As Democrats cast about for a strategy to thwart President Donald Trump’s agenda, rebrand their party and take back power, Sen. Elissa Slotkin recently offered one intriguing idea: Build a shadow Cabinet.

The shadow Cabinet, as envisioned by the Michigan Democrat in an interview with POLITICO, could be composed of the ranking members of congressional committees who could then take the lead in challenging the Trump administration. It’s a common feature of opposition politics abroad and could be a way for Democrats to flood the media zone and deliver a coordinated response to Trump’s most wild maneuvers. But … ranking members?

Nor are the thirsty crop of presidential wannabes right for a shadow Cabinet. Everything they say would be parsed for self-serving motivation, distracting from the party’s broader task at hand.

So how best to assemble a shadow Cabinet? Tap accomplished people with the ability to speak plainly and the credibility to puncture the Trump administration’s often Orwellian narratives. Don’t limit members to professional politicians. Pitch a big tent. Don’t draw rigid ideological lines.

What would such a shadow Cabinet look like? If you gave me the power to appoint, here are my fighters:

 

Samantha PowerSHADOW SECRETARY OF STATE 

Samantha Power has long been a powerful voice in American foreign policy, whether she was serving as Barack Obama’s Ambassador to the United Nations or as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development under Joe Biden.

She’s often spoken persuasively about the wide range of humanitarian assistance USAID has provided to vulnerable people around the world. Of course, I have to say “provided” and not “provides” because the Trump administration has effectively shuttered the agency and fired all of its employees.

As the last person to win Senate confirmation to lead USAID, Power knows more than anyone how Trump’s extraordinary foreign policy shifts will harm both lives and America’s long-term interests.

Democrats need not shy away from defending foreign aid. While some Democratic strategists at the beginning of Trump’s second term cautioned that sending money overseas was too unpopular to merit fighting for, polling since the decimation of USAID has buttressed the opposite argument. According to the Pew Research Center, 83 percent of Americans support “providing medicine and medical supplies” and 78 percent support “providing food and clothing” to people in developing countries. Only 35 percent support ending most USAID programs.

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Letitia James SHADOW ATTORNEY GENERAL

Perhaps the most effective Democrats in the country right now are the 22 Democratic state attorneys general tying up Trump’s executive orders in the courts. But only one can say she won a civil fraud case against the Trump family business with a $450 million judgement, and that’s New York’s Letitia James.

 

That makes James uniquely qualified to argue that Trump is abusing the office of the president to enrich himself while destabilizing the global economy for everyone else.

James hasn’t stopped tangling with Trump in court. Joining several of her peers, she has filed suit charging that the White House does not have the legal authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, dismantle the Health and Human Services Department or claw back public health funds to state governments. She also is exploring possible insider trading charges.

The Trump administration has responded in seeming retaliatory fashion, opening up a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into James for suspicion of mortgage fraud. While most presidents would not comment on active investigations, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that James is “a horrible, horrible human being, and I think she’s a total crook.” Unbowed, James touted her nearly two dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration and dismissed the investigation into her as “nothing more than retribution.”

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/27/democrats-shadow-cabinet-brand-00353690

 

FROM THESE TAINTED CHARACTERS ONWARDS, IT'S FURTHER DOWN HILL....

 

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsAVZm90IpU

 

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