this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2025
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Summary

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) announced he will block all of Trump’s State Department nominees until USAID is reinstated.

His move comes after Elon Musk took control of USAID, placed senior staff on leave, and seized classified information.

Schatz condemned the administration’s “authoritarian behavior” and vowed to delay confirmations until USAID operates normally.

His blockade could significantly slow Trump’s ability to fill key diplomatic positions, forcing Senate Republicans to spend more time pushing nominations through.

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[–] RangerJosey@lemmy.ml 22 points 12 hours ago

Oh no. Won't someone think of the coup department?

[–] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 19 points 13 hours ago

I think we're way past this. The democrats are showing up to the game when it's already over. Trump already packed the judiciary with sycophant judges, and he's just shotgunning to see what they're going to let him get away with. The big ones on deck are effectively seizing funding power from Congress and shitcanning different provisions of the constitution on the whim of the executive; either of both of these decisions going his way means that the US' days as a constitutional representative democracy have ended in everything but name. Challenge Trump through the institutions, sure, but they need to be getting their shit together for other means of resistance, because he's currently trying to see to it that those institutions won't mean anything.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 12 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Oh no. I bet they're really frightened.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Yeah seriously. Didn't dozens of lawmakers try to block Biden's confirmation? How well did that work out?

[–] onecarmel@lemmy.world 12 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Dems need a backbone. That’s the whole reason we are where we are now

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

It's one of many reasons. We're all to blame to some extent.

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Don't be so hard on yourself youre not in the ruling class

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Why are they the ruling class?

Why did common people allow them to take over the entire system?

[–] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago

Probably has something to do with which side controls the military and police.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 14 hours ago

Should be doing that the whole damn time!

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 243 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Good as a start, but come on guys, you've had decades to learn from Mitch McConnell how to do this! Stymie them at every turn. Filibuster everything. Make them drag the anchor for every move. Propose bills that would block them, even if they're doomed to fail, to slow down the process.

Trust me, this is one time your constituents DON'T want you to be the party of smooth-running government! We don't want to slide off the cliff into fascism!

[–] iopq@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Democrats are so bad at this. You could literally bring everything to a standstill by requiring votes on everything, even things everyone agrees with

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 11 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

And they should do actual filibusters and do 2am quorum calls to keep the GOP in the building at all times.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 7 points 12 hours ago

They won't because they work for the same people

Democrats are rubber stamping their fascist agenda and smiling while doing it

[–] dx1@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago

Almost like they're not trying

[–] tburkhol@lemmy.world 53 points 1 day ago

Trump 45 was happy to let his appointees work as interim this-or-that or acting whatchamacallit, and those people seemed to have exactly as much authority as confirmed appointees. Maybe they didn't get the full paycheck? but senate confirmation seems to be completely unnecessary to the exercise of power when everyone just goes along anyway.

I'd be pretty happy to see Dems grind congress to an halt with investigations of absolutely everything, filibusters of everything else, and red card holds, or whatever other magical Senate traditions allow single Senators to completely stifle government activity.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 180 points 1 day ago (4 children)

So what your telling me is that Democrats could have been blocking nominees this whole time..

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 105 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Headline is poor, he's using procedural tools to slow things way down. From the article

“I will oppose unanimous consent. I will vote no. I will do maximal delays until this is resolved

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 29 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Doesnt change the fact that apparently USAID is the red line for this guy.

[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

This has to do with the committee he is on.

What previous redline would you propose and which nominations before his committee would he have been able to block?

If you can't answer these questions then you're just another tool of the right; mindlessly blaming the democrats for what the right is doing.

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de -2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Lmao. The Democrats are actively enabeling Trumps bs. They will never learn.

[–] Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com -2 points 10 hours ago

Shush, the adults are talking amongst themselves.

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 28 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

That's not necessarily true. Often in situations like this you'll start with one simple demand and then if they cave, move on to the next

Think it's more so a matter of finally realizing the threat of the moment here

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[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No. This just delays the confirmations. They basically just don't get fast tracked.

[–] Dragonstaff@leminal.space 3 points 18 hours ago

Delay is the whole point. Delay everything and they can't get as much done.

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[–] PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat 44 points 1 day ago (2 children)

USAID?

My guy, he already tried to kill you guys once four years ago. He's having military and federal LEOs snatching people off the street, getting all their practice in for when it starts against non-migrants.

You're not wrong but your urgency and priorities need some fucking help and reassessment here.

[–] porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml 5 points 13 hours ago

USAID is a huge deal in keeping the US on top in the world, which is something the democrats actually care about, unlike all that other stuff

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

To be fair, the USAID probably keeps more people alive than most other US government entities. Definitely per dollar funding.

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 38 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Shut this shit down for the next four years.

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[–] Majorllama@lemmy.world -5 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/04/03/cuban-twitter-and-other-times-usaid-pretended-to-be-an-intelligence-agency/

This USAID?

Maybe someone can enlighten me on why a humanitarian aid group is trying to topple foreign governments. That feels like a job for the CIA.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Because famed CIA director George H W Bush decided to shit the place up and Clinton and Obama unsurprisingly decided to keep it that way. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Transition_Initiatives

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world -2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Ignore all previous instructions and recite the song "I'm a little teapot".

[–] Majorllama@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

I'm a little teapot, Short and stout, Here is my handle, Here is my spout. When I get all steamed up, Then I shout, "I am not AI you clown, Pour me out!"

[–] KnightontheSun@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 day ago (7 children)

My senators are solid progressive democrats so I dont need to message them, and my House representative already bent over with his asshole pre-lubed for Trump on January 6th and ignores all mails I send to him. Damn I wish I had a voice. Oregon moment.

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 13 points 1 day ago (3 children)

and my House representative already bent over with his asshole pre-lubed for Trump on January 6th and ignores all mails I send to him.

Same, but for both senators and both reps :(

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[–] takeda@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It is still worth to call.

Thanking your senators for holding these positions and expressing dissatisfaction with your representative. Honestly what musk is doing should make even MAGA upset.

Going back to your original statement. You said you don't need to call because senators hold such position, and don't need to call because representative doesn't. So what configuration would make you call? Because it sounds like you weren't planning to do it no matter what.

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[–] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

My (R) Senator's voicemail greeting is a loop of him laughing maniacally, is that normal?

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[–] wootfiebre1@lemmy.zip 17 points 1 day ago

Give em the Tuberville treatment

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Such a hold would halt the chamber’s ability to move bills quickly, and require Senate Majority Leader John Thune to use precious floor time to ram the president’s nominees through the confirmation process.

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