Time for Democrats to Get Out of the Bipartisanship Business

One of the many commitments that the incoming Trump administration made on the campaign trail this past year was a promise to find new ways to weaponize the federal government against the GOP’s opponents. But if Republicans get their way, we won’t have to wait until Inauguration Day for Trump to earn broad new powers to crush his enemies. Worming its way through the legislature at the moment is H.R. 9495, a bill that would give the executive branch the power to unilaterally declare any nonprofit organization in America to be a terrorist organization. Outfits so deemed would be stripped of their tax-exempt status and subject to what amounts to a financial death penalty, as banks would no longer be permitted to service them. What’s more, these organizations would have no legal recourse to fight back.

It’s not hard to see why Trump might covet these powers. With the wave of a pen, he’d have the capacity to eliminate all manner of civil society organizations and liberal nonprofits, permanently damaging the electoral and policymaking infrastructure on which Democrats rely. What’s harder to understand is why a Democrat might vote for what is, essentially, the “Destroy the Center for American Progress Act of 2024.” Last week, more than 50 Democratic representatives did just that, joining the GOP in a vote that failed to advance the bill out of the House. (That vote was taken during a suspension of the rules in the House, requiring a two-thirds majority for passage.)

In the week since that vote was taken, enormous pressure was applied to those Democrats who, in a fit of what was either ignorance or insanity, voted to give Trump the power to lay waste to the Democratic Party. On Thursday, the House took another vote on the bill, this time passing it by a vote of 219–184. The full-court press to get Democrats to change their vote had some limited impact. It’s still disheartening to see that 15 Democrats backed a plan to give the incoming president these dangerous new powers. The tendency of some Democrats to seek common ground is a habit that they must begin to unlearn as they face the prospect of a second Trump term. Instead, they should steal what’s been a highly successful move from the Republicans: Don’t provide any votes for the things that the GOP majority wants to do, no matter what they are.

This would be a great way for Democrats to honor the outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made the denial of bipartisanship a singular demand of his caucus during the Obama era, correctly understanding that whenever the president earned GOP votes for his agenda, these became more resounding wins than bills passed under party-line votes. Democrats need to approach the next Congress with the same zeal: If the GOP wants to claim a mandate, good for them. But they’ll have to shift the millstone of governance on their own, which is something that many Republicans aren’t sure they’re good at doing. If they come looking for Democrats to help, the message should be consistent: KMAGYOYO.

The fact that H.R. 9495, a bill whose sponsors are essentially asking Democrats to be the brilliant ally of their own gravediggers, even exists should be sufficient to steel the party to the task ahead. Democrats should reflect on just how difficult the GOP has made it to do the nation’s urgent business over the years—from pandemic mitigation to confirming routine appointments—and on the incoming president’s plan for mayhem, and be willing to challenge the GOP to run the country on their own. In fact, the Democrats’ baseline assumption should be that they don’t want their fingerprints anywhere near the things that Trump plans to do.

Obviously, there might be some moments when bigger disasters unfold. Take the next debt ceiling fiasco. It’s likely that most of the members of the GOP will simply rubber-stamp a rise in the debt ceiling, if only because Trump’s plans to deport tens of millions of people is estimated to cost more than $300 billion (and an additional $46.8 billion budget shortfall tacked on). But if things stay true to form and Trump doesn’t want the “destroy economy” button to get pushed, there’s still a decent-sized rump of wack-ass QAnon headcases in the GOP caucus who are itching to meet the Great Debt Default Jesus in the sky by whatever means. As we’ve seen in numerous instances during Mike Johnson’s speakership tenure, these members often break from the herd and pick their own (crazy) paths. And tight margins in the House make it easy for a handful of weirdos to threaten to drive the train off the rails.

Will Johnson need Democrats to help him out of this potential jam? He has, in the past, been heavily dependent on the charity of the opposition. It could be that there might be extraordinary moments where Democratic participation is needed to save the day. On those occasions, Democrats need to keep a list of demands close at hand—to my mind, Johnson would have to make new committee power-sharing arrangements, as well as a slew of policy commitments attached to any must-pass legislation. The price of the bipartisan bag is going up, folks! Barring that, Johnson will simply have to prove his mettle as a majority leader. (The next time he demonstrates that will be the first time.)

Obviously, there is going to be a lot of pressure placed on Democrats to bail the GOP out of the various messes they get into. As I’ve mentioned before, this is the role that the media has assigned to Democrats: They exist solely to be the helpmates to Republicans, and to curb their excesses. There’s never been a better time to shuck off this fake obligation and step aside from a role that has served their party’s constituents poorly. The voters handed Republicans full control of the presidency and Congress. That means Republicans are now obligated to advance a comprehensive agenda on their own and answer to the American people.

Think of it this way: What sense does it make for Democrats to dilute this accountability by lending their votes to this effort? This is the GOP’s moment to deliver the goods. If they can’t figure out how to do that, we deserve an unobscured view of their dysfunction and corruption. Perhaps they’ll rise to the occasion. More likely, they’ll unleash chaos and shit—and there’s no need for that to become the Democrats’ burden. Democrats aren’t going to get any credit if things go well, so why volunteer to take a share of the blame when things go badly?

The fact that there are 15 Democrats willing to hand Trump the insane power to wish a nonprofit off to La-La Land illustrates how hard it will be to discipline this party into a fighting force. Between the naïve norms-respecters, the Trump-curious, and the genuine dullards in the party who voted for this bill, I’d expect to see far too many Democrats make the incorrect choice over the next few years. But that’s where we come in: Our obligation will be to name and shame, give the Democrats who support and enable the Trump agenda hell, and maybe primary a few of them into their next career. We can begin with some encouragement on the next vote on H.R. 9495: If you’re in the liberal nonprofit world, I’d be in contact with the Democrats who voted to let Trump destroy you, and let them know that you’ll be canceling any work you’d planned to do on their behalf.

This article first appeared in Power Mad, a weekly TNR newsletter authored by deputy editor Jason Linkins. Sign up here.