100 Days of Reckoning | Can Democrats Recapture the Senate? | What We're Tracking
✍🏾 Morning Note
It’s almost inconceivable that we’re scarcely one hundred days into the deliberate chaos of the Trump Administration. In what seems more like a year, the air in Washington is thick with more than cherry blossoms. It’s heavy with uncertainty, betrayal, and the stinging realization that the warnings that were issued highlighting the consequences of a return to the White House by convicted felon, Donald Trump, weren’t loud enough—or perhaps, they just went unheeded by much of the electorate.
Trump 2.0 has unfolded like a fast-forwarded reel of grievances and retribution. Executive orders targeting diversity programs, gagging federal agencies, stripping environmental protections, and restructuring the federal contracting landscape have not only signaled an authoritarian pivot—they have declared open season on the progress that America has undergone over the last 60 years. And for African Americans, the message is chillingly familiar: if you’re not part of the plan, you are part of the purge.
Gone are the dog whistles, replaced by a blaring foghorn of racial resentment disguised as reform. The Administration’s assaults on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in both the public and private sectors have been relentless., A continued assault on Affirmative Action, voting access, and civil rights enforcement has been swift, strategic, and surgical.
African American businesses that once found footing through programs like 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, or Veteran-Owned Businesses are watching as those ladders are being kicked out from under them. Community programs built to close equity gaps are suddenly under “review.” And those in the halls of power who once whispered support have either gone silent or joined the applause.
But this shouldn’t be a eulogy—it’s a wake-up call. We’ve been here before. From Reconstruction to Reaganomics to the first Trump Administration, America has a long tradition of pulling the plug just as the lights are turned on for Black communities. Yet in each chapter, resistance took root. We organized. We strategized. We adapted. And we outlasted.
The next 100 days—and the 100 after that—will test our patience, our resilience, and our ability to unify across generations and causes. But the fire isn’t out. It’s being refueled—in classrooms, in boardrooms, on sidewalks, and Substacks like this one. This isn’t the end of the story. But it is a dangerous beginning.
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🧭 Power Moves
Coalition Sues Trump Admin Over Federal Workforce Restructuring
A sweeping leWhat Happens When the Truth Gets Too Close?gal challenge has been filed against the Trump administration by a coalition of labor unions, nonprofit advocacy groups, and local governments. The lawsuit, led by Democracy Forward, targets recent executive actions to dismantle, consolidate, and reduce federal agencies, arguing the moves are unconstitutional and lack legislative authority.
“We are witnessing a historic attack on the integrity of federal institutions — not through Congress, but through unchecked executive fiat,” the coalition wrote.
The lawsuit takes aim at workforce cuts across agencies like the EPA, HUD, and Department of Education, asserting that these reorganizations threaten access to housing, education, public health, and labor protections. It frames the issue as not only administrative overreach but a direct threat to public service infrastructure, especially for vulnerable communities.
📎 Read the full release at Democracy Forward
🗣️ Why it matters: This case could become a constitutional showdown over executive power — and sets the stage for a broader defense of civic infrastructure amid deep political realignment.
What Happens When the Truth Gets Too Close?
🗳️ The Ground Game
The Uphill Climb—Can Democrats Recapture the Senate?
After the bruising 2024 election cycle that resulted in the U.S. Senate remaining firmly in Republican hands, Democrats are looking to regroup and devise a resurrection that would once again place the party in control of the upper house. However, the road ahead is riddled with complications, many of which are both structural and self-inflicted.
The 2026 midterm elections potentially offer opportunities for Democrats, at least on paper. Unlike 2024, when they were forced to defend a brutal map that included states like Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, Democrats will now defend just 13 seats, while Republicans must hold onto 22. That discrepancy gives the Democratic Party a mathematical edge. But the numbers alone don't tell the full story.