As oligarchs Donald Trump and Elon Musk continue their pursuit of power unfettered by the Constitution, many citizens wonder why their elected representatives in Washington are doing so little to stop the administrative coup. They also might well wonder why the media so rarely ask the same question.
GOP congressmembers have mostly remained silent, when not celebrating, as their party leader shreds democratic institutions. Democratic leaders, meanwhile, have largely advised their own members to not make too much of a fuss—precisely the opposite of what leading scholars of authoritarianism are urgently calling for.
House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, for instance, told fellow Democrats not to “swing at every pitch,” while longtime Democratic adviser James Carville suggested Democrats should “play possum,” complaining that progressives voicing outrage were “detrimental” to the opposition and “never, ever learn to shut up.” Many Senate Democrats voted to confirm multiple Trump cabinet picks, who have done nothing to provide checks on unelected billionaire Musk.
Most reporting follows the tired, risk-averse corporate news script that simply quotes Democrats and Republicans in leadership positions, offering that same lens of Democratic (or even Republican!) congressmembers having no power to stop or even slow anything down. That neatly takes pressure off of those official sources to bother to do anything to protect their constituents—or, say, democracy—that might take some political capital.
‘Setting expectations too high’
Anonymous House Democrat to Axios (2/5/25): “I think there is this sense that we have legislative power, and we don’t.”
Just over two weeks into the Trump/Musk dismantling of democracy, Axios (2/5/25) reported:
Congressional Democrats’ offices are being inundated by phone calls from angry constituents who feel the party should be doing more to combat President Trump and his administration.
The volume of calls appears to be at record levels, according to Axios‘ Andrew Solender, who quoted 28-year Rep. Jim McGovern (D–Mass.): “I can’t recall ever receiving this many calls. People disgusted with what’s going on, and they want us to fight back.”
Solender included a one-line summary characteristic of his outlet’s reporting style:
Why it matters: Some lawmakers feel their grassroots base is setting expectations too high for what Democrats can actually accomplish as the minority party in both chambers of Congress.
Of course, others argue that “it matters” because Democrats actually have the ability to do much more—but that perspective apparently doesn’t matter at Axios.
Democrats have done things like send a “flurry of letters” to protest unconstitutional moves, Solender reported. “Yes, but,” he continued, again buttressing the do-nothing Democrat position, “Democrats lack many of the crucial legislative and investigative tools afforded to the congressional majority that would give them the kind of power needed to thwart Trump.”
Many tools at Democrats’ disposal
Common Dreams (2/7/25): “Democrats don’t have the votes to tank Trump nominees in the Senate, but they do have myriad tools at their disposal to grind the chamber to a halt.”
No one would dispute that the minority party can’t pass bills or issue subpoenas without Republican support, as Axios pointed out. But as progressive groups like Indivisible have countered, there are still many tools at Democrats’ disposal.
In the Senate, any member can request “unanimous consent” to help uncontroversial measures move through more quickly. It only takes one member to block unanimous consent, and Republicans used it all the time under President Joe Biden. After consistent pressure from constituents, Democrats finally used this tool to slow down the confirmation of OMB director (and Project 2025 architect) Russell Vought—only to then grant unanimous consent to adjourn for a long weekend, as if this were all business as usual (Common Dreams, 2/7/25).
Or take another Senate rule concerning quorum, the number of members required to be present for a legislative body to be officially in session. Remember when Democratic state legislators in Texas fled their state in 2021 to deny Republicans quorum, temporarily blocking passage of voting restrictions, and drawing attention to the power grab? Well, the US Senate also requires quorum—the presence of a majority of its members, or 51 senators—in order to do anything.
Democrats don’t have enough members to deny quorum on their own, but there’s still a lot they can do with this tool. As Indivisible points out, simply demanding a quorum check takes time, and if fewer than 51 of the 53 GOP senators are present (which happens frequently), Democrats can simply walk out, stopping all Senate work until enough Republicans return to the chamber.
Meanwhile, the federal government will shut down on March 14 if Congress doesn’t pass a bill to keep it funded. Since Republicans hold a whisker-thin majority in the House, and the far right Freedom Caucus in recent years has generally refused to vote to fund the government, the vote on the matter is one place Democrats actually do hold tremendous power to force concessions from the party in power.
Finally, there’s the power of the bully pulpit. Playing possum, as Carville advises, implies to the public that the things that are currently happening are not unacceptably dangerous. Speaking out forcefully—as only a few Democrats, mostly at the state level, are currently doing—would drive more constituent alarm and activism, and give even cowardly media cover to frame the story as at least plausibly the five-alarm fire that it most certainly is.
‘It’s their government’
All Things Considered (2/14/25) highlighted “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.”
In its article, Axios did quote both Indivisible and fellow progressive grassroots organization MoveOn, but only to say things like, “Our member energy is high”—not to reveal to readers what, exactly, they say Democrats could be doing but aren’t. That leaves the obvious impression that progressive groups are doing precisely the counterproductive thing that Democrats say they are doing—shouting at the wrong people, who have no power—and therefore they should stop setting their “expectations too high” for elected Democrats.
Other outlets didn’t even make the minimal effort of quoting those groups, or any other critics, in their reporting on supposed Democratic helplessness. At NPR‘s All Things Considered (2/14/25), for instance, you could find this headline: “Democrats Face Pressure to Fight Trump Agenda, But Have Limited Power in the Minority.” The piece quoted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D–N.Y.), who said in a press briefing: “What leverage do we have? Republicans have repeatedly lectured America—they control the House, the Senate and the presidency. It’s their government.”
Rather than question that premise, NPR‘s Barbara Sprunt called it “a reality that has driven a disconnect between Democratic lawmakers and many of their constituents.” The only sources interviewed were Democratic House members who shared that position.
In the most recent round of Sunday shows, some hosts noted the increasing demands on Democrats. CNN‘s State of the Union host Jake Tapper (2/23/25) interviewed Jeffries, with the opportunity to press him on Democrats’ options for standing up to Trump and Musk’s lawlessness. Instead, he prodded him to give up the single biggest tool House Democrats currently have: “Are House Democrats going to vote to keep the government open? Or are you just going to let the Republicans be in charge of all of it?”
Similarly, on NBC‘s Meet the Press (2/23/25), host Kristen Welker pointed out to her Democratic guest, Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.), that “some of your fellow Democrats are saying they will support shutting down the government to protest President Trump’s policies.” She demanded to know: “You won’t help keep it open?”
‘Congress can’t do anything’
“Despite growing Republican discomfort that Musk’s actions are getting the green light from President Donald Trump,” Politico (2/18/25) reported, “there is little the GOP might be able, or willing, to do”—eliding the vast difference between “willing” and “able.”
Obviously Republican elected officials do have vastly more power to stop the Trump/Musk coup, and yet it’s not hard to find reporters letting them completely off the hook, too. Despite reports of many GOP town halls filling up with angry constituents, Republican congressmembers who admit qualms with some Trump or Musk’s actions have even more absurdly than Democrats feigned helplessness.
Politico‘s Hailey Fuchs (2/18/25) reported that Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving member of his party in the chamber, claimed that his hands were tied in response to Trump and Musk slashing federal agencies and jobs, since those were part of the executive branch: “Congress can’t do anything except complain.”
Politico added some words of analysis that basically restated and therefore supported Grassley’s laughable contention that Congress is powerless in the face of flagrantly unconstitutional actions from the executive branch:
Grassley’s comments serve as a stark admission that, despite growing Republican discomfort that Musk’s actions are getting the green light from President Donald Trump, there is little the GOP might be able, or willing, to do.
Steve Benen of Maddow Blog (2/19/25), on the other hand, showed how simple it is to do what journalists are actually supposed to do, pointing out that Grassley’s claim was “plainly untrue,” and listing a sampling of the things Grassley could do with his power:
- call a hearing and demand Musk’s testimony;
- issue subpoenas to the quasi-governmental Department of Government Efficiency;
- introduce legislation limiting DOGE’s authority;
- file lawsuits;
- sign onto amicus briefs filed in courts;
- impose Senate holds until his concerns are addressed;
- vote against nominees and bills until his concerns are addressed.
Dependence on corporate donors
Sludge (2/24/25): “There are a lot of factors for why the elected Democrats can’t seem to muster a powerful opposition to the administration, one of which is that they have financially tied their political futures to the companies and industries that benefit from it.”
It’s no surprise that Republican congressmembers would cravenly refuse to protect their constituents’ interests in favor of following the marching orders of their party leader.
But it also shouldn’t be so surprising that top Dems would shy away from doing anything to seriously interfere with Musk’s wrecking ball, given that the Democratic party depends upon major corporate donors that include those directly connected to Musk’s rogue pseudo-agency, “DOGE.”
As Sludge (2/24/25) reported, the House Democrats’ campaign arm accepted over $2.5 million in January from the top lobbyist for Musk’s SpaceX and for Peter Thiel’s Palantir, which has been helping to staff DOGE, and whose “artificial intelligence-powered software is well positioned to win contracts to replace functions eliminated by DOGE’s slashing.” $2.5 million represents over a quarter of the DCCC’s entire haul last month.
Meanwhile, corporate media, who have a long history of scorning and marginalizing progressive voices, continue to do so even in the face of an authoritarian administrative coup, giving cover to the elected representatives from both parties whose duty it is to uphold the Constitution.
This content originally appeared on FAIR and was authored by Julie Hollar.
Julie Hollar | Radio Free (2025-02-27T23:27:21+00:00) Corporate Media Offer Excuses for ‘Powerless’ Democrats. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/02/27/corporate-media-offer-excuses-for-powerless-democrats/
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