I wonder if "we had the power to stop Trump" will be a comforting memory

[ProfessorPlum]

or whether we will as a party regret not using that power when we had it.


Unused power is effectively the same as not having any power.

[redstateblues]

1. To which power are you referring?

[ProfessorPlum]

2. subpoena power (already evaporating), investigation power

impeachment investigation power, impeachment power...

the power to make noise about anything that matters (where are senate Democrats when we need them?),
the power to act as if children dying in U.S. concentration camps is an urgent crisis,

you know, power to do things which we aren't, as a party, doing

[EleanorR]

10. Yazmin Juarez testified today about the death of her daughter

Link to tweet

[Bettie]

14. Funny, someone just told me today

that "political reality" means that we can't get anything done because Mitch McConnell is in charge of the universe (paraphrasing here), so liberals need to stop expecting results from anything and accept that there will never be any change and we have to protect the only voices that matter, Democrats in "red" districts. (Again, paraphrasing)

Oh, and we should just sit down and shut up because we don't understand these "political realities".

So, I guess we should be grateful for the healthy supply of dry powder should there ever be an emergency like an open criminal gaining the presidency through illegal/fraudulent means and then being an open criminal and starting up concentration camps on US soil (again).

Or maybe it would be a crisis if that criminal in the white house declared blanket immunity to all investigations so he and his minions (also criminals) decided that zero laws apply to them and that there are also no rules or norms that apply to them....maybe that would warrant expenditure of some powder?

Oh, hey, the emoluments clause is in the constitution! It says the president isn't supposed to profit directly from being president. Might that be enough of a criminal act to...oh, nope?

Wonder what would be enough for them to think powder expenditure might be worth it.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. there has to be warehouse quantities of dry powder...

[0rganism]

4. it all goes to Dry Powder Mountain now

we ran out of warehouse space a long time ago

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Sad.

[cwydro]

7. Oughta be plenty dry by now.

Smh.

[Turin_C3PO]

6. As far as I can tell,

dems are doing what they can. We don’t have the power to stop Trump without Republican cooperation. And that will likely never happen. We could and should impeach but that won’t stop him.

[world wide wally]

8. I'm not so sure about "doing what they can"....

There is more we can do than punt on first down every time.

We are not proceeding with impeachment. Not enforcing contempt of congress charges or disregard of subpoenas.... But since McConnell says fuck you to us, we tuck our tails and slither away.

[ProfessorPlum]

9. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is seeing this

[Turin_C3PO]

12. My question is

what power of enforcement do they actually have? Congress doesn’t have an enforcement wing. They can take issues to court, which they are, but until Trump defies a court order they can’t do much. If he does defy a court order, such as preventing someone from testifying when a court has ordered that person to do so, we can send in US Marshalls to arrest that person. I believe that will happen but we have to go through the processes.

[OliverQ]

11. Are they?

Why has it taken Rep. Neal so long to get Trump's taxes? New York just approved him getting them, and afaik he still hasn't requested them. Why hasn't the House used their contempt powers and put people in jail for failing to comply with subpoenas?

[Turin_C3PO]

13. Before anyone can be arrested,

it has to move through the courts. Once Trump defies a court order, all bets are off and the US Marshalls can arrest.