Congressional Democrats have been front and center at recent rallies, blasting the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn remake of the federal government.
But at a protest in response to the furlough of nearly all employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, lawmakers were at times drowned out by an agitated crowd chanting, “Do your job” and “What are you going to do about it?”
It highlights the tension that congressional Democrats face with a base pushing them to be more aggressive in combating the Trump administration — but with very limited power as the party in the minority.
“I’m trying to figure out what leverage we actually have,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a press briefing this month. “What leverage do we have? Republicans have repeatedly lectured America — they control the House, the Senate and the presidency. It’s their government.”
It’s a reality that has driven a disconnect between Democratic lawmakers and many of their constituents. House Democrats say the phones in their offices have been ringing off the hook with constituents and grassroots supporters demanding action.
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