Democrats in Washington have been barraged by concerned constituents about their failure to find ways to counter President Donald Trump‘s sweeping early actions to remake the federal government, eliminate foreign aid and internal watchdogs like Inspectors General and JAG lawyers, and raze initiatives aimed at promoting racial and gender equality.
Liberal lawmakers have responded that — with minorities in both the House and Senate — they have little recourse for their resistance and lack political munitions to battle a superior force, a picture of helplessness that brings to mind a Ukraine decoupled from American assistance trying to resist Russia’s incursions.
But Democrats have not even effectively used what little power they retain, critics say, to send a message that backs up their chief talking point, which is that Trump and his oligarchic assemblage headed up by Elon Musk are a threat to democracy and the rule of law.
The Senate, for example, voted to confirm Marco Rubio, their former Senate colleague, as Secretary of State in a vote that finished 99-0. Every Democrat who took part voted for Rubio.
More resistance was seen to controversial Trump nominees like Kash Patel (FBI), Tulsi Gabbard (DNI) and Pete Hegseth (Defense Secretary), but those picks sailed through on the winds of the Republican majority.
Thursday, however, presented an opportunity for Democrats to shoot down Trump’s pick to head the Labor Department, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the former Congresswoman from Oregon.
Today a Senate Committee voted to advance former Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s controversial pick for Labor Secretary, to a full floor vote, so Americans would do well to begin preparing for an impending onslaught of labor-related news, especially since, as…
— Capital Research Center (@capitalresearch) February 28, 2025
But on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, three Democratic Senators — Maggie Hassan (NH), John Hickenlooper (CO), and Tim Kaine (VA) — voted with the GOP members to move the nomination forward in a 14-9 vote.
Objecting were such strange bedfellows Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rand Paul (R-KY), but even with an apostate Republican in the mix the Dems couldn’t get together to reject Trump’s choice on a committee with only a 12-11 GOP advantage.
The Democrats who assented ignore the memo that solidarity in their ranks is an essential element of resistance. It’s a memo that Republicans live by — witness the budget resolution Speaker Mike Johnson got through the House via a 217-215 vote, with only one GOP dissenter.
Though Chavez-DeRemer has supported unions in the past and shown inclinations toward policies that Democrats support, she erased any ambiguity about her priorities when at her confirmation hearing she said implementing Trump’s vision would be her paramount goal and responsibility. (The AFL-CIO once described that vision as “Trump’s Catastrophic and Devastating Anti-Labor Track Record.”)
“If confirmed,” Chavez-DeRemer said, “my job will be to implement President Trump’s policy vision, and my guiding principle will be President Trump’s guiding principle, ensuring a level playing field for businesses, unions, and, most importantly, the American worker.”
Hickenlooper said that any Trump appointee would be beholden to the President’s whims and would get fired for failing to comply with them, so his vote was essentially “what’s the use of resisting?” The Senator said he thought Chavez-DeRemer might do less harm than others in the administration and that “in her heart,” Hickenlooper added, “she cares about working people.”
Hassan explained her vote in a statement, part of which read:
“Though we may not agree on everything, after meeting with Representative Chavez-DeRemer and listening to her testimony during her confirmation hearing, I believe that she is qualified to serve as the next Secretary of Labor and I look forward to working with her to support New Hampshire’s workers and small businesses.”
