Conservative political scientist Norman Ornstein criticized the Trump administration on Saturday for what he called “outrageous” policies that could “damage lives.” At the same time, he outlined a plan for Democrats to challenge President Trump’s power.
Speaking on MSNBC, Ornstein explained why he thinks Democrats have struggled to fight the Trump administration, noting the party’s falling poll numbers.
“What Trump and the Republicans have done so well is flood the zone with scandal after scandal every day; most Americans who don’t follow closely don’t even know about a lot of this,” Ornstein said, clearly frustrated.
“Democrats need to focus. To fight this constant flow of scandals, they should have one main message each day, a core message for the week, and use every tool in Congress and beyond to get it across.”
Trump’s second term has been full of controversy, so much so that some people say Americans have become numb to the administration’s actions. Ornstein suggested a bold approach for Democrats.
“I think we need to use impeachment now… impeach RFK Jr.!” Ornstein said. “You can introduce a privileged resolution in the House. They can’t block it, it takes priority, and it starts a debate where we can talk about the outrageous things this monster is doing that harm people and even lead to deaths.”
As head of the Department of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. has been under fresh scrutiny this week after trying to fire Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and allegedly asking her to “do something illegal.” This led hundreds of CDC employees to walk out in support of Monarez.
Ornstein also said Democrats shouldn’t stop there and should use articles of impeachment against other officials too.
“Do the same with (Director of National Intelligence) Tulsi Gabbard, do the same with (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem,” he said. “Every week, show Americans what they don’t know, and make Republicans either support outrageous actions or do the right thing. We have many tools available; we just aren’t using them now.”
