Resistance Mobilizes as GOP Licks Chops Over Regressive Agenda

From slowing President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet confirmations to hampering GOP attempts to repeal Obamacare or defund Planned Parenthood, Democrats and allied progressive forces stand ready to resist the looming Republican agenda. 

Ahead of Congress reconvening on Tuesday, news publications outlined what’s in store—and at stake. 

“Democrats have dramatically greater justification for opposing the Trump-Ryan agenda in 2017 than Ryan and his fellow Republicans had for opposing the Obama agenda in 2009.”
—John Nichols, The Nation

“The most powerful and ambitious Republican-led Congress in 20 years will convene Tuesday, with plans to leave its mark on virtually every facet of American life,” the New York Times reported, “refashioning the country’s social safety net, wiping out scores of labor and environmental regulations, and unraveling some of the most significant policy prescriptions put forward by the Obama administration.”

Of a plan that was “long in the making,” the Washington Post reported:

And Politico predicted Monday that Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, cut U.S. funding to the United Nations, confirm a slate of controversial Cabinet picks, and undo at least some Obama-era regulations are likely to hit few snags. 

Indeed, Republicans have several strategies at their disposal, as the Post reported, from “a procedure known as ‘budget reconciliation,’ in which measures can be passed with a simple 51-vote majority rather than a filibuster-proof 60 votes” to “the 21-year old Congressional Review Act [CRA], which allows Congress to cast simple majority votes of disapproval for regulations.”

Furthermore, the Post continued:

But these salvos will be met with fierce resistance. Civil society groups representing millions of Americans have vowed to oppose Trump and the Republicans’ agenda at every turn, as have lawmakers and progressive leaders nationwide. 

And Politico separately reported Monday that members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are “bracing for the worst in Donald Trump, fearing a presidency that could set minorities back decades.” Members of the caucus listed everything from Trump’s regressive Cabinet nominees to proposed policies targeting ethnic and minority groups as potential threats. 

According to Politico:

“The stakes are incredibly high and our community is counting on us as the last line of defense between Donald Trump and the worst of what America could offer,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told the publication.

Jeffries also spoke Monday to CNN‘s “New Day” warning of Republicans’ probable “overreach”—and Democrats’ planned resistance. Watch below:

Trump’s lack of a political mandate means “Democrats have dramatically greater justification for opposing the Trump-Ryan agenda in 2017 than Ryan and his fellow Republicans had for opposing the Obama agenda in 2009,” The Nation‘s John Nichols wrote in a weekend op-ed. 

Indeed, he added, “Democrats should position themselves as the legitimate (and necessary) opposition to an administration and an agenda that has no mandate.”

Of course, intra-party disagreements could also sabotage GOP plans. Republicans, the New York Times reported, “are divided on how to proceed with the healthcare law and a pledge to rewrite the tax code. Some are also skittish about certain policy proposals, like vast changes to Medicare, that could prove unpopular among the broad electorate. And any burst of legislative action will come only if Congress can break free of its longstanding tendency toward gridlock.”