1/ A THREAD on the death of honor in the Senate and why we can't just let it go and brush it off as "Republicans doing Republican things".
2/ Democracy is predicated on the exercise of restraint and fair play. Our Constitution has enormous amounts of wiggle room in it - enough so that a democracy could be converted to a one party system without a technical violation of our founding document.
3/ For instance, the founding fathers didn't require a Senate vote on a President's nominee for the Supreme Court bc they assumed fair play. They never envisioned a situation like 2016 where the Senate's majority party refused to vote on the president's pick.
4/ McConnell's figured out the Constitution lets him operate the Senate any way he wants, and he's moved to demolish tradition at a dizzying pace. SCOTUS filibuster, blue slips gone. Debate on nominees curtailed. He's tasted how easy it is to grab power, and he isn't finished.
5/ And there's no logical end. He can keep cutting down debate. He can start denying resources to the minority party. Now that he's made the decision that power is more important than comity, he can effectively muzzle the opposition.
6/ Further, now that lying has been normalized (and newsflash - they were lying when they said there was a new rule not to confirm judges in an election year), an institution that requires deal-making and compromise cannot function - if keeping your word in now passe.
7/ Any democratic parliamentary body runs on the principles of restraint and honor. And in the last 10 days, McConnell and his caucus have destroyed both.
Now there are new rules - I get this and I will have to live by them - but it's potentially lethal for our democracy.
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2/ First, they pardoned all the Jan 6th rioters. This was done to protect violence when it's used to target Trump critics (remember, the rioters were there to kill Pence and Democrats).
Today I will be holding a citizen meeting in West Hartford to talk about what I'm doing and what people can do to fight back against Trump's seizure of government for the billionaire class.
1/ Unfortunately, we've maxed out the space, so here's a 🧵 on what you can do.
2/ First, I know that I have a unique responsibility, as your Senator, to lead this fight. That's why I'm using every tool I have. I'm not supporting any Trump nominees until this crisis ends. I'm helping support the legal fight. I'm working behind the scenes to move Republicans to action. I'm speaking out publicly - on TV, social media, at rallies - every day to try to rally opposition to this power seizure. I'm working 24/7 to lead this effort.
3/ And listen, I know it's a scary time. But remember, their tactics of shock, awe and constant chaos are DESIGNED to get you to check out. They want you to feel overwhelmed, despondent, and powerless.
But you aren't. Like @aoc says, we have more people than they do.
This is pure gaslighting. There is no working waiver process. Marco can pretend the the real Secretary of State, Elon Musk, didn't shut down USAID, but he did.
1/ My national security team looked into the functionally nonexistent "wavier process" and here's what they found:
2/ First, let's state the obvious. Despite Musk and Trump's lies, U.S. funded international orgs don't have a political agenda. They save lives, they fight terrorist groups, they counter Chinese and Russian influence. They are a key part of our national security strategy.
3/ Musk and Trump are dismantling our counter-China efforts, including USAID. It's not a coincidence that they and their billionaire friends have outsourced millions of jobs to China (Musk makes half his cars there!) and they don't want China to be mad and hurt their profits.
1/ Let me explain why the total destruction of USAID - happening as we speak - matters so much.
China - where Musk makes his money - wants USAID destroyed. So does Russia. Trump and Musk are doing the bidding of Beijing and Moscow. Why? apnews.com/article/trump-…
2/ Over the last week, 50% of the Global Health Bureau and 60% of the Humanitarian Assistance Bureau have been fired. Aid programs everywhere have been closed. The U.S. is in full retreat from the world.
Dystopian. No good reason for it.
3/ The immediate consequences of this are cataclysmic. Malnourished babies who depend on U.S. aid will die. Anti-terrorism programs will shut down and our most deadly enemies will get stronger. Diseases that threaten the U.S. will go unabated and reach our shores faster.
2/ First, this isn't a funding pause. It's a STOP WORK ORDER to almost all aid. Unprecedented.
So today we just stopped feeding babies and housing refugees and mediating conflicts all around the world. Aid orgs are laying off staff and many programs will not restart.
3/ Tons of kids are just going to die needlessly. Famine has struck in Sudan, but because of the freeze, our most important life savings programs shut down. Within weeks or maybe days, malnourished babies who rely on our food and care will die. news.un.org/en/story/2024/…