'Putting the body down in the tracks': Dems lean into fighting Trump’s 'regime of fear'

One high-ranking House Democrat says the current political environment has voters hungry for fierce reaction.

“There’s a regime of fear that’s been brought down on society,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told the New York Times. “People need to see leaders and organizers standing up and speaking with authority against what’s happening.”

Many Democrats in the House and Senate — particularly party leaders — spent the first 100 days of Trump’s second term sitting low and trying to check the public's temperature. Now, some Democrats are communicating that the public is demanding more, even if it means a largely powerless minority party making little more than noise.

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The New York Times points to the hundreds of lawmakers signing onto a few court briefs challenging the legitimacy of Trump’s executive orders, while others are holding largely powerless “shadow” hearings drawing attention to administration moves “that have trampled on the rule of law” and eliminated crucial federal programs. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J), for example, drew national attention and approval with a 25-hour Senate floor speech that busted the record filibuster of segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond’s (R-S.C.) in the 1950s.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) made an arguably futile trip to El Salvador this week to press for the return of wrongly deported resident Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Salvador officials mostly rebuffed the senator, but his trip nevertheless drew praise.

Still other Senate Democrats are slowing down or halting the confirmation of some administration officials, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

The public appears hungry for Democrat anger, regardless of results. The New York Times reports Raskin’s and Sen. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) shadow hearing with fired attorney Elizabeth G. Oyer nabbed more than half a million online views. And the party’s progressive icons are drawing crowds in the tens of thousands on the nationwide “Fight Oligarchy” tour, with headliner Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) raising almost $10 million in the first quarter of 2025.

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“What people can learn from Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen is there is an incredible hunger for putting the body down in the tracks,” Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout told the Times.

At the very least, enthusiasm could prep voters for a triumphant Democratic Party return in the mid-terms.

Read Annie Karni’s entire article in the Times here.