WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s flurry of actions in his first week knocked Democrats back on their heels, dividing the party on how to respond to major parts of his agenda and several of his high-profile nominees.
But on Monday, Trump’s haphazard attempt to impose a sweeping freeze on federal aid across the government awakened Democrats into furious opposition. The pressure, alongside the chaos and confusion it caused, spurred the White House to backtrack two days later and rescind the budget memo.
Trump’s move unwittingly handed Democrats the political gift of a unified message, focused on the pocketbook issues they believe can revive the party’s tattered brand and win back power after a bruising defeat in the 2024 election. It came after days of internal clashes about whether to resist or be conciliatory to parts of the president’s agenda. And it created jitters within the GOP, putting the party on defense as they sought to downplay the scope of the White House order.
“Yesterday was the first day I actually felt good about Dem messaging in like six months,” a Democratic strategist told NBC News. “Because it was an economic message and we were so unified.”
They blamed Trump’s order for crashing Medicaid reimbursement portals, which went down across the country after the freeze. They warned that the White House directive could halt early childhood development, health care and housing funds. And Democrats said cancer research, police and fire programs could get caught in its crosshairs. All of that, they argued, was a lawless ploy to make way for Trump’s agenda of tax cuts for upper earners.
Inside a Democratic lunch meeting Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told members they deserve credit for knocking Trump and the GOP quickly and effectively on the aid freeze, telling them it was “just the beginning” of Trump attempting to enact his “Project 2025” agenda, according to a person familiar with his remarks, referring to the conservative policy blueprint to dismantle much of the U.S. government. He encouraged them to continue to keep the pressure on Republicans, the source added.
“It’s a small victory, but it’s a long war, and we’ve got to continue to fight,” Schumer told reporters after the meeting.
After Trump’s pick for transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, moved forward unanimously Monday, 22 Senate Democrats flipped to vote “no” the next day on the final vote in protest of Trump’s action.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Trump’s attempt to halt federal money was a wake-up call to Democrats.
“I think there were some people that were afraid to cry wolf, who now realize the wolf has been in our living room all along,” Murphy said. “We have to make some decisions about how we’re going to conduct ourselves. Nobody’s going to believe us on the outside that this is a five alarm fire if we’re helping them pass legislation and confirm nominees on the inside.”
With the House on recess this week, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., organized what he called an “emergency” virtual meeting with rank-and-file Democrats, set for 1 p.m. Wednesday, to discuss how the party would fight Trump’s freeze.
The “three-pronged approach,” he wrote to colleagues, would focus on legislation, litigation and stepped-up messaging.
But minutes before that emergency gathering, Trump officials rescinded the order, leading Democrats to take a minor victory lap. Jeffries conveyed to his members that aggressive opposition to the freeze from Democrats and allied outside groups led to Trump’s rescission of the order, said a person on the call.
On the call, Jeffries told Democrats they should lean on “intensity, simplicity and repetition” in their messages to counter Trump’s attempts to flood the zone, a second person on the call said. In line with that, Democrats have highlighted programs that are easily identifiable to voters, like Medicaid, Meals on Wheels and Head Start.
And Jeffries left his troops with this message, according to two sources: Democrats won this round but this is just the beginning of the fight. Keep it up.
“Unfortunately, this is the blueprint for the Trump administration and for the Republican majority. They are looking to cut programs and cut services so that they can fund the tax breaks for the billionaires,” Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, a member of the Appropriations Committee that oversees federal spending, said in an interview Wednesday.
“Even if there was some kind of victory today with the withdrawal of the memo, this battle is ongoing,” Escobar continued. “And their effort to effectively defund the federal government in order to provide those tax cuts is going to be an ongoing fight.”
Democrats are not taking their foot off the gas. The Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, or DPCC, led by Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., urged rank-and-file members to participate in a “Day of Action” on Thursday to draw attention to the negative impacts of the president’s freeze, according to a copy of a messaging memo obtained by NBC News.
“The impact is not theoretical, and we must make clear this action will cause great harm to the communities that we serve,” the DPCC memo said.
“Now is the time for every House Democrat to host an event, meet with constituents, speak to local media, and make clear the stakes of the Republican Rip Off and its consequences for hardworking American taxpayers,” the memo added.
Although the Trump administration rescinded its broad order to freeze federal grants and loans — after a court had temporarily blocked it — Trump’s executive orders that freeze foreign aid, grants received with DEI-related purposes and funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act remain in place.
In a phone interview, Escobar said she leapt into action on Tuesday, just hours she learned about the freeze on X. She called city and county officials, health clinics, public hospitals and other federal grant recipients to learn how they were being impacted. And she quickly convened a news conference in El Paso with the county executive and head of the local workforce commission to sound the alarm about who might be harmed by the freeze.
“We reassured the community that we were going to keep fighting for them, and that we would provide as much information as possible. And it was, it was actually moments before we got in front of the cameras for the press conference when we learned that the court had allowed a temporary stay,” Escobar recalled. “It’s a very quickly, rapidly changing situation.”
