A combat veteran fired from his job at the IRS. Another vet fired from a job at the Veterans Administration. An architect who was restoring George Washington’s office at Valley Forge, also fired. The mother of a child with cystic fibrosis who has benefited from medical research conducted at the National Institutes of Health. A patient terrified that Congress will cut the Medicaid that allows her to get treatment for her breast cancer.
These are some of the guests Democratic members of Congress are taking to President Donald Trump’s address Tuesday night, people whose experiences tell a very different story from the one Trump wants to tell. For a change, Democrats are sending exactly the right message to the public, even if their megaphone isn’t as large as Trump’s: When you eviscerate the federal government, real people get hurt.
Trump’s speech will undoubtedly paint a picture of a transformed America, returned at last to its lost greatness. While this isn’t technically a State of the Union address, it should encourage Democrats to remind voters of reality.
They need to point Americans to the objective facts and encourage them to take a good, hard look at what the actual state of our union is, especially as it has changed in the six weeks since Trump took office.
The mass firings of federal workers ordered by the Trump administration’s Elon Musk-led (but not officially) “Department of Government Efficiency” have begun what will most likely be the largest single round of government layoffs in American history, creating the risk of touching off a recession as the impact of job losses spreads through communities around the country. Trump is also about to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico and increase tariffs on Chinese goods, which is almost certain to fuel more price increases. That may be part of the reason consumer confidence is dropping. And we all know how expensive eggs have gotten.
That’s just the beginning.
Democrats also have an opportunity to be the party that stands in opposition to cutbacks that will make us all more vulnerable to corruption and abuse.
Democrats must take the opportunity to shine light on how Musk’s rampage through federal agencies will most likely result in a degradation of both taxpayer-facing services and key government functions. The administration will be firing thousands of workers at the Social Security Administration and plans to close many of the offices that provide customer service to beneficiaries (Musk recently called the incredibly popular program a “Ponzi scheme,” an extraordinary gift to Democrats). As Americans start preparing their tax returns, thousands of workers at the IRS are also on the chopping block, most likely producing worse customer service and slower processing of returns.
In the heart of flu season and amid a deadly new measles outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration canceled its annual meeting to determine next year’s flu vaccine, potentially damaging our response to the next round of infections. Warnings are coming in that the mass layoffs will threaten our ability to fight wildfires, prevent new epidemics and deliver basic services that millions of Americans rely on.
Democrats also have an opportunity to be the party that stands in opposition to cutbacks that will make us all more vulnerable to corruption and abuse.
The administration has dropped multiple cases against financial firms being investigated for misleading consumers and engaging in various kinds of misbehavior as part of its gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, giving a green light to scammers everywhere to prey on people. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is preparing to cut off most of the funding for the enforcement of fair housing laws. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department has stopped enforcement of a rule meant to make it more difficult to launder money and set up phony shell companies, and it has all but shut down oversight of the crypto industry. What could go wrong?
Then, Democrats should make the case to America that there’s foreseeable long-term damage — which will become visible only over time.
The National Institutes of Health, the engine of America’s world-leading medical research, has stopped issuing new grants and is in a general state of chaos. Internship programs in a wide variety of agencies that recruit talented young people to government service have been canceled. The administration is doing everything in its power to crush the development of renewable energy and increase carbon emissions, potentially worsening the effects of climate change. And Trump plans to cut the Environmental Protection Agency budget by 65%, the probable result of which will be dirtier air and water. If that weren’t enough, the government could shut down in less than two weeks. As horrifying as all that may be, there’s another, more hopeful story taking shape — and Democrats should be making Americans aware of it, as well. Democrats should make the case to America that there’s foreseeable long-term damage — which will become visible only over time. People are rising up to oppose what Trump and Musk are doing: Fired federal workers are organizing to educate the public about how the government serves them and what is being lost, demonstrators are assembling in national parks around the country to protest cuts to the National Park Service, constituents are flocking to town halls to express their anger at Republican representatives who support the brutal cuts to federal staff and services that the administration is carrying out. There is a grassroots movement forming, and only some of it is coming from liberal activists; it also includes people who may have voted for Trump because they were mad about inflation and never thought he’d cut off disease research or fire their neighbors. Democrats should get behind that movement — and know that if they don’t, they could face their own backlash from voters who want them to meet the moment. It would be a mistake to think the damage from this effort to decimate the government won’t be awful. But perhaps when it’s over, more Americans will appreciate the value the federal workforce brings to all our lives. They may even learn that the military veterans who enjoy nearly universal esteem make up around 30% of federal workers, despite representing only 6% of the adult population (the federal government gives preference to veterans in hiring, a form of affirmative action even Republicans support). Democrats have been slow to respond to the carnage happening around them, stunned by the sheer audacity of Trump’s assault and unsure about what their message should be. But as they look around, they should see that people are not happy about the state of the union. Showing the public exactly who is being hurt by the destruction of government, which Trump’s address has given them the chance to do, is a good place to start.
Paul Waldman is a journalist and author focused on politics and culture. 
