Clark County Democrats’ Resolution to the Washington State Democratic Delegation on the

Unconstitutional Administrative Coup and Immediate Threat to Democracy in America

We thank you for your leadership, and we urge you to act like an emergency is threatening the United States Constitution and authentic democracy in America, because that is the case. Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and MAGA are rapidly dismantling all the checks and balances established by the Constitution and seizing every lever of power for themselves. They are staging an administrative coup, illegally eliminating agencies, seizing control of the U.S. government’s payment systems, removing all independent checks on the presidency in the U.S. Military and the U.S. Department of Justice, gaining access to the personal information of every American without any due process or oversight, and putting millions of lives globally into immediate life-threatening peril.

America must remain a nation of laws. We are meant to be a shining city on a hill, an example to the rest of the world, and a beacon of human rights, authentic democracy, and the rule of law. We are not meant to be Russia, North Korea, an oligarchy, dictatorship, or theocracy. America cannot assure human rights if we allow lawlessness and abrogation of the Constitution.

It is sobering to state a simple fact: many thousands of people are going to die. USAID funding has stopped for clean water, sanitation, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, bird flu, polio, river blindness, refugee camps, the Rohingya humanitarian response, education for girls, and pregnancy care for women.  “We will see life or death consequences for millions around the globe,” says the President of Oxfam America. USAID supports 20 million HIV patients worldwide, who are no longer receiving anti-retroviral medication and other life-saving treatments. One program alone provides anti-retroviral treatments to 679,936 pregnant women, and this stoppage will cause 135,987 babies to acquire HIV. (Data from the Foundation for AIDS Research and PEPFAR.) The President of the International AIDS Society indicates, “People are going to die, and HIV will resurge.”

This is cruel, un-Constitutional, and un-American. Therefore, we call upon every Democratic Senator and Representative from Washington State to take the following actions. We ask for your prompt reply, including your plan and next steps, clearly indicating whether you will take these actions or not and explaining your own insights and intentions. We want to work together with all of you as allies, and we stand ready to amplify your actions and support your powerful response.

1. Stop the administrative coup, then investigate and prosecute these crimes. The Constitution and the rule of law in America must prevail. Since Democrats have minorities in both chambers, use the power of the minority to slow down floor processes until the coup attempts end.
2. Enlist the help of Republicans who put the Constitution before their party. Reach across the aisle to a handful of Republicans who might put the Constitution first and their party second.
3. Vote NO on every Trump nominee.Each confirmation advances MAGA’s administrative coup. Democrats cannot be complicit in approving MAGA selections.
4. Block unanimous consent.Slow down floor debate and make MAGA spend floor time for every single vote.
5. Use quorum calls.Slow down Congress until the administrative coup attempts stop.
6. Use every procedural tool available. Slow down every vote and procedure as much as possible. This is a rapidly developing coup that threatens all of us. No other issue is more important.
7. Identify now how court decisions will be enforced. The court system, including the Supreme Court, may likely rule against many of the administration’s actions. However, history shows that presidents have ignored such rulings and continued their illegal practices without consequence. Assemble your best teams now to plan for this scenario and prevent it from happening.
8. Play as a team. All of you have great relationships with many of your Republican colleagues. Some of you are deeply progressive, some of you are principled centrists. We need all of you to use your unique strengths and work together to save our Constitution.
9. Use accurate language. It is no longer alarmist to use words like cruel or coup to describe what is happening today. Americans are not cruel. These actions by the MAGA movement are cruel. As leaders, you must speak the truth, clearly, so each American can choose to be on the right side of history.

The MAGA leadership is removing individual rights and threatening the safety of Americans who are women, LGBTQ+, or from communities of color, while also using ICE to pull family members from their homes while their children watch, without the due process that is guaranteed and required by the Constitution. They are creating a culture where people who are not conservative white men are seen as less than equal, and even as the enemy. This constitutes an emergency. We are rapidly losing authentic democracy in America and losing 80 years of progress made by Martin Luther King Jr. and all leaders of the civil rights and women’s rights movements. We urge immediate, courageous, united, and highly effective action by all of you, to save hundreds of thousands of lives, and to restore respect for the U. S. Constitution and the separation of powers our founders cherished.

ADOPTED February 10, 2025, by the Clark County Democratic Central Committee

For distribution to: Washington State Congressional Delegation, Governor Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, State Party Chair Shasti Conrad