We’re back on Trump time, when the news cycle spins so fast that major developments dominate headlines one day and are washed out by a new crisis the next. In the nine days since Donald Trump's second term as president began, he has tried to end birthright citizenship, block an estimated $3 trillion in government funding, rid the federal government of any diversity initiatives, and so much more. His controversial nominees are getting appointed one after the other, with former Fox News host Pete Hegseth becoming defense secretary on Saturday, despite numerous reports that he sexually assaulted a woman and was often drunk at work. (Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing.)
Amid this dizzying chaos, Democrats in Congress are being accused of twiddling their thumbs. Some are even voting to confirm Trump's nominees and for Republican legislation that immigration advocates say will “deprive immigrants of basic rights and liberties.” Rolling Stone reported that the party appears to be “rolling over” for Trump.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) says it’s the responsibility of her party to do the opposite — to explain to voters what is in all of those executive orders and to grill nominees who will undermine the very agencies they’re supposed to run. (Warren, like every other member of the Senate, voted to confirm Marco Rubio as Trump’s secretary of state last week.)
During a break from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Warren spoke to Teen Vogue about Trump 2.0, including how his administration is restricting access to abortion.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Elizabeth Warren: Trump and his Republican friends hope that we will be demoralized. They hope we will give up, curl into a little ball and let them do whatever they want. I get it. It's tough right now, but it's important that we get back up and fight — and that's exactly what I am doing.
I am challenging Elon Musk on his [Department of Government Efficiency efforts] to take away help for seniors who are living in nursing homes and little kids who are hoping for a hot lunch. [Editor’s note: The Trump administration issued a sweeping memo on Tuesday that would pause funding to federal agencies, states, and other organizations, including programs like Meals on Wheels and Head Start. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order, and then the administration changed course and rescinded the federal aid freeze on Wednesday, per CNN.]
I am asking questions of every nominee and pointing out to other senators and to the public where they pose a real danger to the American people.
Look at the fight over the secretary of defense [Pete Hegseth]. He is a credibly accused rapist who has been falling down drunk at work events and run two nonprofits into the ground. Nonetheless, the Republicans stood beside him. He made it through his confirmation last Friday night, but it wasn't a freebie. Some Republicans broke ranks and everyone in the country who was paying attention got to see up close and personal just how far the Republicans were willing to go to cower in front of Donald Trump.
Those are the fights we must keep fighting. We can't roll over and play dead.
EW: The number one thing people can do right now is speak out. Speak out on social media about every one of these things. Talk about the threats they pose. Speak out about what Donald Trump is doing.
In the middle of the night last Friday, Donald Trump issued a batch of executive orders turning the clock back decades on women's reproductive rights. If people talk about that, then that's how we begin to rebuild a movement to push against the Trump vision of America, in which billionaires are on top and everyone else is left in the dirt.
EW: The strategy is to flood the zone, partly so we don't see each of the horrible orders and pay attention to them, but partly to try to demoralize us. Flooding the zone doesn't demoralize me. It just makes me furious.
I've only got 24 hours a day, but I plan to spend as many of them as humanly possible fighting back against Trump, Musk, and the billionaires who have taken over this country to promote themselves at the expense of everyone else.
EW: I want to go back to the one on Friday night because it has not received enough attention, and I very much hope that your audience will see this and pay attention. Let's dig in for just a sec:
One of Trump's executive orders makes it more dangerous for women in states where abortion is legal to safely walk from their cars to the front door of an abortion clinic. Think about that. So the women who are legally entitled to get the health care they need can be harassed between the car and the front door of the clinic because Donald Trump signed a piece of paper in the middle of the night on Friday.
Most people don't know that now, but the extremists, [people who would harass those] women know about it for sure. [Editor’s note: Per CBS News, the Trump administration has ordered the Justice Department to limit enforcement of the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which “makes it illegal to harm, threaten or interfere with an individual” seeking reproductive health services. Trump also pardoned some two dozen people convicted of forcing their way into or blocking access to abortion clinics, according to Politico.]
And the thing about these abortion executive orders is that Donald Trump is not bragging about them. When Donald Trump pardoned all of the insurrectionists, he proudly signed in front of the cameras and held it up. When Donald Trump signed an executive order to roll back the Green New Deal and climate protections, he proudly signed it in front of a camera and held it up. But when he signed the rollbacks on basic protections for access to abortion where it is legal, he did it in the dark of night and hoped that no one would notice except the extremists who loved what he's done.
EW: I have serious concerns about Robert Kennedy heading up Health and Human Services. He opposed the lifesaving COVID vaccine just six months into the pandemic. He has made millions of dollars off anti-science conspiracies. He has promised to do whatever Donald Trump wants when it comes to women's reproductive rights, he poses a danger to our public health, and he can't be trusted to make health care decisions that affect every family in America.
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