Welcome to The Fill From the Hill, a recurring political column where two University Times writers dissect the key political topics and controversies in the news, from domestic politics to international affairs. This week, the writers tackle President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on March 4, 2025, and the Democratic response to his address.
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After 44 days in office, Donald Trump delivered a speech in front of a joint session of Congress. The speech was boisterous in tone and rife with the same lies he’s been peddling since before he even won the election.
Trump claimed to have “killed DEI” and that his administration was the fastest and most successful administration within its first month in American history. At one point during his speech — the longest address to a joint session of Congress in history at more than 90 minutes — Trump placed his administration above that of George Washington.
“It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency … is the most successful in the history of our nation by many,” Trump said. “And what makes it even more impressive is that — do you know who number two is? George Washington. How about that?”
Throughout his first term, Trump has given Elon Musk unrestricted access to the government, and alliances between America’s allies are becoming strained. Just a week prior, he and Vice President JD Vance got into a shouting match with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which sent the EU into shock. On top of all that, Trump has picked up his plans to place crippling tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
Trump proclaimed once again that “America is back,” which begs the question: were we ever really gone?
Now that the table is set, let’s get into our takeaways from the president’s joint session.
Samuel Valencia: There’s really no point in trying to dissect the president’s lies, given that he does it just about every hour of every day. My main issue with the address was how utterly spineless the Democrats were that night.
There was no coherent message, nothing that showed party unity, and absolutely nothing that ultimately showed their defiance in the face of the president. That is, except for Rep. Al Green of Texas, who was actually removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms for heckling the president saying “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” that was his reward for this act of defiance? A censure by the House, in which 10 Democrats also joined in voting for. Did they forget what party they were with? Or did they really think that Green merely making his voice heard was that bad?
The hypocrisy here is quite comedic when you remember that for the past four years, Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Bobert couldn’t contain their outbursts against President Biden. There was no pushback, no reprimanding, nothing. The vindictiveness of Republicans now that they have all the power knows no bounds.
Some members of Congress didn’t attend, some left early like Bernie Sanders, and some were seen holding up signs. Great job guys, you really showed him! The Democrats will swear up and down that every day they’re fighting for the American people, and yet they have shown time and time again they lack the courage to do what’s right. If this is what fighting for the American people looks like, I’d absolutely despise what it looks like for them to just lie there and take it.
Fighting back is abusing the filibuster in the Senate over and over again like Republicans have always done. Fighting back is showing the president that they won’t just roll over and let him steamroll our government to the point of ineffectiveness.
Green’s response to his censure, accepting yet unapologetic, is exactly how the Democrats should be handling this new administration. Prove to the voter base that you are actually trying, and maybe those dreams of taking back the House or Senate in 2026 will come true.
Queena Duong:
Throughout the 2024 election, we have seen how Democrats were saying Trump is destroying this country from inside out, but actions speak louder than words. While the Democrats are saying the kind of legislation they want to implement, the Republicans just do whatever they want while repeating empty slogans that are easy to remember like “Make America Great Again.” The nonprofit news outlet The Conversation mentioned how Republicans are more connected with their constituents. Even if the Democrats are doing something, the people will not know about it.
The Democrats had a choice to actually take action during the Address to Congress. But all I saw was a bunch of signs either saying false and other phrases. Yes, while Al Green did something, it was not enough political pressure as his fellow Democrats didn’t help at all.
The Democratic party is fractured. There are seemingly no politicians who are seen as potential torch-bearers, who can make it as a presidential candidate in the 2028 election. The Democrats had many years to prepare for this kind of scenario. If the Democrats want to get back the people’s trust, then they need to show the citizens the kind of work they will focus on and pass it in Congress. So if local and state Democrats can get their act together and make good actions for their constituents, people are most likely to vote for them. If Democrats have the kind of charisma that Trump has and use it to their advantage, their constituents will go for them. They need to show solutions, not words. The party has one year to earn the votes of the people in the 2026 midterms; whether or not they will put in the work remains to be seen.
