Democratic Leaders Pissed Off at Party Leaders

Democrats are pissed, and it’s not just at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the “Make America Great Again” movement. Rank-and-file Dems are also furious with their own leaders and increasingly pushing to replace them.

Arizona Democrats pushed out their party chair, and Georgia Democrats are on their way to doing the same. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York postponed a book tour in the face of protests amid calls from progressives that he face a primary challenge.

The losing party after a presidential election often spends time in the wilderness, but the visceral anger among Democrats toward their party leaders is reaching a level reminiscent of the Tea Party movement that swept out Republican incumbents 15 years ago.

“They should absolutely be worried about holding onto power because there’s a real energy right now against them,” Paco Fabián, deputy director of Our Revolution, a grassroots group allied with independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, said of Democratic incumbents. “And as soon as somebody figures out how to harness it, they’re going to be in deep trouble.”

The current depth of frustration among Democrats is clear and shows no signs of going away. According to a February Quinnipiac poll, about half disapprove of how Democrats in Congress are handling their job, compared with about 4 in 10 who approve. That’s a stark contrast from the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency in 2021 when more than 8 in 10 Democrats approved of how their party was doing its job in Congress, and the start of Trump’s first term in 2017 when about 6 in 10 Democrats approved. In 2017, as they do now, Democrats lacked control of either congressional chamber.

A February CNN/SSRS poll found about three-quarters of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents thought Democrats in Congress weren’t doing enough to oppose Trump. Facing a coordinated and long-planned Republican effort to remake government and fire tens of thousands of federal workers, Democrats have struggled with a unified response.

Frustration on the left with elected Democrats began early when some Democratic senators backed Trump Cabinet nominees and supported legislation targeting illegal immigration. It escalated following Trump’s joint address to Congress when Democratic lawmakers protested by wearing coordinated clothes and holding up signs expressing their discontent. A handful of Democrats then voted with Republicans to censure U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who interrupted Trump’s speech to Congress and was escorted out of the chamber.

Schumer faced the most serious backlash after he refused to block a Republican-led government spending bill and shut down the government. Schumer said blocking the bill would have backfired and played into Trump’s hands, but many on the left saw it as capitulation.

“I want the opposition to be a lot more animated,” said Stefan Therrien, a 22-year-old engineering student in Tempe, Arizona, who called Democratic leaders in Congress “very passive” in a misguided effort to appeal to centrists. “Democrats should attack harder.”

Ken Human, a retired attorney who went to a town hall organized by Democrats in Lexington, Kentucky, said: “You have to stand up to bullies because otherwise they’ll walk all over you.”

At rallies, town halls, and protests, voters are venting their fury with Donald Trump and his empowerment of Elon Musk’s full-frontal assault on federal agencies, stoking what progressive activists say are the embers of a populist backlash against the president – and the Democratic leaders they believe are not meeting the moment.

Yet, despite the rising tide of anger, Democrats still have no clear strategy to confront Trump or the chainsaw-wielding Musk, who said in an interview last week that his mission to slash federal spending by $1tn could be “completed within weeks.”