Morning all. Yesterday was an important day. Dems clearly found a higher gear, jumped up another level in our ambition and willingness to challenge Trump’s ruinous regime. In statements and committee hearings House Dem leaders reminded those enabling Trump’s escalating illiberalism that we will be in power again soon and will have subpoena power. Senate Dems, led by Senator Chris Murphy, introduced a new bill, the No Political Enemies Act. Here’s Senator Murphy yesterday talking about why it is needed now:
We’ve seen other signs of our movement growing stronger and more ambitious in recent days. Barack Obama has been very vocal this week, forcefully speaking up, on social media and in his public appearances. The new House Dem national security working group put out smart and aggressive statements condemning Trump’s selling out to Putin and his lawlessness in the Caribbean. Democratic leaders in New York City aggressively challenged DHS’s illicit detention facilities last night, drawing international attention to the regime’s ongoing human rights abuses and violation of law. New public health alliances that will continue to make science based - not fucking whack job based - recommendations to Americans have sprung up in the West and here on the East Coast this week. Here’s the Baltimore Banner this morning:
Maryland has joined a coalition of Northeastern states and cities aimed at protecting vaccine access and advancing other health initiatives, the Department of Health said in a statement.
The state joins Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and New York City to create the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. The group has been in the works for months, according to a press release from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
“This collaborative will make decisions based on scientific evidence and strive to ensure equitable access to quality health care,” a spokesperson from the Maryland Department of Health wrote in an emailed statement.
The alliance plans to work together on public health emergencies, vaccine recommendations and other research efforts, according to the group’s press release. It has already made recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine this fall, but each state and city will remain independent in setting regulations for its residents, the press release said.
In the past few days Dems have offered their own plan to fund the government after September 30th, rejecting what the Republicans have offered. Here’s Senator Schumer in a new interview with Punchbowl News:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune weak, said Republicans will own any government shutdown and insisted that Democrats shouldn’t agree to fund federal agencies unless Congress clamps down on the administration’s ability to unilaterally cut spending.
This is a very different Schumer than the one who helped Thune keep the government open in March. During an interview on Fly Out Day, Schumer didn’t sound like a man who is going to fold.
“It’s different in many different ways,” Schumer said, comparing this funding fight to the one in March. “First, the Republicans have shown who they are. They’ve decimated people’s health care between March and now. They’ve done so much harm to the American people, on health care, on electricity costs, on tariffs, that the American people are far more down on Trump than on the Republicans than they were.”
This is going to come as welcome news to House Democrats, many of whom think Schumer is weak-kneed and on the brink of capitulating again to Republicans and President Donald Trump.
Schumer’s view on funding fight. As a reminder, the Democrats’ position right now is that Congress should fund the government until Oct. 31 while permanently extending the enhanced premium subsidies for Obamacare and reversing the massive Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Schumer also is seeking to bar Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought from impounding funds approved by Congress or offering more rescissions packages.
These are all absolute non-starters for Republicans.
With so much at stake, House Republicans will try today to pass a clean CR until Nov. 21. The vote is scheduled for around 10:20 a.m. Thune has locked in votes on the Republican CR, as well as the Democratic alternative from Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Both of these will fail in the Senate. GOP leaders then seem ready to send senators home for the scheduled recess until Sept. 29, just a day before the funding deadline.
Schumer is convinced that Trump and Republicans will own the shutdown, which flies in the face of decades of political history about the fallout from these types of showdowns.
“Look, Donald Trump is heading the show here,” Schumer said. “And he has said, ‘Don’t negotiate with the Democrats. We don’t need them.’ There’s one of two things. Either he doesn’t understand the Senate — even in its most rudimentary way — or he doesn’t know how to count. The only good way to get this done is a bipartisan negotiation.”
According to Schumer, Johnson and Thune are simply Trump’s puppets and exhibit “weakness” for not wanting to sit down with Democrats.
Schumer said Democrats “love the contrast” of their bill and the GOP’s, chiefly because, in his view, Americans prefer bipartisanship.
To be clear, Schumer has shifted appreciably on the political implications of a shutdown with Trump in the White House. In March, one of his principal reasons for keeping the government open was that Republicans would make a shutdown painful.
But now, nearly seven months later, Trump’s poll numbers have slid, especially on the economy. Schumer also said he’s working much closer with Jeffries to plot this showdown:
“We want changes in health care to undo the damage they have done, and we want to make sure if we pass any appropriations bills, they can’t just undo it unilaterally with Vought, OMB and rescissions. We’ve made that clear for months, and we’ve been united for months. Our whole caucuses are united, just as we were all united.”
Yet this is where it gets hairy for Schumer. There’s no chance that Republicans are going to roll back OBBB Medicaid cuts. And it’s equally unlikely that Republicans will agree to handcuff the Trump administration’s ability to cut federal funding by rescissions.
Check out this very interesting exchange:
Schumer: “Why would you go forward with [the appropriations] process if they’re going to undo it anyway?”
Jake: “Well, that’s a good question, but that means there’s going to be an interminable government shutdown.”
Schumer: “We believe the American people will understand that they are causing a shutdown, again, by not being [bipartisan], by not wanting to do anything on health care at all, and by Trump. I mean, it’s amazing what he did to say, don’t negotiate with Democrats. Go talk to just go to people on the street and say, when Trump says, don’t talk with Democrats. Is he to blame for the shutdown? They say, ‘Yes, of course.’”
In case you somehow missed that, that’s Schumer explaining how Democrats believe they can win a shutdown.
Schumer also described Democrats’ position as “quite strong.”
As we often discuss here you never know in politics what is going to cause people to rise up or find a higher gear. Moments present themselves, leaders lead, and things just change as we saw with the Texas Dems, Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker this summer. The right’s wild and dangerous reaction to the Charlie Kirk’s tragic murder last week has forced Democrats to more forcefully confront the undeniable descent of Trump into Putinist authoritarianism. This is the next moment. For as we say here two things have become very, very clear these last few weeks:
1) Trump’s government is failing, foreign leaders keep refusing to bend the knee, his health problems are clearly growing more severe, and he and his rancid agenda have become wildly unpopular. A majority of the country just isn’t buying into his strongman act, and continue to want an American President not a bloody dictator.
2) He is responding to the failure of his government and political project by going full-on paranoid tyrant, threatening us/his opposition with state-sponsored and vigilante violence and launching what has to be understood as an early stage crackdown. I’ve called this dangerous dynamic the vicious cycle of a failing strongman.
Democrats have been right to respond to Trump’s dangerous escalation and increasing madness with an escalation of our own. For there is an unambiguous lesson we must carry with us from history - every inch a dictator takes encourages him to take more. It is why our opposition movement simply now must find a higher gear, organize ourselves to challenge him 24/7/365 in far more sophisticated and ambitious ways, and not just comfort ourselves that we are leading in the November elections and will likely win next year. We must also develop muscular strategies to mitigate the damage that he is doing to the country and ensure there will be free and fair elections next year.
We are here now. We know who he is and what he wants. Now the nation, and the world, must come to know us, what we want and what we are fighting for. It is time for our pro-democracy movement, and all of us, to reach deep and find the courage to honor this great country’s historic mission and fight every day for our democracy, rule of law, freedom and opportunity for all. That is what the moment requires. That is what we, the proud, plucky, patriots of Hopium, must do, and encourage everyone we know to join us.
That is what I talked about last night in our weekly gathering. You can find the video and transcript above. Watch when you can. Share it with others. Hit like so it triggers the algorithm to bring it to more people. And let people know they can watch and listen to our discussions here at Hopium but also on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify too.
In my talk last night I referenced these three recent Hopium memos and essays:
Some Reflections On Finding A Higher Gear, Building A Stronger Movement, And Winning The Fall
Fighting Trump Now - Some Recommendations For Congressional Democrats
I also find myself frequently drawing from the insights we received from Nathan Heller and Leon Krauze about the need for the pro-democracy movement to be fiercely, loudly, comprehensively challenging Trump in the information domain every day. If you haven’t spent time with these important commentators would encourage you to do so in the coming days.
A few more notes from our discussion last night…..
Yesterday Trump admitted that he misjudged Putin, and believed that his relationship with him would bring about an end to the war. This is an admission that he has committed one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in our history, one that would in most democracies lead to his resignation, removal of a fall of his government.
I am not fond of the “soft secession” narrative that has begun to take hold on our side. I think we should come to understand that it is Trump and MAGA that are seceding from:
the modern world of science, data and truth
the American-led global order and the Western alliance that has made us prosperous and kept us safe for 80 years
democracy, rule of law, and the American Constitutional order
civility, decency, pursuit of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
We are the patriots, fighting to hold the line, defending America. They are the betrayers seeking to undermine our democracy and America itself.
There is no ideology or political leader on the broad non-MAGA political spectrum calling for violence. We are a movement fighting for democracy, rule of law, and liberty, not against it. Tens of millions have protested, peacefully, without incident. We are running and winning elections of all kinds, and debating, criticizing and dissenting ferociously, as to be expected in a democracy. The characterization of our pro-democracy movement as violent and illiberal is one of Trump’s greatest fictions, and we must challenge it, aggressively, at every moment.
Public polling and sentiment continues to be grim for Trump. He hit his lowest level ever in the Economist/YouGov track this week, and this morning he hit his lowest level yet in the Civiqs daily tracking poll:
Friday’s U of Michigan Consumer sentiment survey came in the lowest reading in the last 50 years!!!!!!!!!!!!
A New Virginia poll finds strong Dem statewide leads:
Spanberger 52%-40% (+12)
Hasmi 48%-37% (+11)
Jones 48%-41% (+7)
VA Dems early in person voting starts today. Let's make it a big day. Please plan on voting and encourage everyone you know to join you! Voting early creates a bigger Dem turnout and helps us win. For when you vote early you come off the campaign’s GOTV rolls, allowing the campaign to move on faster to lower propensity voters and making it more likely they vote. So voting early increases Dem turnout and is another way you can help us win the fall.
Now, Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Support Our November, 2025 Candidates and Yes On 50
Mikie Sherrill NJ Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $78k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my new interview with Rep. Sherrill
Abigail Spanberger VA Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $192k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Abigail Spanberger
Yes on 50 (CA) - $50,000 goal - Donate | Learn more, volunteer
Support Our 2026 Candidates
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $250,000 goal, $34,000 raised- Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interviews with Gov. Cooper and NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $250,000 goal, $70k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my inspiring new interview with Senator Ossoff
Hopium House 7 (2026) - $250,000 goal, $201k raised - Donate | Learn More, Volunteer | Watch My Interviews With Our Intrepid Incumbents
Support Our Audacious Expansion Fund (2026-2032)
Hopium's Audacious Expansion Fund - Investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas - $250,000 goal, $17,000 raised - Donate To All Five State Parties | Watch my interviews with Florida Chair Nikkie Fried, Iowa Chair Rita Hart and Texas Chair Kendall Scudder | Links to be able support each party individually will be up soon | Also catch our interviews with DNC Chair Ken Martin and Vice Chair Jane Kleeb
Our updated fundraising goals are now for the end of the year, December 31st, except for the 2025 races, which are now for Election Day, 2025.
Take Action, Express Your Love Of Country And Strengthen Our Democracy Through Good Works - We are prioritizing two actions today:
1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Four-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our our emerging four part agenda. Demand that your reps work to
Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world
Block the expansion of ICE, restore due process, defend the 1st Amendment, and end the use of the military on our streets and the occupations of our cities
Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; demand the removal of extremist Robert Kennedy from HHS
Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia and China
2 - Bring “Resolutions Of Condemnation” To Your Community - Inspired by the tactics of our Founders learn about how Hopium members are advancing “Resolutions of Condemnation” in their communities across the country and consider bringing this initiative to your state, country or city/town. Be sure to check out our new discussion with Deborah Potter and Rachel Poliner who have passed resolutions in New Mexico and Boston, and offer advice on how to get a resolution passed in your own community.
Remarkably, members of this community are now advancing 81 (!!!!) resolutions projects in 22 states + DC. Can we get to all 50 states by the fall election?
Finally, please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder! Been impressive to see how many of you remain involved in local, in person protests of all kinds in your communities. Great to see!
Let’s keep working hard all for as Robert Frost told us “the best way out is always through” - Simon
