Politics
WATCH: Democrat Lawmaker Says Constituents Are Melting Down Over DOGE
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) told CNN that her constituents are increasingly concerned about the party’s inability to oppose the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
Democrats have been scrambling to oppose the Trump Administration’s planned spending cuts to little effect. Despite dozens of rallies and impromptu press conferences outside government agency heads, Musk’s team has continued to conduct audits of dozens of federal agencies and departments. As of Monday, the running “DOGE tracker” tally is estimating more than $120 billion in proposed cuts and layoffs.
While the committee lacks the ability to legislate, House Republicans on Tuesday passed a budget resolution that will give lawmakers the green light to cut more than $800 billion in federal spending. President Trump has endorsed the House framework, which is likely to become law after leaders of relevant committees come to an agreement with the Republican-controlled Senate.
While speaking with CNN on Wednesday, Rep. Dingell indicated that her constituents are panicking over the party’s inability to stop the Trump Administration’s momentum.
“Well, I’ve been a lot of places and quite frankly a lot of Democrats are hearing from equally angry constituents who are very concerned about what is happening and wanting to know what Democrats are doing and why aren’t they doing more,” the congresswoman told CNN’s Boris Sanchez. She was ultimately unable to provide many assurances, however, instead stating that the party will continue to spotlight “human stories” of laid off federal workers.
The congresswoman’s warning comes as a number of recent polls have created an ominous picture for the Democratic Party as they look to regroup in the aftermath of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ electoral defeat. A recent survey from Quinnipiac found that just 31 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of the party, while a staggering 57 percent of respondents indicated that they have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party.
Mark Penn, a veteran pollster who used to conduct internal surveys for the Clinton Campaign, recently stated that Democrats appear to be “falling off a cliff” as they struggle to put together a unified message. “Well, I’ve got some new polling coming out Monday that I’ve just looked at. And frankly, the Democratic Party is falling off a cliff. The ratings, which were in the high 40s, are going to be like 35 percent,” Penn said during a recent interview with Fox News.
“Think of the basic question, who’s doing a better job as president, Biden or Trump? Trump is winning that with 57 percent. I think you’re seeing a retrospective assessment of Biden and the direction the Democratic Party was going, really a lot more negative than it was on election day,” he added.
“And they’re looking at the contrast on immigration, on economic policy, on some of the social policies. And, boy, they’re reevaluating. And the Democratic Party, I have never seen anything like this. This is a record low for the Democratic Party in terms of favorability. It has fallen really, really way down and I don’t think there’s any leadership right now that’s going to be able to bring that back.”
