BY MATT BERG
& CROOKED MEDIA

THURSDAY
MARCH 20, 2025

If I could clone Hakeem and run him for Senate, that would be great.”

— Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), on his ideal person to lead Senate Democrats, in an interview with What A Day.

ZERO CHUCKS GIVEN

Chuck Schumer got roasted by his own party for looking weak in last week’s big spending showdown with Republicans. Now, his party is catching similar heat from voters.   

- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer managed to piss off most of his own party by first opposing, and then later voting for, the GOP’s stopgap funding bill last week. The GOP plan funds the government through September, but also strengthens President Donald Trump’s hand. Many Democrats were outraged because they saw a government shutdown as the only real leverage they had to counter a rampaging president bent on sowing chaos and carnage. 

- “The argument was that shutting down the government would be worse, because it would enable Trump to fire employees faster. I don’t know that that’s true,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) told What A Day in a video call. 

- Ivey became the first Democratic lawmaker to [call on Schumer to step down]([link removed]) this week.  [Another said “yes”]([link removed]) when asked if Schumer should retire or resign. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) came [damn close to echoing those calls]([link removed]). At least [five progressive organizations]([link removed]) have also called on the 74-year-old New Yorker to pass the baton to a new leader.

- Schumer should find a strategy for the next funding bill in September that makes his party happy, Ivey said. “But if he wants to stay on that same track, I do think the Senate Democrats need to consider getting new leadership, for sure,” he added. Democrats need to take “advantage of the opportunities to fight the Trump administration whenever and wherever we can. We can’t afford to have another miss.”

Voters have already been [heckling Republicans]([link removed]) at town halls over Trump’s turbulent approach to being a chaos muppet governance. But lately, the GOP aren’t the only ones getting publicly shamed. 

- Democratic lawmakers traveled home this week during the congressional recess, hoping to capitalize on voters’ rage about Trump. They heard an earful, all right — of [a different tune]([link removed]): “You’re not fighting! We are suffering!” one woman shouted at a Maryland town hall. The Democratic Party’s favorability [hit a record low of 29 percent]([link removed]) this month. The Republican Party, meanwhile, boasts a 36 percent favorability. Bottom line: Voters are unhappy with all politicians. But many are fuming both over GOP chicanery… and Democrats’ inability to stop it. 

- Some progressives argue Democrats should both oppose Trump’s policies and focus on the inequality they create. “This is not a Democratic or Republican movement — it's a populist movement where we oppose taking away Medicaid for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, which is politically stupid and just plain wrong,” Kristen Crowell, who leads the Fair Share America advocacy group, told What A Day. 

- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a staunch advocate for a more populist movement who has attracted both [Trump supporters]([link removed]) and progressives alike, [suggested that]([link removed]) more people should run as Independents to “defeat Trumpism and … transform the political situation in America.” 

- When I asked Rep. Ivey who he’d like to see replace Schumer, he demurred: It doesn’t matter who leads the party, as long as they keep Democrats singing from the same hymnal, and vote together to resist Trump and Elon Musk.

That answer didn’t satisfy me. Come on, congressman! “If I could clone Hakeem and run him for Senate, that would be great,” he replied, referring to the House minority leader. Fine, at least that’s an answer!

 

CLASS CLOWNS

Donald Trump has been yammering about his plan to abolish the Education Department for years… but now, when the moment finally arrived, he seemed to get cold feet. 

Hours before Trump [signed an executive order]([link removed]) aimed at eliminating the department, White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt [appeared to backtrack]([link removed]) on some of her boss’s previous pledge to do just that.

“We’re greatly reducing the scale and size of the department,” she told reporters, explaining that only Congress can abolish the department. The department will still administer “critical functions,” she said. 

What the hell does that mean? Leavitt listed several things that won’t be cut: student loan programs, Pell grants, civil rights enforcement and grant programs that help cover costs of educating students with disabilities… which is most of what the Department of Education already does.

Before signing the executive order, Trump claimed that there’s widespread support for “eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all.” Well, that’s just not true, or else you’d have already done it!

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WHAT ELSE?

[Israeli airstrikes hit multiple homes in the Gaza Strip today]([link removed]), killing at least 85 Palestinians, according to local health officials. A one-month old baby was found safe in the rubble after her parents and brother were killed.
 
[Sixty-five percent of voters believe that not enough thought]([link removed]) is being put into DOGE’s cuts to the federal government, according to a new Fox News survey. Fifty-eight percent of voters also disapprove of Elon Musk’s job performance. Sorry Elon, the people still don’t like you, or your [creepy chainsaw]([link removed]). SAD!
 
[A French academic was denied entry to the U.S. because]([link removed]) of his “personal opinion” on Trump’s policies, a top French official said. American authorities seized the academic’s phone and read conversations with his friends, where they found messages “that expressed hatred towards Trump and can be qualified as terrorism,” the AFP news outlet reported. All charges against the man were later dropped. 
 
[The person actually running DOGE is Steve Davis,]([link removed]) an engineer and longtime Musk ally who genuinely believes the chainsaw-wielding gazillionaire's actions will benefit humanity, the New York Times reports. “Steve is like chemo,” Musk reportedly said in a meeting before Trump took office. “A little chemo can save your life; a lot of chemo could kill you.” Well, that’s exactly the type of person I want running the show!
 
[Intelligence shared with the White House shows that Ukrainian]([link removed]) soldiers in the Kursk region are not “encircled” by Russian forces, Reuters reports. That’s notable, because Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have been saying that Ukrainians are encircled, which is apparently a lie. Putin has called on those soldiers to surrender, while Trump has urged Russia to spare their lives. 
 
[Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged Americans]([link removed]) to buy shares in Tesla, Elon Musk’s car company. The stock is down almost 40 percent this year. But can anyone believe the commerce secretary is trying to pump up the personal wealth of the president’s biggest political donor? Wait, you can??? Ah, well… Of course you can. 

[The U.S. dropped to its lowest-ever ranking on the world’s happiest]([link removed]) countries list, earning the 24th spot — down from 11th place in 2012. Apparently letting an unelected chainsaw-waving billionaire run the country isn’t so great for our national vibes.

THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
 
It’s hard not to want to tune out the news these days. But despite how overwhelming things feel, we are not powerless. Now, we have to pool what we’ve got and see what we can make happen. At [Assembly Required]([link removed]), Stacey Abrams will face each executive order, legislative policy, and every news cycle - no matter how terrifying or absurd - by asking: what can we do to learn more about what's happening, what can we do to solve problems however small, and how can we find the kind of hope that can sustain our work in difficult times? Listen to Assembly Required every Thursday on [Amazon Music]([link removed]).

 
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[A federal judge temporarily blocked Elon Musk’s DOGE]([link removed]) from accessing personal data at the Social Security Administration. “The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” Judge Ellen Hollander wrote. Get their asses, Ellen!

[George Glezmann, an American airline mechanic, was released]([link removed]) by the Taliban today, more than two years after being abducted by the group while visiting Afghanistan.  

[Drug overdoses in the United States have been on a steep decline,]([link removed]) dropping 25 percent more last year compared to the year before. One of the main factors is fewer fatalities from synthetic opioids, such as bootleg fentanyl. 

[Scientists discovered life in a very unusual place: on the Antarctic seafloor,]([link removed]) where a massive iceberg blocked it from sunlight for decades. After the iceberg broke off, the researchers found crustaceans, snails, worms, fish and other creatures. Another potential hiding spot for the next four years, great!
 

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