This shouldn't be a hot take: Democrats must fight back.

Now more than ever is the time for Democrats to get loud, to be persuasive, to offer new ideas, and to lead.

Donald Trump and his administration are taking a wrecking ball to bedrock programs, like funding for lifesaving medical research and clean air. And up next on the chopping block will be healthcare.

That’s why I was surprised to read that a pundit suggested Democrats should take a “tactical pause” from fighting Trump and his congressional cronies:

Let the Republicans disagree with themselves publicly. Do not offer a single vote. Do not insert yourself into the discourse. Do not throw a monkey wrench into the equation. Simply step away and let ’em flirt with a default. Just when they’ve pushed themselves to the brink and it appears they could collapse the global economy, come in and save the day.

Let the Republicans push for their tax cuts, their Medicaid cuts, their food stamp cuts. Give them all the rope they need. Then let dysfunction paralyze their House caucus and rupture their tiny majority. Let them reveal themselves as incapable of governing and, at the right moment, start making a coordinated, consistent argument about the need to protect Medicare, Medicaid, worker benefits and middle-class pocketbooks. Let the Republicans crumble, let the American people see it, and wait until they need us to offer our support.

This theory assumes that Republicans will fail to pass any meaningful legislation.

But that assumption doesn’t account for what we’ve seen, especially in Trump’s second administration. Time and time again, Republicans have fallen in line with Trump. Just yesterday, the razor thin House majority passed a budget that will require cuts to Medicaid.

Now more than ever is the time for Democrats to get loud, to be persuasive, to offer new ideas, and to lead. Democrats in Congress have little formal power to legislate right now, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for inaction. At every level of government, Democrats need to fully engage. And our message is clear: “Trump’s policies will hurt you and we will fight like hell to stop it.”

I’ve long championed the need for Democrats to have a stronger message on the economy and to engage Americans all year-round and in every setting. It’s unwise to sit it out until election season, and it’s unacceptable to sit back until Republicans harm us.

Being a Democratic leader means being willing and able to explain why cutting Medicaid would devastate our hospitals and clinics, and how it’ll lead to worse health care for every single one of us.

Leaders should be able to explain why tariffs will drive up prices for all of us as consumers. Anyone running for office should support keeping America safe, and be able to connect that to investments in humanitarian foreign aid to stop wars.

Millions of Americans voted for Democrats in November. They voted for a party that will fight to uphold democracy and lower costs. We can’t just take a break and tell people to wait until chaos erupts.

We cannot wait, as this pundit suggested, “until people need us to offer support” because for so many Americans, like federal workers, LGBTQ+ people, and small businesses, the pain is already being felt.

Politics is NOT a game. Our politics and government affect the lives of real people. And voters see right through politicians who treat winning and losing elections like a game of golf.

With a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit, we can and must fight back against Trump and his MAGA enablers.

Katie Porter