Democrats folded. Let's make them regret it.

Political idiocy, moral failure

Welcome to another Thursday edition of Progress Report.

I was going to send deep dive into major state and local news stories tonight, but unfortunately, Democrats answered the question posed in the last email even sooner than anticipated.

As such, tonight’s newsletter focuses on the latest surrender and, importantly, what we can do about it. We’ll be back to regular programming tomorrow morning.

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A few major developments have emerged since I sent out this morning’s newsletter:

• The Dow crashed 537 points today while the S&P 500 fell 1.4%. The latter index has now dropped by more than 10% since Trump took office, largely due to Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

• New polls find Trump’s approval rating underwater by as much as 11 points, as Americans begin to feel the pain of his “shock and awe” assault on the federal government, civil rights, the economy, and the country’s alliances.

• Another brand new poll indicates that Americans would blame Republicans and Trump for a government shutdown by overwhelming margins.

• Angry constituents are pouring into any and all town halls being held by Republican members of Congress, asking questions about proposed cuts and growing closer to rioting when they don’t receive any answers. GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards had to be escorted out of his town hall today after refusing to answer questions about the cuts. There were 1000 people lined up for an event that only could fit 400.

And so naturally, with Trump and Republicans entering a period of weakness and panic, Democrats have decided to surrender their leverage and fold, blessing the brutal cuts in the Republican continuing resolution and handing the president an enormous victory on a silver platter.

Multiple outlets, including the New York Times, have reported that the Senate caucus will provide the necessary votes to reach cloture on the GOP funding bill, a surrender that Chuck Schumer all but confirmed in a speech on the Senate floor earlier this evening. Several Senators put their hearts into ensuring this latest acquiescence, including NY Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who was heard screaming her lungs out in an impassioned plea for her colleagues to shrink from the moment and not even pretend to put up a fight.

There is no justification for empowering Trump, Musk, and the barbaric Republican Party. Their agenda of shutting the government down piece by piece is enormously unpopular, and the argument that a full shutdown would only play into their hands ignores the fact that the backlash they’re facing from the public over delays and threats to cut services would turn into an absolute mutiny.

It also ignores the entire purpose of holding out: forcing a better deal, which Trump would become desperate to make. Just look at how he originally folded on the tariffs with Mexico and Canada. Nobody is looking for adults in the room when their only purpose is to sign off on suffering.

These Democrats Need Primary Challenges

To quote Greg Sargent: “Now that Schumer and Dems have abjectly decided to cave, when they scream about the cuts that Musk and Trump continue to undertake in violation of *their own CR,* it will only sound all the more hollow. Great job all around, guys.”

This Must Be a Turning Point

Gillibrand, as a newly reelected senator from a dark blue state, would in theory be perfectly positioned to hold the line against this atrocious bill, so the fact that she so vigorously supported it gives you an idea of the natural inclinations and intentions of the people who promised to stand up to this White House (and send you multiple emails begging you for cash every single day).

And now that we know their natural inclination, we can begin to adjust accordingly, to pressure them while they remain in office and make sure that those who don’t get the message do not win another Democratic primary.

It’s imperative for Democratic voters to recognize that these people will never care what they think, much less cast votes that reflect their base constituents’ desires or interests. As Josh from Talking Points Memo wrote today, they tried to fool their voters with a performative feint. It failed because we are not fools and we immediately saw through the act. When Democrats recognized their failure, they decided to further disrespect their voters by just straight up surrendering.

Whereas they could once once blame their failures on Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin — who, to be clear, did absolutely suck — it’s now obvious that this is a Senate Democratic caucus rife with members who do not want to deliver for constituents. The only thing they seem to value are their careers, and they’ve made the calculation that Democratic voters will ultimately come home to them. But the era of the #resistance and #BlueNoMatterWho is over, and they’re likely to discover an anger that they have yet to experience from their constituents.

Democratic voters have until tomorrow morning to convince their lawmakers to reverse course, and anything could happen. But it’s unlikely to flip at this point, so this must instead be a turning point. Every squishy Democrat must face a primary challenge, starting in 2026. They simply cannot be allowed to feel as if they have lifetime appointments. If nothing else, they have to earn their positions going forward.

After the Biden debacle, among other catastrophes, the Democratic base is ready to move on from this failed generation of leadership. There are plenty of obvious targets, too: Illinois’s Dick Durbin will be just about 82 on Election Day, Rhode Island’s Jack Reed will be 77, Colorado’s John Hickenlooper will be 75, and Mark Warner will be 72. They have not provided any reason to send them back to the Senate, and I doubt that they will do so between now and then.

This Democratic Party continues to hit new lows. It needs fresh voices, fresh ideas, and lawmakers who don’t have their heads stuck in the politics of the post-Reagan era. Pressuring — and wherever possible, replacing — them is the only chance of reviving this party, much less saving this country from the worst of what Trump is going to do.

So call your senators and let them know that you want them to stand up to Trump, and that if they don’t, you’ll stand up to them.

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