The Democrats in Congress appear to be rousing themselves from a long sleep. Axios reported that they are going to drag out the oldest leftist protest tactic in the book: making unpleasant noises when a political opponent speaks.
The Dems plan to use "Hand clappers, red cards, and various other props" to dramatize their displeasure with Trump during his speech on Tuesday evening. They're also going to hold up strongly worded signs.
If that's the best they got, maybe they should just stay home.
The Democrats also plan to demonstrate their displeasure with Elon Musk and Donald Trump by deliberately blowing up the budget negotiations, thus forcing a government shutdown. The transparent ploy to try and make Trump look bad while portraying themselves as the heroes who stand up against healthcare and other cuts is how the Democrats believe they can get back in the game.
They need to do something. Musk and Trump have been steamrolling the Democrats by "flooding the zone" with so many cuts, executive orders, and other actions that the Democrats haven't been able to catch their breaths. One "outrage" after another has them on their back foot, trying to respond.
The speech interruptions are infantile, and most Americans will see it that way. But blowing up the budget negotiations may get some traction.
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Trump and the Republicans want a "clean" budget extension, probably through September. The extension would not include any DOGE cuts made so far. Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump want to codify cuts made by DOGE before the new fiscal year begins on Sept. 30.
“People now feel like the more perilous position is giving votes without the perception there’s been any change in accountability," Rachael Bade at Politico quotes a senior House Democratic aide as saying. “The incentive structure right now is not to provide votes for them.”
Sure, you can chalk some of the shift up to negotiating tactics. Democrats want Republicans to put some policy handcuffs on Musk, something Republicans are firmly rejecting. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole called it “a non-starter and battle they lost to the American people” on Monday.
And Democratic leaders have every reason to amp up pressure on their GOP counterparts to deliver as many votes as possible, given their control of the House, Senate and White House. No reason to make it easy on them, even if there’s no real shutdown threat, right?
But that’s not how House Democrats are talking, even in private. During a recent meeting between Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his committee leaders, top appropriator Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut steamed about how Speaker Mike Johnson was going to try to make them swallow the clean funding extension.
Republicans will counter by forcing votes on keeping several departments open, thus clearly establishing the Democrats' culpability in shutting down the government.
It's always a roll of the dice when one party or the other is perceived as forcing a shutdown. In this case, Democrats have announced their intention to shut down the government, leaving no doubt who is at fault.
Democrats will try to blame the GOP, but really, if their efforts aren't any better than this, they may as well stay in bed.
Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, said Monday, “The only one who wants a shutdown right now is Elon Musk."
Shutdowns occur in slow motion, as not all departments will furlough workers immediately, but within 10 days or so, the lights will begin to go out.
I think the Democrats have miscalculated badly.
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