With Democrats in Congress under increasing pressure from constituents to push back against the Trump administration, two members of Massachusetts’ all-Democratic congressional delegation are detailing their visions for what that should entail.
Some Massachusetts voters who are disappointed with the current administration have taken to the streets to protest , and say Democrats aren’t doing enough to stop the president from pursuing a number of policies impacting immigrants, the LGBTQ community, federal workers and more.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley acknowledged that she and her colleagues are having to “innovate and figure out in real time how to best match the energy” of the new administration.
Pressley, speaking on Boston Public Radio on Monday, said, “This is a truly a constitutional crisis, and [Republicans] are operating with lawlessness ... so we have to agitate, resist, obstruct.”
Pressley said Republicans are “unserious,” making bipartisan work difficult.
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who also joined GBH News for an interview on Monday, concurred, noting the difficulty in getting a bill to the floor of the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
He said voters may be missing another strategy currently being implemented by members of Congress: lawsuits.
“We’re working with individual groups, plaintiffs, unions to to file suit, because that’s the only venue we have right now to stop some of the stuff,” Lynch said.
As of Friday, Lynch and his colleagues had filed 78 federal cases across eight states, he said.
“We’ve had a fair measure of success on different measures. But people don’t see that. It’s a slow process and they want something, you know, more immediate and more gratifying,” Lynch said.
Those lawsuits have been filed by states, districts and other entities in conjunction with the Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group in Congress, which was formally established by House Democrats last month.
Lynch said he is part of the working group, which is billed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as part of the “multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration.”
