In her first few months in Congress, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), who was elected in a special election last year to a district centered around Newark, didn’t garner much attention outside of New Jersey. Last week, that changed.
McIver delivered a tirade against Elon Musk’s access to confidential Treasury data during a demonstration outside the U.S. Treasury Department on February 4. He concluded with the unforgettable cry, “Goddammit, shut down the Senate!” We are engaged in combat! With articles in the New York Post and Breitbart, McIver’s remarks immediately attracted notice and censure in conservative circles. Donald Trump’s White House even pushed the McIver video, labeling it a heinous call to murder from a radical politician.
According to McIver, who spoke to the New Jersey Globe yesterday, she fully supports her position that it is a struggle for the future of the nation and the people she represents, not a literal war with guns, as Republicans have misrepresented it.
“Whenever you can ignore the Constitution, Congress, and the Senate, and essentially do whatever you want at the stroke of a pen, that’s a problem,” McIver stated. “There are some things that are not even at the stroke of a pen.” It’s a war on humanity. That is an attack on the people I represent.
McIver claimed that she and her office have received a ton of hate mail and criticism in the week following the Treasury Department protest, much of which had nothing to do with the actual content of her remarks.
She remarked, “I’ve been called everything on the internet except a child of God because I’m overweight, Black, and ghetto, you name it.” To be honest, it’s very repulsive and unpleasant. And I can clearly identify the character traits of many Trump supporters. Just my appearance and my background, nothing about my leadership, policy, or experiences.
McIver’s moment in the spotlight coincides with broader discussions inside the Democratic Party about how to best counteract the expansive orders issued by Musk and Trump, which have begun to dismantle numerous federal programs and agencies.
McIver suggested that activists calling on Democrats to do more would be well advised to keep in mind that Democrats have little formal power in Washington, the GOP controls both chambers of Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court. However, Democratic senators and members of the House can still cause trouble by demonstrating, as McIver did at the Treasury Department last week, and by sabotaging congressional efforts with their meager influence in Washington.
Many Democrats, including McIver, believe that Congress should do that when it attempts to enact legislation pertaining to federal financing before the impending shutdown deadline in March. Without Democratic support, Republicans will find it difficult to maintain government operations, and McIver stated that she would be prepared to abstain from voting in protest of the Trump administration’s policies—something Senator Andy Kim also alluded to over the weekend.
Kim had his own semi-viral moment last week when he was denied a meeting with the acting director of the US Agency for International Development, his old employer and one of the first organizations Trump and Musk targeted in their cost-cutting drive. Although he may want to cooperate with Republicans, Kim told the Globe last week that there are some boundaries he is unwilling to cross.
He stated, “I think there is a bright line when it comes to the Constitution.” People in America ask, “Are you going to find bipartisanship?” Is Trump, in your opinion, mandated? When it comes to the Constitution, none of that counts. No popular mandate can grant Trump the authority to disregard our Constitution.
Additionally, certain Democrats in New Jersey can exercise authority through means other than their votes on the House or Senate floor. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has started writing letters and looking into Trump’s attempted spending freezes. Meanwhile, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, which will be crucial in the upcoming battle for government funding as well as any reconciliation legislation that Congress attempts to pass.
However, during Trump’s first few weeks in office, New Jersey’s three-member Republican delegation has mostly remained silent, and it’s unclear if they are concerned about the Trump administration’s treatment of organizations like USAID.
In an unusually cautious statement late last week, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) praised Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for identifying waste, especially with regard to foreign aid programs, but also warned against any potential cuts to core programs like Social Security or Medicaid. Van Drew said that it did not show any fear of the Trump administration’s initiatives, but he wanted to ensure that Republicans approach cost-cutting in the proper manner.
“We do need to use a scalpel and not a hatchet when it comes to things like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and others,” he stated. I have discussed this with the president, and he concurs. He wants to avoid hurting working people. Do it quickly, do it like a laser.
The fact that the Trump administration’s strategy has mainly avoided Capitol Hill entirely is part of the issue for any member of Congress, regardless of party; directives to dismantle government programs and agencies have come straight from the White House and DOGE, and the battle to stop them has been fought in the courts rather than in the Capitol.
That restricts the voice of any one member, especially McIver, a newcomer in the minority party. According to McIver, the best she can do right now is to fight back as loudly as she can and ensure that no one can ignore what is occurring.
According to her, the Trump administration has set things up this way to overload the system with turmoil, causing people to miss things, burn out, or completely detach. However, we are all collaborating to plan how to handle all of this.
