WASHINGTON ― Before President Donald Trump entered office last month, Democrats struck a bipartisan tone and pledged to work with him whenever possible, including by supporting some of his Cabinet nominees.

But now, as Trump’s administration moves to unilaterally gut the government and lay off thousands of critical federal workers, creating chaos around the country, some Democratic senators are having second thoughts about voting to confirm his team.

“I do regret it. Voting for [Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug] Collins was a mistake, and I apologize to the veterans of the country,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said on a call with reporters on Wednesday.

Blumenthal’s comments followed the Trump administration’s decision to terminate more than 1,000 Veterans Affairs Department employees, including veterans and workers combating veteran suicide at the Veterans Crisis Line. The cuts are part of Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s broader effort to slash the federal workforce.

Collins was confirmed by the Senate earlier this month by a wide bipartisan margin, 77-23.

“He has betrayed the promises that he made to me during his confirmation hearing,” Blumenthal said. “And maybe my vote was understandable in light of those promises. I took him at his word, but I regret it now because he has not only broken those promises ― he’s failed to respond to my 20-plus inquiries, completely failed to respond to my and my colleagues’ inquiries because they’ve joined me as to the specific reasons, the effects and the relief that he is going to afford veterans.”

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), meanwhile, told Migrant Insider that he regrets voting to confirm Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has led Trump’s efforts to crack down on migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. The freshman New Jersey senator was one of seven Democrats who voted in favor of Noem’s confirmation.

Kim confirmed on Thursday he won’t vote for any more Trump nominees going forward due to the administration’s efforts to shutter federal agencies. He also expressed disappointment with answers that former Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s nominee to lead the Labor Department, gave him during her confirmation hearing on Thursday.

“I want someone that’s going to stand up for workers,” Kim told HuffPost.

And Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) expressed similar misgivings about voting to confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his former Senate colleague who was unanimously confirmed to his post last month. Speaking with CNN last week, Van Hollen cited Rubio helping to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development, the humanitarian relief agency he once supported.

“My one vote I cast for a member of the Trump Cabinet was for now-Secretary Rubio,” Van Hollen told the network. “I regret to say I regret that vote, because once installed in office, he is essentially abandoning the positions he took here as United States senator. ... Rubio said he was going to consult with us on the USAID situation. So, yes, I’ve been extremely disappointed in the actions of Secretary Rubio.”

Democrats are in the minority in the Senate and can’t actually stop Trump’s nominees from being confirmed. But progressive activists and protesters have called on the party to get more aggressive and do more to oppose the president’s unilateral actions like freezing spending and disbanding agencies, many of which lack congressional approval and likely violate the Constitution’s separation of powers.

“I think it’s pretty clear that this violates Article One of the Constitution,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Politico of Trump’s moves to freeze spending.

Democratic voters also aren’t happy with the way their party is handling Trump. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, 40% of Democrats approve of the way Democratic lawmakers are handling their job, while 49% disapprove. In March 2023, under President Joe Biden, congressional Democrats had an approval rating of 54 points among Democratic voters.

“It’s a sobering slap down of historic proportions for the Democrats in Congress,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in a press release. “Their Republican counterparts take a victory lap as the Democrats try to get their footing.”