What Now?

Forget Schumer. Fight on.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) channeled the attitude of millions of Americans when she blasted Minority Leader Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) for capitulating to Trump by passing the continuing resolution. She declared in a CNN interview, “I believe that’s a tremendous mistake. This turns the federal government into a slush fund for Donald Trump and Elon Musk.” She added, “It sacrifices congressional authority, and it is deeply partisan.”

She is right on the law and right on the politics.

Vowing to “change course,” she explained:

“There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States who walked the plank and took innumerable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare,” she said. In her eyes, “Just to see Senate Democrats even consider acquiescing to Elon Musk, I think is a huge slap in the face. And I think there is a wide sense of betrayal if things proceed as currently planned.”

(I do not know what else House Democrats could possibly do to earn support for reelection and for flipping House control in 2026.)

What do we do now?

What Democrats and other pro-democracy Americans must NOT do is retreat into despondency, paralysis, or resignation. We are not fighting for our democracy because of Schumer; we are fighting and will continue fighting for it despite him. We fight for the people Musk-Trump target, who are most affected by their cruelty and vile threats. We fight for academic and media freedom, for women’s lives and reproductive health, for President Volodymyr Zelensky and the people of Ukraine (as well as for Europe whole and free), and for a constitutional system that rejects kings.

We at The Contrarian have insisted from the start that we win the battle for democracy in the courts of law and the courts of public opinion. On the former front, since Trump’s despicable rant at the Justice Department, the ACLU has filed another lawsuit.

“The American Civil Liberties Union, Democracy Forward, and the ACLU of the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration today over the president’s expected unlawful and unprecedented invocation of the Alien Enemies Act,” its press release announced. “The lawsuit charges that President Trump intends to invoke the centuries-old wartime act unlawfully during peacetime to accelerate mass deportations, sidestepping the limits of this wartime authority and the procedures and protections in immigration law.”

In essence, Trump was using an 18^th century law intended for wartime to subvert our Constitution.

But on Saturday, the ACLU was granted a TRO to stop the deportations. While the facts are still murky, it appears that the Trump legal wrecking crew may have directly violated the court’s order, advancing a ludicrous theory that either it could proceed with deportations under Article II of the Constitution or that a plane over the ocean was beyond the court’s reach. The court must assess the facts and reject the president’s ludicrous excuses to defy the courts.

If violations of a court’s specific order are permitted, we have reached a constitutional crisis.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports, “ Lawyers for Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a doctor specializing in kidney transplant patients and a professor at Brown University’s medical school, said she was deported on Friday despite a court order to the contrary from Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts.”

What can you do?

If you are a lawyer, volunteer to work pro bono with one of the groups filing lawsuits. If not, donate to one of them.

In that same vein, labor unions have been front and center in the legal fight to rein in Trump, protect government employees, defend government funding from illegal impoundment, and defend collective bargaining rights. They are just as critical in the court of law as they are in the court of public opinion (where they help organize peaceful protests, town halls and more).

What else can you do? If your workplace is not unionized, consider an organizing campaign with fellow workers. (You can get basic information directly from the Department of Labor website). In any event, do not cross picket lines, and use your consumer buying power to support law-abiding employers.

And, yes, the court of public opinion remains a vital front in the war against autocracy, not only because it reflects defiance of the bully autocrats but because it builds political momentum for elections happening this year.

What else can you do? We extensively covered the Wisconsin state supreme court election set for April 1, which Elon Musk is attempting to buy. You can volunteer and donate even if you do not live in Wisconsin.

We have also interviewed former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger running for governor of Virginia. (All statewide offices and 100 state legislative seats will be up for grabs.) Do not forget about the New Jersey elections this year. (In a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary, Rep. Mikie Sherrill is the standout.) Again, even if you do not live in those states, you can volunteer and donate to pro-democracy, pro-rule of law candidates.

Public, peaceful gatherings—whether at town halls or other venues—that protest a government of, by, and for oligarchs make a difference. Taking action to preserve our democracy makes a difference. Even before this congressional recess, protests and tough questioning sent Republicans into hiding (revealing their cowardice and impeding their opportunities to glad hand constituents and do in-person fundraising). Marches and town halls also stiffen the spine of Democrats, fuel support for their races this year or in 2026, convey to other voters that capitulation is not an option, and engage previously inactive voters. You can find out about the town halls here, here and here.

If you have read this far, I hope by now you have stopped focusing on Schumer and his cowardice. He will be on the ballot in 2028, if he foolishly decides to run rather than graciously stepping away, as former Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi did. (Even more remarkably, Pelosi did it when, unlike Schumer, she was at the top of her game.) Every political or social movement—from labor to women’s rights to environmentalism— arose from collective action.

The Schumers will come and go, but warriors for democracy (including all House Democrats) must stay in for the long haul. Our democracy and the most vulnerable Americans are counting on us.