You're listening to the political scene.

I'm David Remnick.

Early each week, we bring you a conversation from our episode of the New Yorker Radio Hour.

Democrats in Washington have seemed almost paralyzed by the onslaught of far-right-wing appointments

to the Trump cabinet and the wrecking ball that he's unleashed on his own government agencies.

The Democrats register their opposition, but they seem lost in any attempt to organize themselves

against the administration's fire hose.

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House,

offered a baseball analogy recently, saying they're waiting for the right pitch.

Last week on our program, Senator John Federman of Pennsylvania said this,

how many years can you jump on cable and yell and

scream that the world's on fire? In the states, though, Democratic governors seem much more

determined. They seem to have more leverage to oppose the federal government. Governor Tim Walts

tweeted this in January. President Trump just shut off funding for law enforcement, farmers, schools, veterans, and health care.

Minnesota needs answers.

We'll see Trump in court.

That's one of the many reasons that I wanted to speak with Tim Walts.

That, of course, and the election that brought Donald Trump back to the White House.

I hear all the time from non-Trump voters two reactions to what's going on in the last month.

One is, I don't want to watch the news.

I want to shut it all out.

Yeah.

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