Instead of lifting the gloom among their supporters and fanning what remains of the fiery enthusiasm ignited by Kamala Harris’ last-minute run, many top leaders of the Democratic Party seem all too ready to knuckle under the MAGA-captured Republican Party.

At a time that calls for an orderly fighting retreat, the Democratic leadership is in disarray, all retreat, virtually no fight. It’s hardly an inspiring image ahead of Donald Trump’s second time at the White House.

A dismal example: On the very first measure of the new Republican-controlled Congress, 48 House Democrats voted yes to the Laken Riley Bill, a harsh response to the backlash over the killing of a nurse by an undocumented immigrant, which has been used as proof of the erroneous Trump-MAGA trope that immigrants bring in criminality.

The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain unauthorized non-US nationals accused of crimes such as burglary, theft, larceny, and shoplifting, or of assault on a police officer. It also lets state officials sue the federal government if they oppose an immigration policy. Ten Senate Democrats voted to advance the bill for voting instead of blocking it.

With their Laken Riley votes, many Capitol Hill Democrats showed how eager they are to ditch their party’s liberal messaging on immigration and “culture war” issues and to don a “no labels” garb. Several of their Senate partners are on the same page.

Capitulation

Amid Republican post-election gloating, 11 moderate Senate Democrats declared that they were willing to work with the Republicans on tax cuts and slashing government spending. The poster boy for Democratic capitulationism is Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman who is so awed by the MAGA phenomenon that he might as well sign up with the Republicans.

Fetterman, who voted to advance Laken Riley, said Trump’s bid to grab Greenland is “pretty reasonable, and I think it’s actually strategically a smart thing.” (Trump didn’t rule out annexation by use of military force “for our own security.”) Fetterman even joined Trump’s toxic lab, Truth Social, the lone Senate Dem to do so. He also argued that President Biden should pardon the president-elect for his hush money felony conviction just as he pardoned his son. 

Bipartisanship is necessary at times, but if “working across the aisle” or “seeking common ground” is the first thing Democratic leaders declare after their loss, it sounds like “crying uncle.” Where’s the opposition at a time that calls for a big dose of it? Already, Trump within 24 hours of his inauguration, has signed 50 executive orders, some limiting immigration, weakening climate initiatives, and pardoning Jan. 6 rioters.

Fortunately, at least some Democratic state leaders are setting up barricades to meet the Trump-MAGA threats of assaults on civil rights and the rule of law. 

Combative governors

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Trump critic, quickly mustered his state’s legislators to “Trump-proof”progressive state laws by setting aside $25 million for Attorney Gen. Rob Bonta’s office, ahead of legal battles with the White House. Attorneys general are no pushovers. During the first Trump term, they filed more than 130 multi-state lawsuits against the first Trump administration and won 83 percent .

To bolster “democratic institutions and ensure the rule of law,” Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Colorado Governor Jared Polis formed Governors Safeguarding Democracy, even though Polis was kind to Trump’s Department of Health pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Other governors vowed resistance to Trump’s mass deportation threat. Massachusetts’ Maura Healy, New York’s Kathy Hochul, New Jersey’s Phil Murphy say they will not cooperate with attempts at mass deportations. 

Picking up the slack

Many civil society groups are helping pick up the slack amid the Democratic leadership muddle. The most potent pushback comes from immigrant rights groups, labor federations, and environmental organizations that are girding for furious fights ahead. 

The American Civil Liberties Union’s legal experts have drafted a “roadmap” to meet Trump “head on” over mass deportations, and in defense of whistleblowers, reproductive freedom, and LGBTQ rights. It sued the first Trump White House 434 times, successfully blocking policies like the Muslim ban and separating immigrant families. 

Groups like the National Immigration Law Center are gearing up against “mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship, ending the right to public education for immigrant children, internment camps, and using the military to hunt down immigrants.” 

Environmental groups like the Sierra Club are also crafting legal tactics and training staff to challenge Trump’s expected “Drill, baby, drill” policies. The Congressional Integrity Project has set up a “rapid response war room” to counter any Trump attempt to use the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service to harass nonprofits that clash with his policies.

Significantly, the powerful AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have reunited to face the prospect of Trump naming a pro-business head of the National Labor Relations Board. 

Union leaders are also pushing back at the proposal of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to cut the federal workforce by 75%. Trump named the two so-called tech broligarchs to lead the unofficial “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). Unions will also defy Trump’s pledge to classify thousands of career federal employees as “Schedule F,” so they won’t have civil service protections and can be fired easily. 

Clearly, progressive advocates are feeling the lack of resistance among Democratic leaders who should be at the forefront against Trump-MAGA’s drive to recast government institutions and American political life into their authoritarian fever dream. A stiff spine, not weak-kneed conciliation, is what’s needed at this existential time for US liberal democracy.

Perils of centrism

Sadly, the Democratic Party in the long run may not be fully equipped to protect and deepen US democracy. It is a centrist party of incongruent interests, composed not only of working people and civil rights advocates, but also of political, academic, and corporate elites. 

It faces a far-right opponent that’s fixed on a vision of small government, white and male supremacy, xenophobia, and Christian nationalism. Yet, Democratic politicians prefer triangulating to the right to mollify voters’ baser instincts. They’re wary of pushing for far-reaching populist reforms like universal health care, expansive social welfare protections, free higher education, subsidized housing, etc., funded with a wealth tax and reduced military spending. 

Unfortunately, the deeply rooted US two-party system virtually prevents any third party with “non-traditional” aims from gaining national power. In Europe parties compete on the basis of ideological differences, resulting in a multiparty pluralism. By contrast, in the US just two parties stand for all of the country’s diverse political and social interests and compete based on geographical–state and congressional district–representation. Ideological outliers have no choice but to pursue their distinctive visions within the Republican and Democratic parties.

Thus far, the MAGA far-right movement has successfully taken over the Republican Party and is now defining its agenda. Meanwhile, Democratic progressives are still marginalized by their party’s ever-hedging inner circle of power. 

Absent a progressive mass movement to rival the far right, younger left elements like Representative Alexandra Ocasio Cortez won’t be able to take over the Democratic party and, despite the restrictive two-party system, make it a more assertive force for social justice. – Rappler.com