At town hall, Democrats yearn for leadership

If a revolt formulates within the Democratic Party over the next year, there were warning signs in Summit, New Jersey, on Thursday night.

In a town hall full of Democrats, questions from the crowd didn’t ring of 2017-esque resistance, but rather of bewilderment and betrayal: How dare Donald Trump do this? How dare Elon Musk do this? How dare Chuck Schumer do this?

Just hours before the event, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would support a Republican spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Democrats itching for a fight over what they see as President Donald Trump’s illegal handling of government funds hoped Schumer would force a government shutdown rather than allow a funding resolution they despise to pass.

Former Rep. Tom Malinowski hosted Thursday’s town hall in New Jersey’s 7th congressional district, which he represented from 2019 to 2023. The event was partly meant to jab at Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who hasn’t held similar in-person, public events.

As many as 300 Democrats filled the room Thursday night, and organizers said another 500+ watched in an online overflow room (if any Republicans attended the town hall, they didn’t make their presence known). Malinowski joked there was supposed to be a chair on stage to poke fun at Kean’s absence, but the chair was needed for attendees.

But Schumer’s decision to support the GOP-authored continuing resolution cast a pall over the event. Democrats, including Schumer, have major issues with the resolution, particularly its lack of limits on Trump’s and Elon Musk’s ability to shift or cancel federal funds. Both of New Jersey’s senators said they would rather see the government temporarily shut down than support what Senator Andy Kim called an “overreach of power.”

The bill might pass with Schumer’s assent (Republicans need some Democratic votes to reach the 60-vote filibuster threshold), and Democrats in the room equated Schumer’s decision to something of a surrender.

The angry were hardly progressive activists. The crowd was mostly older Democrats from the area, and they were joined in their ire by the moderate Malinowski, who said Schumer’s decision didn’t meet the moment.

“I get psychologically where guys like Schumer are coming from because they’re still kind of one foot in that old world and not fully understanding what has changed, the stakes that we face right now,” Malinowski told the crowd. “Because I keep on saying the government shutdown is happening. Much of the government has already been shut down by Trump and Musk.”

The uncertainty of the second Trump administration has flipped the dynamics of the Democratic Party onto its head. Malinowski said the evergreen “progressive versus moderate” debates within the party aren’t important right now, but Democrats should focus on elevating strong leaders who “meet the moment” regardless of their ideology.

“I still think the party comes together when it needs to,” the former congressman told the New Jersey Globe. “I think there is a healthy argument within the ranks that will empower those leaders in the party who understand that this is a time for self-confident action rather than merely complaining.”

Many of the attendees expressed doubt that Democratic leaders were listening to their concerns, or that top Democrats even have a plan.

“I know the Democrats are not in power, but what are they doing? I just feel like there’s no Democrat made for this moment, particularly Chuck Schumer,” one woman said.

For Malinowski, there’s no easy answer.

He touted the lawsuits filed by Democratic attorneys general, which have been largely successful in temporarily blocking Trump’s aggressive executive actions. But for a base hungry for fierce rebuttals, dense legal briefs aren’t a satisfactory response to a president who relishes in taunting his opponents.

“I want to know what the Democrats are doing to stand up and flip the tables to stop this administration from doing the things they’re doing, besides just filing the legal briefs and doing ‘the law thing,’” another woman said.

And Malinowski gets it.

“I didn’t agree with the lady who, at least in that moment, sounded a little dismissive of the legal strategy,” he told the New Jersey Globe. “But as I said a couple of times, I do agree that it would be a mistake for Democrats in Congress to say, ‘We don’t have to stick our necks out and the courts are going to fix it.’”

Eyes in New Jersey are turning to the governor’s race, one of two gubernatorial races in the country this year (Virginia is the other).

Malinowski, who now chairs the Hunterdon County Democrats, said Democrats should vote for the gubernatorial candidate who is “best-equipped” to handle the Trump administration. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) won the Hunterdon County Democratic convention, but Malinowski hasn’t endorsed a candidate himself, though he left the door open to such an endorsement.

“We need a governor and a state legislature that will be smart and effective at pushing back, because the stuff we cannot do in Congress, we need to be doing in Trenton, we need to be doing in state capitals across the country,” he said.

Members of the crowd asked Malinowski if he has plans to run for office again: The Democrat quoted Trump: “We’ll see what happens.”

Two Democratic candidates for Congress attended: Summit Democratic Chair Greg Vartan opened the night’s proceedings, and former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett was also in the room. The two will compete in the Democratic primary for the chance to take on Kean; Malinowski said he likes both candidates.

Also among the attendees were Liz and Sid Blanchard, two Democrats from Scotch Plains. They said they’re angered by Trump’s handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “chaos” in Washington.

Liz said she hopes Malinowski, who she called a strong moderate voice, runs for Congress again, though she’ll also be happy with another candidate “of his caliber.”

Liz and Sid expressed disappointment in how Democratic leaders are handling these first months of the Trump administration. Liz said Democrats should go after “President Musk” and be more assertive in going after Trump’s handling of the economy.

Sid was a bit more flowery.

“I think the Democrats are basically scurrying around like cockroaches jumping off a sinking ship,” he said. “And I wish they would suck it up and move forward and act like adult men and women and stand for what they claim they do.”