Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel with Public Citizen
From the February 8th Emergency Rally to End Musk’s Government Takeover
“I want us to think about another recent power grab attempt on the global stage. Just a few months ago, on December 3, the rightwing president of South Korea declared martial law in that country. He ordered his troops to block the opposition party from entering the South Korean National Assembly. Many of us may remember that moment and how, faced with that overwhelming force, the opposition lawmakers didn’t blink. What did they do instead? They formed human chains. They broke through the barricades. One lawmaker grappled with a soldier, grabbing hold of his rifle. Ultimately, they took back the parliament and blocked their would-be dictator’s seizure of power.”
“Vigorous opposition to tyranny is possible. And it’s worth keeping that in mind as we think about what’s happening in America today. Elon Musk is taking control over the fundamental payment apparatus of the United States Treasury. That’s a seizure of dictatorial power by any other name. We’re talking about a corrupt and unaccountable billionaire deciding what government bills to pay and what not to pay—being able to delete the file that controls your Social Security payments or the funding to your kid’s childcare program. To unilaterally shut down a Congressionally created agency, or cut off all the federal benefits to a State like Rhode Island. And the longer Musk retains this access to our payment system, the harder it will be to undo the code changes his henchmen are making. We have not faced a constitutional crisis of this magnitude since the Civil War. And unfortunately, Democrats here have been a lot slower in responding to this crisis than their counterparts in South Korea.
“The good news is that this is starting to change. And that’s largely because of patriots like you, who have been calling our representatives’ offices in record numbers. The recent all-night stand against Russell Vote is a great example of Democrats beginning to step up their game, and our senators’ participation in that effort should be celebrated. Let’s give them another round of applause. And another piece of good news, Democrats’ increasingly strong messaging on Elon Musk seems to be making a difference, with his approval rating taking a significant dive - one more piece of evidence that engaging in adversarial politics works; that publicizing and opposing the horrific things the administration is doing, rather than preemptively accepting them, can shift public opinion.
“And yet, given the truly unprecedented threat of Musk’s ongoing takeover of the Treasury, in this moment, we’re here to say respectfully but firmly that we need even stronger leadership. Democrats have additional tactics they can, and must, start bringing to this fight. That applies to our Congressmen, and it’s worth noting to them that in the U.S. House impeachment motions are privileged, meaning any Democrat in the House can bring articles of impeachment against, say, an administration official that is openly defying a court order, and then force a vote on that motion by the full House. In particular, this applies to our senators, given that the United States Senate is an institution designed to protect the rights of the minority party. That means that Democratic senators like Jack Reed and
“Sheldon Whitehouse has an arsenal of procedural tools they could be using to disrupt and delay this out-of-control MAGA agenda. So, let’s cover a few of those tools.
“First, Democratic senators could place a blanket hold on all Trump nominees until the crisis at Treasury is resolved. Sen. Brian Schatz from Hawaii has already announced he’s putting a hold on all State Department nominations to protest the illegal demolition of USAID - I don’t see why Hawaiians should have stronger leadership than Rhode Islanders. We’re asking Senators Reed and Whitehouse to join this action and extend it to all of Trump’s nominees.
“Second, we’re asking for the denial of unanimous consent. And I know we’re getting a little nerdy here, but stay with me. Unanimous consent is the framework by which the Senate operates. Technically, all of the basic day-to-day functions of the Senate - from scheduling votes to moving bills forward - require time-consuming procedural steps, roll-call votes, debates, and the whole glacial shebang. So, senators generally agree or unanimously consent. To skip over these procedures. But they don’t need to agree. It is 100% within the power and prerogative of Senators Reed and Whitehouse to begin denying unanimous consent on everything, which could effectively grind Senate business to a crawl.
“Finally, Democrats in the Senate could use quorum calls to disrupt the flow of GOP business. Officially, according to. Senate rules, business can’t be conducted without a majority of senators present on the Senate floor. Most of the time, nobody asks for a quorum, as there’s rarely a majority of senators on the floor. They’re at committees, they’re at fundraisers, they’re with constituents, they’re dialing for dollars, they’re home sick. But any senator can request a quorum check at any time, making the clerk do a full roll call.
“And if less than 51 senators respond, then Senate business stops until there’s a majority. To be clear, these aren’t tactics for everyday, run-of-the-mill disputes, and none of them are actual solutions - an effective majority can still overcome these strategies eventually. But these are actions that could force the GOP to fight for every single destructive step they want to take. And we’re here to make clear to our senators: We think that matters. Because the slower we can make them go, the less they can destroy - and the more we can demonstrate the depravity of their agenda and Musk’s coup attempt to the public.
“When you’re in a five-alarm fire, you use every possible tool to slow it down. Now, I know we’ve all been through a lot since November. We’ve taken our time off of social media, and we’ve tried to ignore the news. We’ve done our grieving and our spiraling. Now we’ve got to shake the numbness off. The literal worst people in the world are threatening everything that we hold dear. And like every would-be tyrant in history, they want us to think that we’re powerless to stop them. But we’re not powerless. And our Democratic leaders are not powerless. And we need them to start acting like it.”
[Transcription is edited for clarity.]
