Democrats should’ve had a very bad Tuesday.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) stunned Capitol Hill by announcing he wouldn’t run for reelection in 2026, putting an open Senate seat in play in a key swing state. The party has no clear leader with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris gone (The DNC is picking a new chair this weekend). And Democratic congressional leaders were getting an earful from rank-and-file lawmakers who complained they had no clear strategy to counter President Donald Trump and GOP leaders on immigration and Israel.
But for the first time in weeks, Democrats were able to go on offense — thanks to Trump.
A Monday night memo from the Office of Management and Budget ordering a freeze in federal grant and loan programs sent congressional Republicans scrambling and helped Democrats rally behind a clear anti-Trump message. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted Trump as “lawless, destructive, cruel.”
Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, warned that thousands of federal programs could be impacted, including veterans, law enforcement and firefighters, suicide hotlines, military aid to foreign allies and more. Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.), ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, demanded that the panel delay its confirmation vote for Russell Vought, Trump’s nominee for OMB director, for two weeks due to the controversy. This won’t happen, but it raises the political stakes for Republicans. That Budget Committee vote will come on Thursday.
OMB later released additional guidance stating that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP — food stamps — and Head Start weren’t frozen. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller tried to dismiss the episode as “the first dumb media hoax of 2025.”
Yet the Trump White House let the memo trickle out late Monday night without explanation or any heads-up to Hill Republicans. The White House wasn’t ready for the pushback from the Hill or the national media uproar, and it forced a partial retreat by Trump officials. The top Senate GOP appropriator, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, complained that the funding freeze was “far too sweeping and will have an adverse effect on the delivery of services and programs.”
During a Senate Democratic Caucus lunch on Tuesday, Schumer urged his colleagues to make the freeze “relatable” to their constituents back home, a clear play for the messaging upper hand. Schumer also plans on doing several local TV interviews today. In the meantime, Schumer kept his caucus together on an Israel-related vote Tuesday that, in theory, should have divided the party.
Late on Tuesday, a Biden-appointed federal judge ordered an administrative stay on the funding freeze until Monday, meaning there will be several days more of press reports — and legal challenges — for the White House to endure.
There’s more where that came from. Trump’s firing of 18 inspectors general has prompted bipartisan pushback. The pardons for 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters have been heavily criticized. One of the pardoned rioters was killed by Indiana police during a traffic stop while another is being sought for soliciting a minor. DOJ officials who worked for Special Counsel Jack Smith on the Trump criminal investigations have been ousted, spurring claims of retaliation by a vengeful president. New Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered an investigation into former Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley, per the Washington Post.
“We need to act with some urgency,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has taken an active role in Democrats’ post-election messaging. “We can’t continue business as usual here when there is a literal constitutional crisis unfolding.”
To be sure, Democrats don’t have a ton of leverage. They’re in the minority in both chambers. Twenty-two Senate Democrats registered their dismay with the Trump funding freeze on Tuesday by voting against a Cabinet nominee — Sean Duffy — who would’ve otherwise been confirmed unanimously. That’s not exactly going to intimidate Senate Republicans, who have lots more Trump nominees stacked up. House Democrats scheduled an “emergency virtual call” for Wednesday afternoon, but then were mocked for not moving with more urgency.
There are big confirmation hearings this week for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) and Kash Patel, that will allow Democrats to score points against Trump’s picks. Gabbard’s confirmation is in real doubt.
Trump is also offering a buyout for federal employees who don’t want to return to the office as he ordered. It’s not clear that Trump has the authority to do so, although this is sure to shake up Washington.
Yet as House Republicans huddle with Trump in Florida, there’s always this — you can count on the president and GOP leaders to overreach. Democrats did it under Biden and Barack Obama. Republicans did it under George W. Bush. The winning party overestimates the durability of their election victory and goes too far, inviting a backlash from fickle American voters.
Slashing hundreds of billions of dollars from social safety-net programs to pay for tax cuts is a tougher vote than it’s portrayed. House and Senate Republicans are a long way from reaching a deal with each other or Democrats on government funding as a March 14 deadline looms. Raising the debt limit by trillions will need a lot of GOP support, and conservatives hate it. There are so many places where Republicans can overplay their hands — and they just might.