Following a significant electoral defeat, Democrats are doubling down on their long-standing agenda, aiming to preserve the expansive federal bureaucracy they’ve cultivated over decades and ensure continued alignment with progressive social policies within their ranks.
As President Joe Biden nears the end of his term, he and his party are working to obstruct one of President-elect Donald Trump’s key campaign promises: dismantling the entrenched federal bureaucracy often referred to as the “deep state.”
Reports suggest Biden is under pressure from his party to strengthen the federal administrative framework during his final weeks in office. According to The Hill, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) revealed that the Biden administration has engaged in “scenario planning” to reinforce institutions like the Justice Department, intelligence agencies, and other entities targeted by Trump’s policy agenda.
Trump’s incoming administration seems set to follow through on promises to overhaul federal operations. These include nominating former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) as Director of National Intelligence to reform the intelligence community, removing politically driven military leadership, appointing an attorney general to end the politicization of the Department of Justice, and restructuring the federal bureaucracy, including establishing the Department of Government Efficiency and appointing Russ Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
Facing the potential loss of institutional dominance that Democrats have held for decades, the party is reportedly urging Biden to issue a wave of executive orders, adjust federal worker union contracts to make employees harder to dismiss, push through progressive judicial appointments, expedite funding for pre-approved projects, and finalize key federal regulations before Trump takes office, The Hill reported.
“We should do everything that we can — everything that we possibly can — and I’d say all of the above,” Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif., told the outlet. “He’s still the president until the last moment.”
Regarding the future direction of the Democratic Party’s political ideology, key powerbrokers seem prepared to shift further to the left, attributing the party’s significant losses to the so-called centrist approach of the Biden wing, according to the Washington Examiner.
“I think there’s a lot of resentment right now directed at the kind of old guard. Politically, when it comes to messaging and outreach, there needs to be some serious changes,” an anonymous Democrat strategist told the outlet. “A changing of the guard.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, a failed candidate in the recent election, has reportedly instructed her campaign aides to keep her political options open for a potential future presidential run or a bid for governor of California. According to Politico, a “person close to Harris” stated that “there will be a desire to hear her voice,” while another ally remarked, “She proved many skeptics wrong as a political athlete.”
Amid ongoing Democratic infighting and blame-shifting after the election, some party members have offered candid critiques of positions that many Americans find unappealing.
Senator-elect Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) remarked that “identity politics needs to go the way of the dodo,” though attempts to reform the party’s stance on gender were quickly dismissed. For instance, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) faced swift backlash after criticizing the party’s disconnect from mainstream views on the issue.
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Moulton said after the election. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Rep. Seth Moulton faced intense backlash for expressing a relatively mainstream perspective on the issue.
His campaign manager, Matt Chilliak, resigned dramatically over the remarks, stating, “Millions of Americans today showed that they hate immigrants and transgender people more than they fear fascism.” Kyle Davis, a Democratic city councilor in Moulton’s district, demanded his resignation, while Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan declared that Moulton’s position “does not represent the view of our party” and condemned it “in the strongest possible terms.”
MSNBC host Jen Psaki, formerly the Biden administration’s press secretary, also criticized Democrats who share views similar to Moulton’s. She accused them of “falling prey to right-wing propaganda” and dismissed concerns about gender-related issues as “manufactured panic.”
“I was just speaking authentically as a dad about one of many issues where I think we’re just out of touch with the majority of voters, and I stand by my position,” Moulton said on MSNBC. “The backlash I’ve received proves my point that we can’t even have these discussions as a party.”
“And we’ve got to be able to have these debates,” he added. “But, instead, we have a wing of our party that shames us, that tries to cancel people who try to even bring up these difficult topics, and, frankly, shames voters.”
Psaki advocated for “checking facts first” on the issue, despite the reality that these medical interventions are experimental and often controversial, with boys competing in girls’ sports posing safety risks and depriving female athletes of opportunities. Meanwhile, Republicans unveiled part of a legislative agenda last week focused on protecting children from what they describe as efforts by Democrats and medical professionals to draw them into the gender transition industry.
