obvious question right now, which is: Why are there any Democrats — at all — voting to confirm a single Trump nominee? That's one of the lowest hanging pieces of fruit,” she says. The Democrats had no plan, Lacy says, despite there being “no confusion about the fact that these nominees were going to be coming up for a vote. And still there were Democrats who voted for several of Trump’s nominees.” 

Bery, Lacy, and Jordan Uhl also discuss the messaging issues the Democratic Party continues to face, even post-election. “There still seems to be a fundamental failure to recognize that one party is telling a story as to why people are hurting and they are punching down in the naming of who's responsible,” says Bery. “It's undocumented migrants, it's DEI, it's transgender people, this is who Trump is punching down and blaming. The Democratic Party's not punching up. The Democratic Party is not punching,” says Bery.

To hear more of the conversation, check out this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing wherever you get your podcasts.

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