The resistance is delivering results!
May Day, 2025
Resistance to Trump's anti-democratic agenda is succeeding on multiple fronts. May Day 2025 brought major new roadblocks to Trump's efforts to overturn the Constitution. For those asking, “How does this end? What is the path to victory?” May Day reminded us that we must do everything, everywhere, all at once—because Trump is assaulting democracy in every possible way, everywhere, and all at once.
Any objective observer should conclude that those resisting Trump are achieving significant progress that will hasten victory over the long run, even as Trump creates new chaos in the short term. (It is easier to break things than it is to fix them.) So, as we begin the second 100 days of Trump's second term, we have reason to be proud of what we have accomplished and to be hopeful about our path forward.
Let’s take a look at the various ways that those defending democracy held the line on Thursday.
Defenders of Democracy showed up in force on May Day 2025
Defenders of democracy showed up in force at rallies across the nation on May Day, 2025. My inbox is filled with photos taken by readers at protests from California to New Hampshire—and most places in between. Even the hard-to-impress New York Times placed the protests “above the fold” in the center of page A1. See New York Times, Trump Policies Draw Outrage at May Day Protests Across the U.S. (Accessible to all.)
The sub-headline to the Times’ story gets it right:
Labor rallies in large cities swelled with demonstrators focused on immigration, education and worker’s rights. But protesters also rallied at small-town schools and city halls in Trump country.
Notice the phrase “in Trump country” at the end of the Times’ sub-headline. That phrase should send a powerful message to Republicans who are about to vote on a bill that will wreak havoc on all states by decimating Medicaid. Those cuts will hit “Trump country” particularly hard. In response to a reader's suggestion, I am re-posting an article by the Center for American Progress that quantifies the number of constituents in each congressional district that will be affected by the proposed cuts. Check out your congressional district here: The Republican House Budget Resolution's Potential $880 Billion in Medicaid Cuts by Congressional District - Center for American Progress.]
The Times also did justice to the nationwide scale of the protests and the fact that demonstrations are becoming larger and more frequent:
Similar scenes unfolded across the country, as the police closed streets for the crowds in major cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington.
But protesters also rallied in small communities that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump, including Norman, Okla.; Sauk City, Wis.; and Hendersonville, N.C. Groups held signs in front of municipal buildings and public schools, and some demonstrators wore red to indicate their support for public education.
[I] n recent weeks, demonstrations opposing the president’s agenda, as well as resistance from some of the institutions targeted by Mr. Trump, have increased in size and frequency.
To everyone who helped make the May Day protests a success, thank you! You are heroes of democracy!
A case study on resistance by the minority party in Congress
Many readers are still reeling from the unexpected support by fifteen Democratic senators for the nomination of David Perdue to be US Ambassador to China. Their support for Perdue is puzzling because we have repeatedly witnessed the transformation of supposedly “sane and reasonable” Trump nominees (e.g., Rubio, Bessent, Waltz, Burgum) into MAGA foot soldiers for whom no task is too extreme or humiliating.
Trump is trying to overturn the Constitution, and every nominee should be viewed as a loyalist who will support Trump in achieving that goal. Voting for an ambassador may not seem like the place to draw a line in the sand, but only because there should be no line. Democrats should oppose every Trump nominee for every position, even if that opposition may seem hopeless.
On Thursday, we witnessed how opposition to Trump's nominees can lead to unexpected successes. Trump has nominated the truly awful Ed Martin to serve as the US Attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin is ethically challenged and is an extremist, white supremacist, pro-January 6, conspiracy theorist whose views are inimical to the Constitution. His sole qualification for the job (in Trumpworld) is that he is willing to convert the US Attorney’s Office in D.C. into an instrument of Trump's revenge agenda.
One month ago, Senator Adam Schiff announced that he was placing a “hold” on Ed Martin’s nomination. Although the “hold” could be overcome by Senate Republicans, doing so would consume precious time and resources for the GOP caucus in the Senate.
After Senator Schiff announced the hold, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee began to discover that Ed Martin had made material omissions on his questionnaire. For example, Martin failed to disclose hundreds of appearances on the Russia Today (RT) network, a media source that is effectively Putin’s propaganda firm and PR outlet. See uPolitics, Trump's Pick To Be U.S. Attorney For D.C. Made Over 150 Appearances On Russian State Media – And Failed To Disclose Them.
Over the last few days, Democratic investigators learned that Martin had promoted and praised a Nazi sympathizer on several podcast appearances. Maddow Blog | Ed Martin’s earlier praise for a Nazi sympathizer and Jan. 6 rioter draws fresh scrutiny.
The additional time to investigate Ed Martin gave Judiciary Committee staff time to build a case against Martin’s confirmation. It now appears that Martin’s nomination is on the rocks—and may be dead. See Talking Points Memo, It Appears Ed Martin ‘Doesn’t Have The Votes’ To Be Confirmed—At Least Not Right Now.
I do not know whether placing a “hold” on David Perdue’s nomination would have prevented confirmation. I do know that a hold would have given staff on the Foreign Relations Committee time to investigate Perdue’s apparent insider trading upon receiving a confidential briefing in the Senate about the possibility of a Covid pandemic.
And let’s not forget that when Perdue was running for re-election in 2020, he used antisemitic tropes to attack Jon Ossoff (who is Jewish) by (among other things) running ads that enlarged Ossoff’s nose, and deliberately mispronounced Kamala Harris’s name as “Kamamboamamla.”
A hearing on Perdue’s nomination would have at least allowed discussion of whether nominating someone accused of antisemitism and racism is qualified to serve as US Ambassador to China.
Trump is nominating candidates who are not only unqualified for the jobs they seek but whose very nomination serves to mock and attack the agencies they seek to lead. That track record certainly justifies placing a “hold” on every Trump nominee to investigate what perverse reason motivated Trump to nominate the candidate.
Senator Schiff’s hold on Ed Martin may not prevent confirmation. But at least we have a fighting chance of doing so—which we would not have if Senate Democrats followed the “go along to get along” strategy used in confirming David Perdue.
So, good for Senator Schiff for placing a hold on Ed Martin—and here’s hoping that other Democratic Senators follow suit.
Federal judge rules that Trump's use of Alien Enemies Act is unlawful
Trump is using the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants without due process. By its terms, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 applies during war or when the US is under invasion by a foreign power. Trump has declared that Venezuela had “invaded” the US by way of criminal gangs selling drugs; on that basis, he invoked the provisions of the Alien Enemies Act.
Legal advocacy groups—including the ACLU--have sued Trump in multiple cases that challenge the lawfulness of Trump's declaration that Venezuela has invaded the US.
On Thursday, a federal judge (appointed by Trump) ruled that the proclamation by Trump was unlawful because Venezuela had not invaded the United States. For an excellent discussion, see Chris Geidner at Law Dork (Substack), Federal judge appointed by Trump rules that Trump's AEA proclamation is "unlawful".
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr is the first time that a court has reached the merits of Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. As explained by Chris Geidner,
No court has ruled that the law allows Trump to use the AEA how he did here, although he has won a few procedural arguments along the way. At the same time, Rodriguez is the first just to issue a final ruling that Trump’s action is illegal.
“[T]he historical record renders clear that the President’s invocation of the AEA through the Proclamation exceeds the scope of the statute and is contrary to the plain, ordinary meaning of the statute’s terms,” Rodriguez wrote in his opinion, finding that the 1798 law’s use of “invasion” and “predatory incursion” do not sweep as broadly as the Trump administration argued.
The ruling will undoubtedly be appealed. However, it was a significant victory that was achieved because of the persistence of the ACLU in filing multiple actions to challenge Trump's unlawful invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.
Congratulations to the ACLU and thanks to all legal advocacy groups that refuse to give up the fight despite temporary setbacks and shifting goalposts!
Two more examples of the resistance changing the narrative
I have run out of time (again) due to our 24/7 childcare for our granddaughter as we await the return of her mom, dad, and brother (Jay) from the hospital. (Everything is fine; the delay in returning home is due to a C Section.)
But if I had more time, I would discuss how two additional developments were caused, in part, by the resistance and persistence of democracy defenders across the nation:
Trump fires Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor and moves him to the US Ambassador to the United Nations. See The Guardian, Trump moves Mike Waltz from national security adviser to UN ambassador role.
The Tesla board of directors considered replacing Musk as CEO. WSJ, Tesla Board Opened Search for a CEO to Succeed Elon Musk (Accessible to all). Musk clearly blames the #TeslaTakedown protests as the cause of Tesla’s woes and the board’s loss of confidence in him. During the Q1 earnings call, Musk began a discussion of the company’s financial performance by blaming the protests. Per the WSJ,
Musk told investors the blowback against Tesla stemmed from his work with DOGE. “The real reason for the protests, the actual reason, is that is those receiving the waste and fraud wish to continue receiving it,” he said. “That is the real thing that’s going on here, obviously.”
Concluding Thoughts
My usual Saturday morning Substack livestream will take place at 8:30 am Pacific / 11:30 am Eastern. Jill and I will attend a political gathering early Saturday morning, so I will hold the livestream from my (parked) car. Hope to see you there!
Jill and I will decamp for D.C. on Monday for three weeks to be with our youngest daughter and her husband as they welcome their first child into the world. I will make arrangements for meetings with readers in D.C. after the delivery. That will allow us to plan with more certainty.
Even as democracy defenders achieve significant victories, Trump continues his unconstitutional and illegal cuts to federal programs and grants appropriated by Congress. On Wednesday and Thursday, we learned of devastating cuts to the National Science Foundation. Although those cuts are likely to be reversed, significant damage will be inflicted on ongoing trials and studies that cannot be interrupted and then restarted when Trump loses in court.
Part of Trump's strategy is to “break things” before a court can prevent the damage. The short-term damage may be irremediable. However, over the long term, we can and will reconstruct the infrastructure and mission of the agencies that Trump has hobbled.
We are thus faced with the task of acting urgently to prevent short-term damage and persisting over the long term to preserve democracy, the rule of law, and the fruits of scientific knowledge built up over centuries. We can do that, so long as we remain steadfast during a time of chaos and confusion. If May Day 2025 is any indication, we are up to the task!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Daily Dose of Perspective
A late afternoon bike ride, waiting for the homecoming of mom, dad, and new baby brother.
That is one of the most uplifting “dose of perspective” photos you’ve posted in awhile: a sunny spring day with training wheels, a helmet and a tie-dyed t-shirt. The future is bright for her if we do our “good trouble” work every single day. Thanks, as ever, for your tireless support of our democracy 💙
That photo of your precious granddaughter is terrific. She is a sweet ray of sunshine! Congrats on the new grandson and the upcoming grandchild in DC. I wish you safe travels and much happiness with your family. And hugs to Jill.