In recent years, criticism of the Democratic Party has grown stronger. This is due to their widely perceived inaction in Congress and their moves towards policies that are unpopular with their core voter base, in an attempt to appease those to the right of center on the political spectrum. Now, the Democrats are at their lowest, with several-seat deficits in both houses of Congress and a lack of control in the White House. While it may be too late to do anything about the presidential election, Democrats have been making moves to show their opposition to President Donald Trump and his second presidential administration.
In a move widely viewed as simply performative, House Democrats held signs reading “Save Medicaid,” “Musk Steals” and “False,” among others, during Trump’s State of the Union address. Representative Al Green (D-TX) was the only one who vocally opposed Trump, resulting in him being kicked out of the chamber.
More recently, however, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) drew attention to Democrats’ resistance to Trump by holding the floor for more than 25 hours, breaking the record for longest Senate speech. This record was previously held by Strom Thurmond, lifelong defender of racial segregation, who set the record when protesting the Civil Rights Act.
Throughout the speech, Booker did not leave the floor to use the bathroom and was unable to sit for the duration of his speech. While he did not speak for 25 hours straight, he only paused for other Senators to ask him questions or contribute to his effort. He also did not resort to tactics like reading out of the phone book or reading children’s stories. Booker was armed with a thick binder full of topics compiled by him and his aides. This ensured that his speech was meaningful and powerful for the full time he was at the stand.
Booker’s speech was not a filibuster by definition, as he was not delaying time in session to prevent a bill from being passed. While this is arguably performative as well, it holds value in that it was an impressive feat that required intense physical effort to accomplish. This reflects well on the Democrats in government now, who have faced scrutiny for taking the easy way out of doing anything meaningful to stand up to Trump’s administration.
While an impeachment is unlikely due to the Republican majority in both houses, all hope is not lost. The most important thing Democrats can do is make moves in the midterms, as taking back control of the legislature would prevent Trump and his administration from doing much at all through the executive powers.
Signs of life in deeply red districts are already appearing, with recent special elections shifting several points to the left after only a few months of Trump being in office. If this keeps up and Americans continue to be more dissatisfied with his presidency (which seems likely, as the economy continues to suffer), the Democrats have a good pathway towards resistance for the second half of Trump’s term.
