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The Democratic leadership’s approach to communications during the second Trump administration has been a failure. We can acknowledge that the media environment suppresses Democratic voices and still have concerns about the Democratic leadership’s ability to understand the challenges we face and to communicate those challenges effectively to voters.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have been hoping the Trump administration’s lawlessness and cruelty would eventually cause voters to turn to the Democrats as a sane alternative. This quiet quitting of the fight has left a void in the political universe that has been filled by the cacophony of misinformation being injected in “news” consumers’ brains by corporate media and heavily sponsored podcast gals and bros. 

Now Schumer and Jeffries want to make the shutdown fight about saving Affordable Care Act subsidies for people buying coverage through health care exchanges. The problem with that plan is that the voters who are scheduled to lose their coverage as a result of Republican budget cuts won’t even know this happened. It will save Republicans from one of the few cuts that would actually occur before the midterm elections. The fact that Democrats forced the restoration will be forgotten by November 3, 2026, when voters go to the polls.

The Democrats should make the shutdown all about how the Trump administration is breaking the law every day. 

Here are some examples collected by House Appropriations Committee Democrats:

• Impoundment of congressionally-appropriated funds at numerous federal agencies, in violation of federal law;
• Firing of dozens of experienced federal prosecutors;
• Firing of thousands of other federal professionals in violation of the law, and the initiation of government-wide plans for further firings;
• Firing of 17 inspectors general, independent watchdogs that investigate waste, fraud, abuse, and potential criminal activity in our government;
• Letting Elon Musk and DOGE access sensitive data on tens of millions of Americans;
• Signing a series of illegal and unconstitutional executive orders;
• Removal of experienced career FBI officials and threats to fire FBI special agents and analysts;
• Removal or transfer of other experienced career officials at the Department of Justice; 
• Initiation of plans to transfer up to 1,500 FBI headquarters professionals out of the Washington, DC, area;
• Initiation of plans to gut the Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department, which helps investigate and prosecute corrupt public officials;
• Initiation of plans to gut other Justice Department units that combat money laundering, prosecute foreign corruption cases, and more;
• Initiation of plans to restore gun-possession rights to convicted felons and persons with domestic violence convictions;
• Closure of the US Agency for International Development, in violation of federal law.

And this list is six months old. There is much lawbreaking that has not yet been documented. 

The Democrats’ clarion call should be, “No votes until the lawbreaking stops.” When the government shuts down and reporters are asking Democrats for comments, they should all repeat this mantra. After all, by now they’ve received a thorough education in how effective repetition is, even for falsehoods and nonsense. How much more so, then, when one has a genuine cause.  

While you’re here enjoying DonkeyHotey’s latest cartoon, please take a moment to read these articles on related topics: 

• Kirk Resolution Forces House Democrats Into a Political Misstep
• A Modest Proposal: How Democrats Could Take the House (Before November 2026)
• Other DonkeyHotey cartoons