Long read but a good wrap-up of the current situation:
Robert Reich
Friends,
I’m not going to sugarcoat this. We’re in the worst national emergency of our lives.
It is not coming directly from threats we should be coping with — climate change destroying our planet, another pandemic threatening millions of lives, artificial intelligence taking over our jobs and brains, nuclear proliferation threatening the future of life on earth.
No. This national emergency is coming from a madman determined to turn America into a dictatorship and from his crazed assistants, including the richest person in the world.
What can I say that’s even remotely encouraging at this point?
Six things.
1. Voters are furious.
On Tuesday, Democrats flipped a Trump-voting seat in the Pennsylvania state Senate. James Malone defeated a well-funded and well-known Republican, Josh Parsons, in Lancaster County. Malone openly campaigned against Trump and Musk and made sure his opponent was tied to them.
This was a red Republican area that went +15 for Trump in 2024. The last time a Democrat won this seat was in 1889.
Other state and federal districts are showing the same trajectory — away from Trump and Musk.
2. Bernie and AOC are drawing record crowds.
Some 34,000 people turned out at Civic Center Park in Denver to hear Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour.” As Bernie said: “We will not allow America to become an oligarchy. This nation was built by working people, and we are not going to let a handful of billionaires run the government.”
It was the biggest rally of Bernie’s entire career, including his presidential races. Hours later, the two spoke before a crowd of about 11,000 at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
Elon Musk was so spooked he started peddling conspiracy theories about inflated crowd sizes and “paid” protesters.
According to YouGov, Sanders is the most popular politician in the country, with a +7 favorability. (Trump is -5, Vance is -8, Musk is -12, GOP is -15. Schumer is -33, and the Democratic Party as a whole is -35.)
3. April 5 protests are planned everywhere.
On April 5, 2025, Americans are hitting the streets. The “Hands Off!” movement — in response to Trump’s and Musk’s devastation — is the product of a large coalition. You can find the action nearest you by typing in “April 5 demonstration near me” on your browser. General information from one of the sponsoring organizations can be found here.
4. Trump is fumbling on all fronts.
— “Signalgate” — the group chat scandal — isn’t just an embarrassment for Trump and his regime. It also demonstrates that they cannot govern. They can’t even manage the most elementary of steps, like making sure they’re meeting secretly and securely.
At best, both Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz — not to mention the White House comms operation — are damaged goods. There is no administration in the world, beyond this one, where a blunder of these proportions happens and nobody gets fired or resigns.
Leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee — Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) — have sent a letter to the Pentagon’s acting inspector general requesting a formal investigation over “the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”
— The economy is in deep trouble. Consumer confidence continues to plummet amid growing worries about inflation and recession. Trump’s tariffs — both those already implemented and those proposed — are already raising prices across the board.
— The Trump-Musk DOGE is threatening popular programs. DOGE cuts caused the Social Security website to crash four times in 10 days, leaving millions of recipients unable to log in. Office managers are answering phones instead of receptionists because so many Social Security employees have been laid off. Phone services have been eliminated. Field offices are being cut.
Meanwhile, Trump-Musk DOGE cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency are already causing thousands of Americans who have lost their homes in floods and fires to do without any aid.
5. Trump’s polls are plummeting.
As a result of all of the above, Americans are turning on Trump. Although I’m not a huge believer in individual polls, I pay attention when every major poll shows the same thing:
YouGov poll taken 3/22 to 3/25, Trump’s disapproval (49 percent) exceeds approval (48 percent).
Reuters/Ipsos taken 3/21 to 3/23 is even worse. His disapproval is 51 percent and approval only 45 percent.
Morning Consult poll taken 3/21 to 3/23 shows his disapproval at 50 percent and approval at 47 percent.
American Research Group poll taken 3/17 to 3/20 shows his disapproval at 51 percent and approval at 45 percent.
An NBC News poll taken 3/7 to 3/11 shows that a majority of Americans (52 percent) are disappointed with Trump’s appointees — a higher percentage than at the start of Trump’s first term, or at the start of Obama’s, George W. Bush’s, or Clinton’s.
6. The courts continue to hold Trump and Musk in check, but for how long?
Federal judges are requiring that Trump reinstate 25,000 federal workers he fired; blocking the Trump regime from banning transgender people from the military; stopping ICE and the Department of Homeland Security from detaining several international graduate students for participating in demonstrations or adding their names to dissenting publications; and stopping ICE from deporting people without due process of law.
All told, hat there are more than 130 cases pending against Trump and his Administration challenging the legality of their actions. More than 40 injunctions have been issued and more than a dozen rulings have already found that the Administration has either violated, or probably violated, the law.
Another case is expected to be filed soon challenging Trump’s executive order issued Tuesday, requiring proof of citizenship before voting. This could prevent millions of eligible citizens from voting in future elections. The Constitution gives the states and Congress – not the President – the power to regulate elections and voting. Trump’s EO is unconstitutional.
The massive pushback from the federal courts has led Trump to threaten federal judges. It has also led Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to suggest potentially defunding, restructuring, or eliminating the federal courts altogether. “We do have the authority over the federal courts, as you know. We can eliminate an entire district court,” Johnson said.
***
These six morsels of hope are small relative to the damage Trump and Musk are doing, but I wanted to let you know that all is not lost; there is push-back against them.
The damage is likely to accelerate in weeks to come.
Trump is gearing up his attacks on lawyers and law firms that during Trump’s first term challenged him or offered pro bono services to nonprofits that challenged him.
His Justice Department is just beginning to target his enemies.
His mass raids on alleged undocumented workers and deportations are just getting started.
His (and RFK Junior’s) campaign against vaccinations is already costing lives, including those of children who were not vaccinated against measles.
America has never been subject to this degree of cruelty, incompetence, and disregard for democratic norms.
My hope is that this horrific experience will lead to a new era of fundamental reform — of our economy, our democracy, and our commitment to social justice and the rule of law.
I hope this is not too much to hope for.
What do you think?
