“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.” Trump experienced the homily as a rare rebuke and dismissed Budde as a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.” He complained that “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.” In fact, Budde embraced the prophetic tradition of the Rev. She used her position on the House Committee on Homeland Security to demand investigations into the administration’s “violent, middle of the night operations that traumatize entire communities and put innocent men, women and children, including U.S. citizens, at risk.” Then, in October, when more than a dozen House members joined Ramirez in Chicago to conduct on-the-ground oversight of the Department of Homeland Security’s lawless actions in Chicago, she detailed how “our residents have been surveilled, they’ve been threatened, they’ve been tear-gassed, they’ve been hit with pepper balls, they’ve been shot, they’ve been subjected to warrantless arrests and precision immobilization-technique maneuvers, and kidnapped and disappeared,” and declared, “We will hold them accountable.” In November, after Schumer botched the government-shutdown fight, Democratic Senate candidates called for new leadership in the chamber, and liberal groups dispatched a memo that pointed to the Marylander as a potential replacement for the minority leader, arguing that Van Hollen “represents the rare figure who combines experience, credibility, and a forward-leaning vision.” Van Hollen’s strength is his recognition that, as he put it, “This job is not worth it if you constantly have to be putting your finger to the wind.” At a time when Americans are desperate for principled leadership, that’s a mantra every Democrat should consider.
Author: John Nichols,Various Contributors
Published at: 2025-12-22 00:00:00
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