House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to his caucus on Monday detailing the party’s strategy for combating President Trump’s executive actions and other GOP policies, including using the upcoming government funding negotiations as leverage.
Mr. Jeffries of New York outlined 10 steps House Democrats are taking “to push back against the far-right extremism that is being relentlessly unleashed on the American people.”
At the top of the list is continuing to fight the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze federal funding appropriated by Congress. Mr. Trump signed executive orders pausing funding on foreign aid and climate programs, and a now rescinded White House Office of Management and Budget memo sought to implement a broader freeze on federal grant and loan programs.
Mr. Jeffries suggested that Congress needs to enact further guardrails around the funds it appropriates and pointed to government funding legislation that needs to pass by March 14 to avert a shutdown as an opportunity to do so.
“I have made clear to House Republican leadership that any effort to steal taxpayer money from the American people, end Medicaid as we know it or defund programs important to everyday Americans, as contemplated by the illegal White House Office of Management and Budget order, must be choked off in the upcoming government funding bill, if not sooner,” he said.
House Democrats will also be introducing legislation “to prevent unlawful access to the Department of Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service payment system that contains highly confidential and personal information related to Social Security and Medicare recipients, taxpayers, households, nonprofits, businesses and federal contractors,” Mr. Jeffries said.
That measure is a response to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent providing representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency access to the federal payment system, after some internal dispute among career Treasury officials about the legality of such a move.
Democrats are also planning messaging efforts to push back against Mr. Trump’s tariffs and other executive orders.
Mr. Jeffries said Democratic leaders on the Judiciary and Oversight committees will provide the caucus with details this week on more than 20 lawsuits challenging at least 11 of Mr. Trump’s executive orders. The legal efforts are targeting executive actions to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, fire inspectors general from a majority of government agencies, terminate federal civil service employees and more.
On immigration, Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar will continue to lead a group of Democrats working on efforts to secure the border and fix the broken system.
The group will also “provide high-level constituent services to impacted communities and defend the Dreamers, farmworkers and families who contribute to our economy in a significant way,” Mr. Jeffries said. Dreamers, typically younger immigrants, refer to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
He also said Democrats on the House Budget Committee are preparing to “battle Republicans” when they unveil their budget resolution that will lay out spending and revenue targets for a budget reconciliation package that will carry much of Mr. Trump’s legislative agenda.
Mr. Jeffries said the GOP plan is “to cut taxes for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations while sticking working-class Americans with the bill.”
The Democratic leader urged all of his members to hold events and connect directly with constituents in their districts on the party’s efforts to counter extreme GOP plans, saying leadership plans to track participation among caucus members.
Mr. Jeffries is engaged in his district, having held a press conference in Brooklyn last week and holding another Monday afternoon before an evening telephone town hall meeting.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.