Scoop: Jeffries' plan to dampen Trump's first big speech

• Trump is encountering early headwinds as some in his party bristle at DOGE's efforts to upend the federal government and at his recent comments on Ukraine.
• With a roughly one-seat margin in the House, he will have little room for error.

Driving the news: On a virtual caucus call on Wednesday, swing-district Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) asked for messaging guidance for the speech, according to three members who were on the call.

• Jeffries responded that members should bring guests to the speech who have been hurt by DOGE or will be hurt by the budget congressional Republicans are proposing, the lawmakers told Axios.
• The suggestion comes as Jeffries' messaging arm has been instructing members for weeks to hold events in their districts with constituents who have been directly affected by the administration's cuts.

Between the lines: It is common for lawmakers to bring guests to State of the Union addresses and other presidential speeches to Congress with a political or policy agenda in mind.

• Typically, however, the topics are disparate and driven by an individual member's pet issues.

• But Democrats are unusually unified around opposing DOGE and the GOP budget as their grassroots base pushes them to do everything within their power to push back.

Zoom out: Jeffries argued on the call that Trump's polling numbers and economic fundamentals are sagging, casting it as a reversal since his November election win, lawmakers told Axios.

• The Democratic leader told members to keep hammering the GOP in their districts ahead of Congress' return to session next week.
• House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) also told colleagues that House Democrats' litigation task force is tracking 75 lawsuits against the administration and that the "forces of democracy" are already winning a dozen cases.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with further details from the call.