Yesterday, a staff member of Senator Angus King told me I should be sure to watch his U.S. Senate floor speech (text here), that I would be impressed.
I am not impressed in the slightest. Why?
1) King takes to the floor, draping the mantle of Margaret Chase Smith about his shoulders as if he’s saying something shockingly similarly new and revelatory as what MCS said decades ago. But what he says in the speech, people have been saying for *months*.
2) King declares correctly that “we in this body, at least thus far, are inert—and therefore complicit.” But his speech does not remedy this. He never commits to actually doing anything about the situation. He never uses the words “I will” or their equivalent.
3) The closest he comes to suggesting action is the indirect, subjunctive, and passive suggestion about what that members of Congress could do:
“We could reclaim our power, however, by pulling back the trade authority (there’s a bill to do that), instituting vigorous oversight of the activities of DOGE to determine to what extent their actions compromise congressional intent, or holding the President’s nominees and his prized tax bill until he ceases his attempts to make policy unilaterally, including impounding congressionally authorized and appropriated funds. You know, do our job.”
That’s some snappy rhetoric. But regarding these three hypothetical suggestions for action, Senator King is fully aware that the trade authority bill will not pass due to the Republican majority, and that the Republicans will not institute vigorous oversight over DOGE. So the first two ideas are empty of possibility, leaving only the third left.
The third item, blocking the progress of the President’s nominees and legislative agenda, is available to Senator King NOW. No coalition-building is necessary. He can slow Senate progress on implementing Trump’s dictatorship NOW, simply by withholding the unanimous consent that makes the Senate work quickly. In an instant, the GOP Senate agenda would progress at a tenth of the current pace. When Republicans were in the minority, they pulled this tactic all the time and extracted all kinds of concessions from the majority as a result.
It’s what King says someone ought to do in his speech — but while he talks big, in practice Senator King is refusing to do it. He has been asked by citizens and pro-democracy groups to block the progress of the Trump agenda in the Senate for months, but he has refused to act in the manner of his speech.
I can’t tell you yet what he did yesterday, because the Congressional Record for April 29 hasn’t been released yet. But the Congressional Record for April 28 is available right here. Read it. You will find:
* 27 times during the floor business of the Senate on April 28, the unanimous consent of the Senate to proceed on 27 different items on the agenda was solicited, with just one Senator’s objection required to slow the agenda down. Senator Angus King failed to object to unanimous consent every single time.
* There was a roll call vote April 28 on the nomination of David Perdue to be U.S. Ambassador to China. Not only did Senator King fail to withhold unanimous consent to proceed with the vote, but when the vote came, he cast a “YEA” vote to end debate on the nomination — not to slow down or hold the nomination, but to speed it up.
While King talks tough, in action he fits his own accusation: “inert—and therefore complicit.”
While pregnant mothers are dying at twice the rate in states where abortion has been banned,
while students who have broken no law have had their visas revoked,
while people have been hauled to torturous overseas concentration camps without the due process guaranteed to them,
while citizens are being deported, also without due process,
while the protections of the Constitution are being stripped away more and more by the day,
and while everyday citizens are taking to streetcorners to declare their public opposition at an increasing risk to themselves…
… Senator Angus King is delivering yet another empty speech and sitting on his hands. King is failing to take the actions available to him to stop it, or even to slow the process down.
So no, Senator King, I am not amazed by your speech. I am galled by the temerity with which you are daily failing us in your actions.
You have the power within you to do better, to do something, Angus King, and the future of our country relies on it.
