SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
rootsaction
Progressive Petition Calls for DNC 'Emergency Meeting' to Shift Gears Against Trump
"Doing the same old thing (or nothing) nets the same dismal results," wrote one petition signer.
May 28, 2025
A petition sponsored by two national progressive organizations is urging the Democratic National Committee to convene an emergency meeting of all its members in order to chart "truly bold action" against U.S. President Donald Trump and his "cronies."
The petition, which was sent to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin this week and circulated by the groups RootsAction and Progressive Democrats of America, has 7,000 signers, according to a Wednesday statement. It also includes more than 1,500 individual comments from petition signers.
One petition signer, Andrea Helene Hansen of Hudson, New York, wrote: "As a lifelong Democrat (and I'm now 77 years old), I'm looking for an alternative since my party is failing me (and others of the boomer generation). WAKE UP!"
"Doing the same old thing (or nothing) nets the same dismal results. Time to represent your voters that want you to fight Trump and GOP and overwhelmingly support progressive programs," wrote Anne Eisinger of Auburndale, Florida.
Recent polling and the success of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) "Fighting Oligarchy" tour—with appearances by other key progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)—this spring suggest that a sizable portion of the Democratic base is keen to see Democrats pushing back forcefully against Trump.
The petition urges the DNC to convene the emergency meeting as soon as possible and make it fully open to the public.
"The predatory, extreme, and dictatorial actions of the Trump administration call for an all-out commensurate response, which so far has been terribly lacking from the Democratic Party," the petition states. "It is time for the Democratic National Committee, as the organization tasked with responding to the concerns of Democrats, to heed the insights of progressive policy analysts and grassroots activists—and that should begin at this emergency meeting."
The text of the petition does not specify which insights the groups and petition signers would like the DNC to heed.
According to the petition, waiting until the DNC's next regular meeting in late summer would be "irresponsible."
In a Common Dreamsop-ed published Wednesday, RootsAction national director Norman Solomon highlighted anger directed at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) after he decided to support a Republican spending bill in March, and Democratic congressional leadership's poor performance in recent polling.
"Four months into his job as the DNC's chair, Ken Martin has yet to show that the DNC is truly operating in real time while the country faces an unprecedented threat to what's left of democracy. His power to call an emergency meeting of the full DNC remains unused," wrote Solomon.
Meanwhile, the DNC recently took steps to void the elections of multiple DNC vice chairs, including gun reform activist David Hogg, who rankled DNC members earlier this year when he announced his intention to support primary challenges to "asleep-at-the-wheel" Democrats in safe-blue seats.
Keep ReadingShow Less
How Bad Does It Have to Get Before the Democratic Party Declares an Emergency?
The extraordinary national crisis Trump has created is made even more severe by Democratic leaders, including top congressional lawmakers and DNC brass, who refuse to acknowledge its magnitude.
May 28, 2025
Midway through this month, Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries sent out a fundraising text saying that he “recently announced a 10-point plan to take on Trump and the Republicans.” But the plan was no more recent than early February, just two weeks after President Trump’s inauguration. It’s hardly reassuring that the House minority leader cited a 100-day-old memo as his strategy for countering the administration’s countless moves since then to dismantle entire government agencies, destroy life-saving programs and assault a wide range of civil liberties.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is so unpopular with the Democratic base that a speaking tour for his new book—abruptly “postponed” just before it was set to begin more than two months ago—still hasn’t been rescheduled. The eruption of anger at his support for Trump’s spending bill in mid-March made Schumer realize that being confronted by irate Democrats in deep-blue states wouldn’t make for good photo ops.
Last month, a Gallup poll measured public confidence in the Democratic congressional leadership at just 25 percent, a steep drop of nine points since 2023 and now at an all-time low. Much of the disaffection comes from habitual Democratic voters who see the party’s leaders as slow-moving and timid while the Trump administration continues with its rampage against democratic structures.
Away from the Capitol, the party’s governing body—the Democratic National Committee—is far from dynamic or nimble. Maintaining its twice-a-year timetable, the 448-member DNC isn’t scheduled to meet until late August.
In the meantime, the DNC’s executive committee is set to gather in Little Rock, Arkansas on Friday for its first meeting since December. That meeting is scheduled to last three hours.
The DNC’s bylaws say that the executive committee “shall be responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the Democratic Party in the interim between the meetings of the full (Democratic National) Committee.” But the pace of being “responsible” is unhurried to the point of political malpractice.
The extraordinary national crisis is made even more severe to the extent that top Democrats do not acknowledge its magnitude. Four months into his job as the DNC’s chair, Ken Martin has yet to show that the DNC is truly operating in real time while the country faces an unprecedented threat to what’s left of democracy. His power to call an emergency meeting of the full DNC remains unused.
This week, Martin received a petition co-sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America and RootsAction, urging the DNC to “convene an emergency meeting of all its members—fully open to the public—as soon as possible.” The petition adds that “the predatory, extreme and dictatorial actions of the Trump administration call for an all-out commensurate response, which so far has been terribly lacking from the Democratic Party.” Among the 7,000 signers were more than 1,500 people who wrote individual comments (often angrily) imploring the DNC to finally swing into suitable action.
As several dozen top DNC officials fly into Little Rock’s Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, they will bring with them the power to begin shifting the direction of the Democratic Party, but the chances of a positive course correction look meager. The DNC’s current executive committee is a bastion of the party establishment, unlikely to signal to grassroots Democrats and the general public that the party is no longer locked into automatic pilot.
The pattern is a sort of repetition compulsion, afflicting Democratic movers and shakers along with the party as an institution. While many journalists focus on the ages of congressional leaders, the lopsided power held by Democrats in their 70s and 80s is merely a marker for a deeper problem. Their approaches are rooted in the past and are now withering on the political vine.
Even with the rare meeting of the DNC’s executive committee just a couple of days away, the official Democratic Party website was still offering no information about it. The apparent preference is to keep us in the dark.
But anyone can sign up to watch livestream coverage from Progressive Hub, during a four-hour feed that will begin at 12:30 pm Eastern time on Friday. Along with excerpts from the executive committee meeting as it happens, the coverage will include analysis from my RootsAction colleagues Sam Rosenthal, who’ll be inside the meeting room in Little Rock, and former Democratic nominee for Buffalo mayor India Walton. The livestream will also feature an interview with Congressman Ro Khanna, who has endorsed the call for an emergency meeting of the full DNC.
Right now, the Democratic Party appears to be stuck between Little Rock and a hard place. The only real possibilities for major improvement will come from progressives who make demands and organize to back them up with grassroots power.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Fascism Getting Turned Up' as Trump FBI Arrests Wisconsin County Judge
"It's clear that actions like Judge Dugan's are what is required for democracy to survive the Trump regime," said one state lawmaker.
Apr 25, 2025
Federal agents arrested a sitting Wisconsin judge on Friday, accusing her of helping an undocumented immigrant evade arrest after he appeared in her courtroom last week, FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media.
In a since-deleted post, Patel said the FBI arrested 65-year-old Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan "on charges of obstruction."
"We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse... allowing the subject—an illegal alien—to evade arrest," Patel wrote. "Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot and he's been in custody since, but the judge's obstruction created increased danger to the public."
FBI arrests judge in escalation of Trump immigration enforcement effort Federal agents arrested Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on obstruction charges. Dugan is accused of “helping” an immigrant evade arrest. The fascism getting turned up!
[image or embed]
— RootsAction ( @rootsaction.org) April 25, 2025 at 8:05 AM
It is unclear why Patel deleted the post.U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron and multiple Milwaukee County judges confirmed Dugan's arrest, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. McCarron said Dugan is facing two federal felony counts: obstruction and concealing an individual.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi discussed the arrest during a Friday morning Fox News appearance in which she opined that judges like Dugan are "deranged" and believe they "are beyond and above the law."
The Journal Sentinel reported that Dugan "appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries during a brief hearing in a packed courtroom at the federal courthouse" and "made no public comments."
Dugan's attorney, Craig Mastantuono, told the court that "Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest," which "was not made in the interest of public safety."
The FBI had reportedly been investigating allegations that Dugan helped the undocumented man avoid arrest by letting him hide in her chambers.
Here's the magistrate-signed complaint in US v. Dugan. She's charged with two counts, 18 USC 1505 and 1701; it doesn't appear they used a grand jury.
[image or embed]
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social) April 25, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-19) said in a statement Wednesday that "several witnesses report that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] did not present a warrant before entering the courtroom and it is not clear whether ICE ever possessed or presented a judicial warrant, generally required for agents to access nonpublic spaces like Judge Dugan's chambers."
Clancy continued:
I commend Judge Hannah Dugan's defense of due process by preventing ICE from shamefully using her courtroom as an ad hoc holding area for deportations. We cannot have a functional legal system if people are justifiably afraid to show up for legal proceedings, especially when ICE agents have already repeatedly grabbed people off the street in retaliation for speech and free association, without even obtaining the proper warrants.
While the facts in this case are still unfolding, it's clear that actions like Judge Dugan's are what is required for democracy to survive the Trump regime. She used her position of power and privilege to protect someone from an agency that has repeatedly, flagrantly abused its own power. If enough of us act similarly, and strategically, we can stand with our neighbors and build a better world together.
Prominent Milwaukee defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Franklyn Gimbel called Dugan's arrest "very, very outrageous."
"First and foremost, I know—as a former federal prosecutor and as a defense lawyer for decades—that a person who is a judge, who has a residence who has no problem being found, should not be arrested, if you will, like some common criminal," Gimbel told the Journal Sentinel.
"And I'm shocked and surprised that the U.S. attorney's office or the FBI would not have invited her to show up and accept process if they're going to charge her with a crime," he added.
FBI has arrested Judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee, WI, for "helping an illegal escape arrest." FBI hasn't provided an arrest warrant or criminal complaint, but Judge Dugan already sits behind bars. We told you it would escalate when they disappeared immigrants without due process. This is fascism.
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. ( @qasimrashid.com) April 25, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Julius Kim, another former prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer, said on the social media site X that "practicing in Milwaukee, I know Judge Hannah Dugan well. She's a good judge, and this entire situation demonstrates how the Trump administration's policies are heading for a direct collision course with the judiciary."
"That being said, given the FBI director's tweet (since deleted), they are going to try to politicize this situation to the max," Kim added. "That sounds an awful lot like weaponizing the [Department of Justice], doesn't it?"
The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) was among the groups that condemned Dugan's arrest.
"This arrest is an escalation in the Trump administration's ongoing effort to dismantle the rule of law and consolidate power," NWLC director of nominations and democracy Alison Gill said in a statement. "These aggressive attacks on judges are dangerous."
"President [Donald] Trump has repeatedly shown contempt for the courts and our Constitution, refusing to accept their authority, defying court orders, and encouraging public criticism of due process," Gill added. "The FBI's apparent decision to make an example of Judge Dugan is part of a broader and deeply alarming agenda to silence dissent, incite fear, and erode the very institutions that protect our rights. The Trump administration's lawlessness is a threat to everyone in this country."
Responding to Dugan's arrest, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said on the social media site Bluesky: "The Trump [administration] has arrested a judge in Milwaukee. This is a red alert moment. We must all rise up against it."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular