President Donald Trump's "flood the zone" blitz of orders has created chaos across the federal government, and Democrats told The New York Times that while they're already overwhelmed, the administration is primed to make "big mistakes" — and they're ready to "pounce."
Trump and his team came out swinging from the moment he was inaugurated, immediately pardoning around 1,500 defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, repealing dozens of former President Joe Biden's executive orders, expanding border enforcement, reversing climate initiatives, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and even revoking security clearancesof dozens of former officials (including people targeted in Iranian assassination plots).
The whirlwind culminated Tuesday with the freeze of a trillion dollars in federal grants and loans, thrusting the nation into chaos.
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Top Democrats told the Times they're every bit as overwhelmed as everyday Americans.
“It’s been overwhelming sensory overload,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told the paper.
“One moment I’m on the phone with someone who does cancer drug clinical medical trials for the government who has been slated for removal because one small part of her job is outreach to the minority community,” he added. “The next moment I’m talking to lawyers at the Department of Justice and they’ve been slated to be involuntarily reassigned. It just doesn’t stop.”
“It’s a little bit like drinking from a fire hose,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told the Times.
But Connolly said the breakneck pace creates an opportunity for his party.
“They’re going to stumble,” Mr. Connolly said. “They’re going to screw up, and we’re going to pounce when they do. In their haste to remake the federal government, they’re going to make big, big mistakes.”
Raskin said Democrats need to identify where the administration has "clearly violated the Constitution." He pointed to the Trump administration's attempt to rescind birthright citizenship, which is codified in the Constitution — "and where the courts will still work for us."
In other cases, he added, "we’re going to have to be creative and nimble.”