The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial.
On Thursday afternoon, before I began to write this newsletter, I searched Hakeem Jeffries in Google News. I found but a handful of recent entries for the House Democratic leader from New York. On Sunday, he had appeared on ABC News’ This Week and slapped President Donald Trump and the Republicans for having done nothing to lower the cost of living for Americans and for preparing to push more tax cuts for the wealthy. Three days later, Axios reported that Jeffries, during a call with House Democrats, advised his colleagues to bring guests to Trump’s address to Congress next month who have been negatively affected by the administration.
This search also turned up reports that Jeffries earlier in the month had criticized Trump’s comments on DEI and the DOGE attack on the federal workforce and had compared the Democrats to New York Yankee Aaron Judge, noting they ought to be patient: “He waits for the right one—and then he swings. We’re not going to swing at every pitch. We’re going to swing at the ones that matter for the American people.” Another story noted that Jeffries said at a press briefing, “I’m trying to figure out what leverage we actually have. What leverage do we have? Republicans have repeatedly lectured America—they control the House, the Senate and the presidency. It’s their government.” And on Wednesday he was in the news for cooking up a nickname for Trump—“Captain Chaos”—which to some ears might sound somewhat appealing.
That’s about it. Do these intermittent bursts of criticism strike you as the exertions of a leader who’s fighting a war of survival?
Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, are the two leaders of their party now. And they appear to be mainly watching as Trump and Musk mount an all-out blitzkrieg on the federal government, the rule of law, and democracy. Each day, El-Don launches a fusillade against agencies that provide critical services—USAID, IRS, EPA, FAA, NIH, CDC, USDA, EEOC, CFPB, USPS, NOAA, NASA, the Labor Department, Veterans Affairs, the National Science Foundation, the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Social Security Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and more—and it’s all part of a grand scheme: to demolish the one entity than can counter the forces of oligarchy and autocracy.
I previously wrote that Democrats are bringing a teaspoon to a gunfight. But it’s unclear if most Ds even recognize they’re in a gunfight.
This is not your father’s GOP push for lower taxes for the plutocrats and less regulation for corporate pirates and polluters. Musk is seeking to dismantle government to make way for the libertarian dystopia he seeks in which the disruptors and robber-barons of today are free to do whatever they like, as an authoritarian (who’s their pal) rules without restraint. The goal is not government efficiency but government emasculation—and the obliteration of the political party that has called for utilizing government to address such crucial matters as economic inequity, inadequate health care, high prescription drug prices, environmental despoilation, education disparities, crappy infrastructure, housing shortages, and climate change.
The targets so far have generally been government agencies and departments that are perceived as liberal outposts (as if preventing malaria in Africa is a left-wing project). Check out this chart posted by Adam Bonica, a professor of political science at Stanford:
The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning.
— Adam Bonica (@adambonica.bsky.social) 2025-02-20T02:18:23.875Z
Yet in the face of this onslaught—amid this existential battle—Jeffries and Schumer display little sense of urgency. The same goes for many other elected Democratic officials. I previously wrote that Democrats are bringing a teaspoon to a gunfight. But it’s unclear if most Ds even recognize they’re in a gunfight.
Trump and Musk are initiating assaults on multiple fronts every day (including weekends!). They are using their platforms and bullhorns to proclaim nonstop that they are vanquishing waste, fraud, abuse, and inefficiency. This is their narrative, and as good propagandists they repeat this line incessantly to justify their slash-a-thon that is defenestrating tens of thousands of government workers and ending or hindering programs and departments that bring food, clean water, and medical care to the needy; that address climate change; that safeguard workers in their workplaces; that protect consumers from vulturous financial firms; that collect revenue for the government; that prevent the pollution of our air and water; that research diseases; that control air traffic; that serve our veterans; that guard nuclear weapons; that inspect our food; and that do much more.
Where’s the counterpunch? Where’s the Democrats’ narrative? Are they in the ring 24/7 explaining to the public that DOGE is a dodge? Just a front for a top-down revolution of elites who want to be unfettered by rules, regulations, or laws? If they are not matching Trump and Musk syllable for syllable, they are losing. A crusade to slim down bloated government sounds good to many Americans. By not loudly calling BS on this, the Democrats lose any chance they might have of winning. Waiting for Trump and Musk to overreach, looking for strategic openings—ah, they really screwed the pooch by killing that veterans program!—is not going to do the trick in the face of this hostile takeover of the federal government by a power-mad autocrat and the world’s No. 1 oligarch. This is a recipe for being crushed. Rope-a-dope is not going to work. Neither will waiting for Trump and Musk to slip in the polls, which appears to be happening.
Your people are demanding action. They look to Washington and to the folks at the top of the party and scream in exasperation, “Where are you? What are you doing? What is the plan?”
The destruction being wreaked upon the government will not be easily undone or repaired, should the tables ever be turned. Many of the fired—people with expertise—won’t come back. Necessary programs will not be revived. Young people will not apply for jobs in a workforce that can be dismantled on a whim. This is the time for a robust response. The barbarians are not at the gate; they’re inside, burning and pillaging. Worrying about guests for a presidential speech two weeks from now is like fretting about your ride home from the dock when your ship is sinking mid-journey.
Then there’s this: Your people are demanding action. There’s polling data and plenty of anecdotal evidence that Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters across the land are yearning for leadership. They look to Washington and to the folks at the top of the party and scream in exasperation, “Where are you? What are you doing? What is the plan?” After the election, there was the usual post-loss chattering about what the party should do. Go left? Go right? Reach out to pissed-off white working-class guys? Focus on message delivery mechanisms? Downplay the social issues (say, trans rights) and zero in on bread-and-butter matters?
Those are all good questions for cogitation, and folks thought they had some time before the next election to reflect on all this. Yet now a crisis is at hand—for the nation and the party. A much different conversation is required—as is an action plan. And there’s a craving for it. On Thursday night, Jeffries was in Chicago for an event promoting his illustrated book, The ABCs of Democracy. Outside protesters chanted, “We don’t need a book tour” and called on Jeffries to “stand up right now” to the Trump-Musk assault. I don’t know if this is a sign of a burgeoning populist uprising of progressives against the Democratic Party. But, as much as I’m in favor of authors promoting their work, this is no time for a book tour.
There are institutional obstacles for the Democrats. Out-of-power parties in America tend not to have paramount leaders with national standing who can go toe-to-toe with a president or a run-amok billionaire. The job descriptions for Schumer and Jeffries do not cover this. They were elected to serve their constituents, not the nation, and, as congressional leaders, their jobs are to manage and wrangle their caucuses, each of which contain members with different needs, different perspectives, and different amounts of political courage. And there are no 2028 Democratic contenders who presently can command as much attention as the liar who stands behind the presidential podium. Some governors are trying—see Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois—while California Gov. Gavin Newsom, once a mighty Trump foe, has been pinned down by the tragic wildfires in Los Angeles.
Certainly, some Democrats understand this is a five-alarm, break-glass moment. When Musk and his minions were shutting down USAID, several House members and senators, including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), showed up at its headquarters to protest. And in recent days, a few Democratic legislators have demonstrated fierceness. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is one. She got the story right at a recent rally: “[Musk] is trying to gut everything good in America for his own private profit. This is the culmination of what oligarchy is all about…the fusion and the capture of the billionaire class of our democracy.”
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut also understands this is a battle for the narrative: “The question is can you work with Republicans in the middle of a constitutional crisis when democracy is on the line? And right now, I think that this crisis is serious and deepening in its seriousness, that our job No.1, No. 2, and No. 3 is to save our democracy.”
But the absence of a top-dog Democrat swinging hard means the party must fashion a collective response to Trump and Musk. And the newly elected Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin, is not the answer. His job is mainly to serve the state committee chairs in managing the internal workings of the DNC, not serve as the party’s gladiator.
As I suggested weeks ago, the Dems need a war room that organizes a daily counterassault with those kickass House members and senators—and prominent experts and figures—who are stoked to fight their way into every news cycle to combat the Musk-MAGA propaganda. To point out the consequences of these firings. To promote the overarching message that a campaign to eviscerate government for the benefit of the elites is underway. This can’t be done just by a flurry of press releases. These pols need to be warriors blitzing across social media platforms with posts and video. They must hit whatever news outlets will have them. They must orchestrate PR stunts and events featuring fired workers whose work was essential. And they must do this over and over. There’s a simple strategy to adopt: Everything, everywhere, all at once.
It’s not quite rocket science to have Democratic legislators and leading scientists point out that cutbacks at NASA could help China or other nations gain an edge in space research and exploration or climate change technology. And then there’s another event the next hour on how the slashing at the USDA will lead to less safe food.
This is not going to be easy. Combatting fascism often isn’t. Some Democratic legislators—many?—are not street brawlers and would rather concoct insiderish strategies for how to deal with the pending spending legislation, arguably an important front. But the party as a whole needs to be on the battlefield and acting as if it is fighting for its political life—because that is what’s at stake, as well as the lives of many Americans across the country.
Here is John Oliver roasting Jeffries for his Aaron Judge comparison:
