"They hate us": Democrats confront their own Tea Party

• "Any Democratic incumbent who thinks they can rest on their laurels and not show their constituents that they are fighting like hell is making a mistake," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).
• A senior House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to offer an even blunter assessment, told Axios: "The people that have been voting ... with Republicans on these messaging bills are people that could get primaried."
• "These groups are paying attention to that," the lawmaker said.

State of play: Democratic town halls across the country have been erupting into fury over Senate Democrats' decision to let a Republican spending bill pass rather than use it as leverage to constrain DOGE.

• Several House Democrats, pressed on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) folding in the government spending fight, have responded that the Senate leader should step down.
• Rep. Sean Casten's (D-Ill.) town hall was repeatedly rocked by disruptions and was shut down by police after 45 minutes due to outbursts from pro-Palestinian protesters.

What we're hearing: The senior House Democrat told Axios that a colleague called them after a town hall crying and said: "They hate us. They hate us."

• "Among the things I got [at a town hall] were: 'Will you call for Chuck Schumer to resign?'" the lawmaker said. "Last week I got: 'You need to tell your leadership they had no right rebuking Democrats for being strong at'" Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress.
• "Another thing I got was: 'Democrats are too nice. Nice and civility doesn't work. Are you prepared for violence?'"

What they're saying: "The level of exasperation is comparable [to the Tea Party] for sure, even if the issues and policies are very different," said Huffman.

• To Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), who has faced the same left-wing primary challenger for three election cycles in a row, this crack-up has been a long time coming: "The base has been pissed off for a while."
• "I've been dealing with it for a long time ... since 2020 at least. But most members didn't feel it because they weren't in top-two elections," Gomez said. Still, he acknowledged, it "seems to be more widespread" now.
• Said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.): "My constituents have passionately said they are not happy with Democratic leadership. ... They expect more from me and from Democrats in Congress."

By the numbers: For the first time since at least the aftermath of the 2008 election, Democratic voters have a net-negative approval rating of their party in Congress, according to an analysis of polling data from Politico.

• A Quinnipiac poll found that just 40% of Democrats approve of the job congressional Democrats are doing, down from 75% a year earlier.
• That closely mirrors the numbers Republicans faced in some of their most turbulent moments: The emergence of the Tea Party in 2010, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) 2014 primary loss and the rise of now-President Trump in 2016.

Yes, but: Other Democrats say the anger they have encountered has been directed more toward Trump and Elon Musk than Democrats.

• "If near unanimity against the Republican CR is not definitive evidence of a party unified in opposition to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, then I am not sure what would be," said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.).
• Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) told Axios that "no one expressed displeasure with Democrats" during his last two-hour town hall. People are "back to focusing on Musk and Trump," he said.
• Republicans have, some lawmakers noted, faced more than their fair share of angry town hall audiences in recent months.

The bottom line: "All I know is that most folks are pissed, and scared, and they hate this chaos and the blatant corruption of Trump and Musk," said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio).

• "Democrats absolutely want leaders who are going to fight back and fix what's broken."