By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats in Washington are working to refine their counter message amid sweeping efforts by the Trump administration to overhaul the federal government.
With a Republican trifecta in Washington and recent favorable approval ratings for President Trump, Democrats have their work cut out for them.
“We’re going to push back in the courts. We’re going to push back in Congress and we’re going to push back in our communities,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D- CA), the House Democratic Conference Chair.
Three weeks into President Trump’s second term, Democrats are taking a multipronged approach by rallying, filing lawsuits and alerting the public.
“The Trump administration has engaged in a number of brazenly undemocratic and illegal actions,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D- CA), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Conference. “55 lawsuits have been filed.”
“The American people did not vote for their neighborhood schools to be closed or class sizes to be larger. They did not vote to cut special education,” said Rep. Aguilar.
But with recent CBS News/YouGov polling showing 53% of U.S. adults approve of President Trump’s overall job since taking office Jan. 20, some experts say it will be difficult for Democrats to shift public opinion in their favor.
“Just being in the minority, not having in the White House, and couple that with rising popularity for Donald Trump and what he’s doing. They’re really facing a messaging challenge here,” said Casey Burgat, an Assistant Professor and Director of Legislative Affairs at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. “The whole goal of changing public opinion is incredibly difficult, to get people from Maine to Florida to Arizona all mad about the same thing, all talking in the same way.”
Burgat says the pace at which the administration is moving is not only unprecedented but also challenging for Democrats. It’s makes it more difficult for Democrats to send a clear message about how certain executive actions impact Americans.
“There is something absolutely to the chaos theory here that so much is happening that it’s hard to pay attention to all of it. You’re distrustful of where you get your news, so if you see something you don’t like, it’s easy to discount and move on to find something that you do like. And I think all of that is being reflected in Trump’s poll numbers,” said Burgat. “Plus, I think he’s just more popular than he was in his first term.”
In response to Democrats criticizing the legality of Trump’s actions and Republicans for standing idly by, House Republicans are striking back.
“The Democrat Party’s tantrums are exactly why they hold no majority in Congress and their candidate is not in the White House. DOGE is rightly pulling back the curtains that have been closed for years,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R- MN), the House Majority Whip.
“The Democratic Party is in a completely different place right now. There’s no identified leader of the party. They don’t have a clear vision. They seem rudderless,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- LA) on Tuesday. “Their platform has been openly repudiated by the American people in the election outcome. They’re really in a tough spot,” Speaker Johnson added.
This week, Democratic leaders unveiled a “Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group” to further the party’s “ongoing effort to push back against far-right extremism.”
“There’s so much stuff happening,” said Rep. Lieu. “This working group will provide that information and let the members know so that we can communicate in our districts as to what’s happening through the court cases,” he added.
House members will return to their districts next week. Democrats say they plan to use the time back home to raise awareness and rally against the administration’s government overhaul actions to “help the American people understand” what is at stake.
