House Democratic lawmakers reportedly used a closed-door meeting earlier this week to vent their frustrations with progressive advocacy groups that have been driving constituent calls and pressuring the party to act like a genuine opposition force in the face of the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on federal agencies and key programs.
Citing unnamed sources, including a senior House Democrat, Axios reported Tuesday that the private meeting "included a gripe-fest" directed at "groups like MoveOn and Indivisible," which have "facilitated thousands of phone calls to members' offices" and pressured the party to use its considerable power to disrupt business as usual in Congress, including by opposing all unanimous consent requests from the Republican majority.
The unnamed senior House Democrat told Axios that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is "very frustrated" with the progressive organizations, which have urged people across the country to contact their Democratic representatives and pressure them to fight harder against the Trump administration and their Republican allies.
Britt Jacovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn, told Axios that "our member energy is high and this won't be the last any office hears from everyday Americans who want us to fight harder to push back."
Reports of internal Democratic frustrations with grassroots progressives come days after Jeffries questioned the leverage his caucus has to stop the Trump administration and unelected billionaire Elon Musk from imposing their will on the federal government.
"They control the House, the Senate, and the presidency," Jeffries told reporters late last week. "It's their government."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, has said Democrats are "not going to go after every single issue" in the fight against President Donald Trump.
"We are picking the most important fights and lying down on the train tracks on those fights," Schumer toldThe New York Times earlier this month.
That's not the kind of all-out confrontational approach that rank-and-file Democrats clearly want from their elected representatives. According to a CBS News/YouGov survey released earlier this week, 65% of Democratic voters want the party to "'oppose Trump as much as possible," up from 46% in January.
The poll also found that just 16% of Democratic voters have "a lot" of confidence that congressional Democrats "can oppose Trump effectively."
"Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are architects of the crisis that allowed Trump's fascism to arise and succeed," progressive organizer Aaron Regunberg wrote Tuesday. "They have zero credibility to be leading the fights we face today—not in their record, their competency, or their recent performance. Quite simply, they have to go."
"Forcing recorded votes is possible. Frequent quorum calls are possible. A wide variety of dilatory motions are possible. In short, harassing the majority is possible. If they think it's a bad idea, say so. If they say it's not possible, they're lying."
Andy Craig, director of election policy at the Rainey Center, urged Americans to keep up the calls to Democratic lawmakers, noting that progressive demands "are 100% doable."
"Objecting to unanimous consents is possible," Craig wrote early Wednesday. "Forcing recorded votes is possible. Frequent quorum calls are possible. A wide variety of dilatory motions are possible. In short, harassing the majority is possible. If they think it's a bad idea, say so. If they say it's not possible, they're lying."
Times editorial board member Mara Gay noted in a column earlier this week that both Schumer and Jeffries "have struggled to shed the familiar rhythms of business as usual" even amid Trump's lawless onslaught, which experts say has sparked a full-blown constitutional crisis.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats did not object to a GOP unanimous consent request to advance the confirmation process for Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to serve as Director of National Intelligence.
"Holy s---- Schumer and the Senate Democrats couldn't object to a basic UC (unanimous consent) time agreement to slow down a nominee like Gabbard?" progressive strategist Murshed Zaheed asked late Tuesday. "Disgraceful and humiliating surrender from these Democrats as they continue to hit your inboxes and messages begging (spamming) for money."