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‘Democracy Weeks Away From Disintegrating’: Democratic Senator Issues Warning — and a Plan
As President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attempt to systematically dismantle the United States government, agency by agency, they are working to eliminate vast numbers of employees, removing public data and institutional knowledge, and reportedly accessing sensitive government records and personal information of American citizens. In response, many grassroots Democratic voters are demanding to know what their party’s elected leaders are doing to stop them.
There appears to be a growing sense among some on the left that top elected Democrats are out of touch, unable or unwilling to grasp the severity of what some say is a constitutional crisis and others are simply calling a “coup.”
And while a few House and Senate Democrats this week showed up at the Washington, D.C. offices of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and were denied access, and others held a press conference, few elected Democrats appear to have understood this extremely volatile moment — or at least publicly communicated what is actually going on.
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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has been leading the battle against President Trump and his director of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk.
For the uninitiated, here’s how The Washington Post summed up recent events on Tuesday.
“U.S. government officials privately warn Musk’s blitz appears illegal,” the headline reads. “The billionaire’s DOGE team has launched an all-out assault on federal agencies, triggering numerous legal objections.”
“Over the past two weeks, Musk’s team has moved to dismantle some U.S. agencies, push out hundreds of thousands of civil servants and gain access to some of the federal government’s most sensitive payment systems,” The Post reported. The paper noted that “many of these moves appear to violate federal law, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, one audio recording, and several internal messages obtained by The Washington Post. Internal legal objections have been raised at the Treasury Department, the Education Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the White House budget office, among others.”
Financial Times’ columnist Ed Luce, on MSNBC Wednesday morning, put this moment in starker terms.
“This is a coup that’s happening. It is happening here. It’s happening now,” he declared, as Mediaite reported. “So I think this requires a far more radical and drastic sort of rethink of what the Democrats’ democratic strategy should be.”
On Tuesday morning, Senator Murphy spoke with MSNBC political analyst Anand Giridharadas, who praised him as a “real leader” who started “early” in the Trump-Musk battle.
Giridharadas said that “the Democrats’ transition from being asleep during a coup to being awake during a coup is a trend in the right direction — being awake is certainly preferable to being asleep, and some of that, you know, I think Chris Murphy has been someone who’s been a real leader early in this.”
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“But at the end of the day, the Democratic Party right now is completely leaderless,” he lamented. “There’s no real clear sense of fight. You still have these messages of, well, ‘we gotta trust in God,’ or well, ‘we’ll pass a law to regulate the Treasury.'”
“There’s no understanding that this is a very serious concerted an anti-constitutional coup being waged by very determined actors.”
Senator Murphy shared his concerns—and plan—with Giridharadas.
Giridharadas told Murphy he thought the Senator’s “present-level thinking about the future of the Democratic Party…has been clearer and starker and more honest.”
But he also charged, “I would imagine that 90% of people watching this right now feel profoundly undefended by the Democratic Party.”
Murphy replied, “I do think that people understand that we are the minority party. We don’t run the White House, we are the minority in the House and in the Senate, but we need to act like a real opposition party in the middle of a constitutional and democracy crisis.”
And he offered a plan for his colleagues and grassroots Democrats.
“That means we should not be moving forward nominees or legislation in the United States Senate. Democrats should not be giving votes to nominees or to legislation in the United States Senate until Republicans get serious about this crisis. Democrats should not help Republicans raise the debt ceiling in order to pass their massive tax cut for billionaires and millionaires.”
“Democrats should be leading public gatherings all weekend, all across the country to bring Americans out to show Republicans if they will pay a price. And then Democrats need to speak in really stark terms about what is going on here.”
Calling it “a billionaire power grab,” Murphy said, “I think Elon Musk is trying to steal our money, is trying to steal our data. I think Elon Musk is shutting down the USAD because he wants to do deals with China and make more money. And and I know that there are some in the Democratic Party that, you know, don’t like jumping to conclusions, that there are some of the Democratic Party that don’t like to call out specific billionaires for what they are doing to all of us, but this is a moment in which we’ve got to engage in very, very simple and strong terms about what is happening.”
“Side by side with being a true opposition party in the Senate, using our tools to make life difficult for complicit Republicans, and then going out there and leading a a public engagement, which is I think the next step that we have to do, don’t just fight on the inside, go fight on the outside.”
On social media, Murphy added, “We still have the power to stop this billionaire power grab, but Democrats need to act like our democracy is weeks away from disintegrating—because it is.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
I laid out this morning what a real opposition can look like at this moment of crisis. We still have the power to stop this billionaire power grab, but Democrats need to act like our democracy is weeks away from disintegrating – because it is. pic.twitter.com/XSxX05QXVR
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 5, 2025
READ MORE: ‘You Will Have Blood on Your Hands’: GOP Senator, a Physician, Condemned for RFK Jr. Vote
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Rumors continue to swirl about Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard‘s future as critics on Wednesday slammed her testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, especially when she declared that it is not the Intelligence Community’s “responsibility” to determine what constitutes an imminent national security threat — a claim that received tremendous blowback.
“Was it the assessment of the Intelligence Community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?” asked U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
“The Intelligence Community assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment capability,” Gabbard replied.
“Was it the assessment of the Intelligence Community that there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime, yes or no?” Ossoff pressed.
“Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president,” Gabbard responded.
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“False,” Ossoff replied. “This is the worldwide threats hearing where you present to Congress national intelligence, timely, objective, and independent of political considerations.”
Podcaster Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and founder of a veterans nonprofit, slammed Gabbard’s remarks.
“I don’t think she survives this,” Rieckhoff wrote. “She’s already not trusted in Trump world as a former Democrat. And not trusted by most people period. Sooner or later, Trump is gonna dump her and blame her.”
“But like Noem, Hegseth, and so many others, she shouldn’t have been there in [the] first place,” he added. “And anyone who voted for her is responsible for this mess now. It’s all coming to the fore now. They are all being revealed. That’s what war does. Especially forever war that is now overflowing beyond US control. Our enemies are celebrating yet again. And we are all less safe. More and more by the minute.”
The Steady State, a group of 400 former national security officials, denounced Gabbard’s claim that “the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president.”
READ MORE: ‘He Was Aware’: Former Top Adviser Refutes Trump’s Denials on Iran Risks
The group called her remark “flatly incompatible with her statutory obligation to provide ‘timely, objective, and independent of political considerations’ national intelligence assessments of threats to Congress.”
Mark Seddon, a former speechwriter for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, called Gabbard’s testimony “devastating.”
“The fact that DNI Tulsi Gabbard does not believe it is the intelligence community’s responsibility to determine if a threat is imminent is disqualifying for her to be the National Intelligence Director,” wrote retired U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer Travis Akers. “That is one, among many, of the primary responsibilities of the IC.”
Ossoff: Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?
Gabbard: The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president. It is not the intelligence community’s… pic.twitter.com/agcse87TZI
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 18, 2026
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Image via Reuters
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is accusing a prominent Department of Justice official, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, of blocking access to the details of what he is calling a “mysterious Epstein investigation.”
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) called the move “stunning interference,” and said that the document “literally says ‘unclassified’ at the top.”
“Given Blanche’s close personal ties to Donald Trump,” Wyden added, “this reeks of a continued coverup to protect key names in the Trump administration.”
Wyden also said that Blanche, whom he noted was Trump’s personal attorney, and “was also responsible for Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer to a cushy club fed … has intervened to block the DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] from providing details of a mysterious Epstein investigation to my Finance Committee team.”
READ MORE: ‘Is Tulsi Next?’ Questions Swirl About Future of National Intelligence Director
Wyden wrote: “Recent reporting revealed that Epstein was one of several targets of a big drug trafficking investigation a decade ago. DEA has key info. Based on what we know, Epstein was likely pumping his victims, young women and girls, with incapacitating drugs to facilitate abuse.”
The Democratic lawmaker pointed to a Bloomberg News article that said, “A Department of Justice document combined with interviews reveal that a long-running investigation into organized crime led law enforcement to suspect the serial sex abuser of money laundering, distributing ‘club drugs’ and operating a prostitution ring.”
He said that his team “immediately sought key documents from that investigation.”
“What was the result, and why did the investigation end?” he asked. “We were notified that the DEA intended to release those documents to the Finance Committee. Then Deputy AG Todd Blanche intervened.”
A separate Bloomberg Government report stated that “Blanche is blocking the Drug Enforcement Administration from releasing an unredacted document from the Jeffrey Epstein files about an investigation involving drug trafficking and money laundering, according to a letter Democratic Senator Ron Wyden sent to Blanche on Tuesday.”
READ MORE: ‘He Was Aware’: Former Top Adviser Refutes Trump’s Denials on Iran Risks
Image via Reuters
A prominent former senior adviser to President Donald Trump is disputing his claim that “nobody” knew Iran would target neighboring nations or close the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. attacked, saying that he personally warned him of those possibilities.
John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser during his first term, “said that on multiple occasions he brought up scenarios in which Iran was attacked and responded with retaliatory strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere,” The Hill reported.
“Well, I know for a fact that he was aware of those potentials. I raised the option of regime change in Iran several times during the time I was national security adviser,” Bolton told CNN.
“If you’re going to embark” on attacking Iran, Bolton added, “you better have answers” to how Iran would respond, “and certainly closing the Strait of Hormuz was always one of them and so were attacks on the Gulf Arab states, particularly their oil infrastructure, so he knew about it in his first term.”
“I find it hard to believe that he forgot about it in the intervening years,” the former Trump NSA said.
“Nobody, nobody, no, no, no,” President Trump said when asked if anyone had told him how Iran would retaliate. “No, the greatest experts, nobody thought they were going to hit – they were – I wouldn’t say friendly countries, they were like neutral. They lived with them for years.”
Trump also said this week that Iran wasn’t “supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”
READ MORE: ‘Is Tulsi Next?’ Questions Swirl About Future of National Intelligence Director
Image via Reuters
‘Grave Concern’: Democrats Demand DHS Preserve All Corey Lewandowski Records
‘He Was Aware’: Former Top Adviser Refutes Trump’s Denials on Iran Risks
‘I Don’t Think She Survives This’: Gabbard Faces Blowback After ‘Devastating’ Testimony
‘Reeks of a Coverup’: DOJ Official Accused of Blocking ‘Mysterious’ Epstein Probe Document
‘I Don’t Think She Survives This’: Gabbard Faces Blowback After ‘Devastating’ Testimony
‘Reeks of a Coverup’: DOJ Official Accused of Blocking ‘Mysterious’ Epstein Probe Document
‘He Was Aware’: Former Top Adviser Refutes Trump’s Denials on Iran Risks
‘Grave Concern’: Democrats Demand DHS Preserve All Corey Lewandowski Records
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