Washington, DC (CNN) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker are holding a sit-in on the steps of the US Capitol — the latest move by Democrats to stand up to President Donald Trump as they face pressure from constituents.
The Democratic lawmakers started their demonstration just before sunrise on Sunday, highlighting what Booker called a moment of “moral urgency,” and invited community members and activists to engage in conversation about the stakes as Congress returns from recess.
“We are in this moment where this Congress is going to come back tomorrow from a two-week recess and the Republican leaders on (the House) side of the Capitol are saying that they’re going to force a bill through,” Booker said.
Earlier this month, Republicans in both chambers passed a budget blueprint to advance Trump’s sweeping legislative agenda, with leadership promising that the future bill will contain more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts in addition to Trump’s proposed tax cuts and border priorities.
“We’re either going to choose the side of the American people or we’re going to choose this cruel budget that Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people,” Jeffries said, adding that the bill could cut back on key healthcare and aid benefits for Americans, “all in the service of a massive tax cut for their billionaire donors.”
Democrats have said Republicans won’t be able to meet their commitments for deep spending cuts without scaling back Medicaid and Social Security, though House Speaker Mike Johnson has told centrist Republicans that the programs will be preserved.
Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Chris Coons and Angela Alsobrooks, plus activists, including American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley, have stopped by to join Jeffries and Booker in their conversation.
Booker recently made history in a 25-hour speech on the Senate floor — the longest in the chamber’s history — in which he spoke against the harms he said the Trump’s administration is inflicting on Americans.
The New Jersey Democrat, who is celebrating his 56th birthday on Sunday, said he and Jeffries were inspired to spend their final day before returning to session on the steps of the Capitol as the party searches for “creative new things to do” to share their message.
“We can’t keep doing things like business as usual,” he explained.
At town hall meetings across the country, many Democratic lawmakers have fielded questions from constituents about how they’re taking action against the Trump administration.
Pressed by a town hall attendee on why constituents aren’t hearing “anger and fight” from their representative, Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state responded, “being angry, being loud feels good, but is it a productive long-term strategy?”
A chorus of voices from the crowd yelled out, “yes,” before someone asked, “how about you just stand up for us?”
And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer faced fierce pushback from some in his party last month after he declined to block a GOP-led bill to avert a government shutdown.
While all but nine Senate Democrats broke with Schumer in voting against a key step to advance the bill, warning that the legislation would further empower Trump, the New York Democrat has insisted he’s still the right person to lead the caucus, telling CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday “I’m staying put.”
Schumer told Bash Senate Democrats are “united on message,” but it’s his job to help “highlight all the talent in the caucus in different ways,” specifically pointing to Booker as an example of a talented voice in the party.
