House Democrats came out of an "emergency" meeting held over Zoom on Wednesday, speaking on their strategies to combat President Donald Trump's agenda through lawsuits, legislation, and messaging, The Hill reported.
"House Democrats are now fully engaged," said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif. "The bell has rung. I think we see this for the constitutional test that it is, and we're going to be aggressively pushing back."
Huffman said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., "described it as a legal fight, a legislative fight, and a street fight. And I couldn't put it better."
The meeting was prompted by Trump's move — since rescinded — to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Democrats argued the freeze, even if short-lived, disrupted crucial programs nationwide.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said the freeze was "a profound stumble."
"By freezing grants, loans and contracts, you have brought a lot of activity all across America — in red states and blue states — to a screeching halt," he said. "This filters down to the most granular level of our communities, and that's where this pain and hurt is going to be felt."
With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, Democrats acknowledged their legislative power is limited. However, they pointed to the GOP's slim House majority and internal divisions as an opening to wield influence as well as play to voter outrage.
"Our votes are going to be needed at a whole bunch of key moments, starting just weeks from now," Huffman said.
"So we're going to leverage those moments, we're going to leverage the appropriations process, and we're going to use whatever bully pulpits we have to awaken the American people to what's going on here."
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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