By: Daimler Koch, Online Editor
America appears to be heading towards a constitutional crisis. President Trump has executed an avalanche of executive orders, and his coalition of Republicans are doing everything to advance his initiatives. One of the only people at the federal level that can stop them, the Congress Democrats, will have to play the long game and work to tear down the Republicans, vote by vote, insult by insult, over the next four years.
Democrats are truly limited politically, with the House, the Senate, the executive branch, and the Supreme Court all under the Republicans’ thumb. In Congress specifically, the Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate and 218 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, meaning that the Democrats can’t pass or strike down legislation that requires a majority vote.
Regardless, people are disappointed with the Democrats for not taking a stronger stance against Trump, phoning in their complaints to Democratic lawmakers. Social media is aflame with Democratic voters who are upset with their representatives in Congress, asking “Y’all are doing a lot of talking. Isn’t it time you start walking?” and “when are the Dems going to start resisting/obstructing” under Bluesky posts from Congressional Democrats pledging that they are standing up for their voters.
In a poll hosted by Quinnipac University in Connecticut and published on February 19, 2025, 54 percent of voters said that the system of checks and balances in the federal government wasn’t working well, and 49 percent of Democrats from the same poll said that they disapproved of their party’s actions in Congress. Even Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said that his party was not checking Trump’s power in Congress as they should be.
However, not all hope is lost.
The only major way that Congress Democrats can slow the Republicans in the short term is to be an active, raging nuisance. While there’s no justification for brazenly breaking laws like Trump, there are still perfectly legal ways to slow the Republicans down. Take any opportunity to negotiate a bill and hold out until the last minute. If insults are thrown, throw them back. Use more aggressive language that attacks and shames the Republicans and their character. They have to get under the Republicans’ skin and distract them from going forward with their plan, and hold their current base strong.
In the long term, the Democrats will have to play and reinvent the Republicans’ wider game of expanding their voter base. Nearly every major demographic and some traditionally blue districts shifted rightward during the November 2024 election – a shift attributed to the Republicans’ populist approach, appealing to working class voters without college degrees. The Democrats should chase this demographic and appeal to their beliefs, keeping the Republicans from holding onto them. If they do so, they might have an opportunity to flip Congress come November 2026, when the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be up for reelection.
This way, the Democrats can achieve a twofold result. Not only will they prevent further abuses of power against everyday Americans fighting for their rights in the years to come, they will also prove that the Democratic party can change with the times, and will always be a party of the underrepresented for generations after.
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