How Trump’s ‘cabinet in waiting’ has lived up to its reputation

(FLORIDA) — Some Republicans are raising concerns ahead of a key special election in Florida on Tuesday in what appeared to be a safe U.S. House district for the party as Republican state Sen. Randy Fine vies for the chance to take the seat vacated by former Rep. Mike Waltz.

The special election in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, which is on the state’s eastern coast and includes the city of Daytona Beach, is being held on Tuesday, April 1, to fill the vacancy created by Waltz when he resigned to become President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

Some concerns have been raised with Fine’s own party over his fundraising and campaigning as he has lagged behind Democratic candidate Josh Weil, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Fine has raised or received about $987,000 from late November 2024 through mid-March, while Weil has raised or received over $9 million from Oct. 1, 2024, through mid-March. Fine also donated $600,000 to himself last week, according to other FEC filings.

(Weil’s campaign has spent over $8 million of its money, per the filings. Fine’s campaign also spent much of its money before his own donations last week.)

Another special election, in the state’s 1st District, will also occur on April 1 to fill the vacancy left by former Rep. Matt Gaetz when he resigned from Congress late last year.

While Republicans are favored to win both races, given that the districts were ruby-red in 2024, some have speculated that the margin between the Republican and Democratic candidates could be tighter than anticipated, given Trump’s voter disapproval ratings and Democrats’ success in some recent legislative district elections.

Those voicing concerns about the 6th District race include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who told reporters on Tuesday, “Regardless of the outcome in that, it’s going to be a way underperformance from when I won that district by in ’22 [as a candidate for governor] and what President Trump won in November.”

“They’re going to try to lay that at the feet of President Trump,” DeSantis added. “That is not a reflection of President Trump. It’s a reflection of the specific candidate running in that race. And President Trump, if he were on the ballot in this special election, he would win by 30 points, no question.”

DeSantis did say that he still expects a Republican candidate will be successful in the district. Still, DeSantis and Fine have clashed before, including when Fine switched his endorsement in the 2024 presidential primaries from DeSantis to Trump.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, said on Monday on his podcast show that “Trump won that district by 30 points in November. … We have a candidate that I don’t think is winning. That’s an issue.”

ABC News reached out to Fine’s campaign for comment about the Republican concerns.

Fine, on social media, has continued to express optimism, writing on X on Tuesday night, “As I sit in my [state] Senate office for the last time, I want to thank the voters who have elected me seven times to represent them in Tallahassee. It’s been a profound honor, and I can’t wait to do it again.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, has not invested in the race but indicated it is not worried about a loss.

“Randy Fine is going to be a member of Congress. Everything else is just noise,” Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the NRCC, told ABC News.

Fine, who was elected to the Florida state Senate in 2024, previously served as a state House representative and worked beforehand as a casino executive. In the state legislature, Fine promoted bills on school choice, immigration, combating antisemitism and other issues.

He also sponsored a high-profile measure in 2022 that would eliminate some special districts in Florida, including one that encompasses Walt Disney World, amid a fight between the Florida government and The Walt Disney Company. (ABC News is owned by The Walt Disney Company, which also owns Walt Disney World.) A settlement was reached in March 2024.

The Florida special elections could affect the balance of power in the House of Representatives. As of Wednesday, less than a week out to the special election, Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House, with 218 seats to Democrats’ 213 seats. (Four seats, including the two Florida seats, are vacant.)

Fine does have some momentum — for instance, he does have Trump’s strong endorsement.

Trump wrote in late March on his social media platform Truth Social, “A highly successful, Harvard educated businessman, and greatly respected State Legislator, Randy has been a tremendous Voice for MAGA.” The president also encouraged Republicans to vote early. The early voting period began on March 22.

Fine also has recent history pointing in favor of Republicans holding on to the district.

In the U.S. House general election in this district in 2024, Waltz received 67% of the vote, while Democratic candidate James Stockton received 33% of the vote. In this district in the presidential race, meanwhile, Trump received about 65% of the vote, while Vice President Kamala Harris received about 35% of the vote.

Both Democrats and Republicans have said special elections are not necessarily comparable to regular elections, given that voter turnout can be much lower during the special elections.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.

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(BETHLEHEM, PA) — At a “People’s Town Hall” on Thursday held by the Democratic National Committee, in a church located in a Pennsylvania district that Democrats lost to Republicans in 2024, party leaders fired up the crowd when slamming the White House and congressional Republicans over Medicaid, federal government cuts, and other issues.

Town halls are among the strategies that Democrats are using to try to get their base fired up against the Trump White House — but attendees there and at other events say they’re still looking for the Democratic Party to take on Republicans more directly.

DNC chair Ken Martin, speaking at the Bethlehem event, called President Donald Trump and key adviser Elon Musk “cowards,” riling up the crowd by framing the work of the duo in stark terms.

“There’s nothing moral about what these cowards are doing, and there’s nothing moral about what we saw today in Washington, D.C., as Donald Musk — Donald Trump and his president, President Musk, decided to do, signing that executive order eliminating the Department of Education, which is going to have a disproportionate impact on the disabled community and so many children throughout this country,” Martin told the crowd, amidst boos towards Trump and Musk.

And Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who received among the loudest applause of any of the panelists, took a starker tone: “Don’t let anybody tell you that we’re in a constitutional crisis,” Raskin said.

“Because that is too passive-sounding. That’s too ambiguous. This is an attack on the Constitution of the United States, and we’re going to defend the Constitution of the United States!”

Republicans face fierce pushback at in-person events

The Democratic Party claims that it’s holding these town halls as a way to hear directly from voters.

“The purpose of these town halls is not for us to spread our message, but us to hear from people throughout this country right now who are facing deep and serious impacts to their own lives, to their neighborhoods and communities, because of what this administration is doing,” Martin told ABC News on Thursday after the town hall.

But Martin and others, explicitly, are also emphasizing the idea that Democrats are showing up and hosting these events while Republicans are pulling back from hosting in-person events or facing fierce pushback from constituents when they do. Some of the loudest applause in the church on Thursday came when speakers criticized the district’s representative, Ryan Mackenzie — who in 2024 narrowly flipped the seat held by Democrat Susan Wild.

Arnaud Armstrong, a spokesman for Mackenzie, told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday that Mackenzie has answered questions at in-person events and would run a telephone town hall on Thursday night to allow for more people to speak with the congressman, including people with disabilities or seniors who might struggle to make it to an in-person event.

During that telephone town hall, Mackenzie said, “This is the best way that I have found to reach literally thousands of people at once and be able to have this kind of conversation.”

Disillusioned Democrats

The town halls come as Democratic voters show disillusion with their party.

A recent CNN/SSRS poll taken in early March found that 52% of Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents felt that the leadership of the Democrats is taking the party in the wrong direction, and that 57% felt that the party should mainly work to “stop the Republican agenda.”

While waiting in line outside to enter the town hall, some residents of Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region told ABC News that President Donald Trump’s actions struck close to home or worried them — but that they felt disillusioned with the broader Democratic response so far.

‘Very mixed feelings’ on Democrats’ response to Trump

Carole Ostfeld, a retired teacher from Allentown, Pennsylvania, came bearing a sign that said “Hands off Medicaid.” She and her husband David told ABC News that they came out to the town hall in order to protest Trump and Musk, including because of Trump’s actions with the Department of Education.

But asked how they feel about the Democratic response to the Trump administration, Carole Ostfeld said, “I’ve got very mixed feelings –“

Her husband added, “It needs to be more.”

Asked if Democrats’ messaging is resonating with them, Carole Ostfeld said it is — but, “as they say, you can’t fight city hall,” as Republicans are in power.

Another attendee, Ann Frechette of Easton, Pennsylvania, said the news about Trump signing an order to dismantle the Department of Education, which came that day, struck close to home. “I have a son in college who benefits from a Pell Grant,” she told ABC News. “And I’m afraid that that Pell Grant will disappear, that monies like that will disappear. He’s on Medicaid, I think he may lose his health insurance. There’s so many things.”

But the broader Democratic response was disillusioning her as well. While she praised some individual lawmakers, including Raskin, she added, “I think the Democrats in general, they don’t — I’m a Democrat, but my party doesn’t seem to get the message that was delivered last November. I would like people to stand up to what is being done.”

Firing up supporters

That said, the town hall itself was by many measures a success — or at least, the Democratic speakers were able to fire up their supporters.

All of the pews were filled, with some attendees standing on the back or the sides of the sanctuary; and the crowd gave thunderous standing ovations to the speakers multiple times – particularly when, for instance, Raskin spoke about taking on Trump or former Democratic Rep. Susan Wild criticized the incumbent representative.

People paid attention as audience members shared their own stories and questions, and then applauded them warmly, cheering on their peers in a clear show of support.

During a question and answer portion of the town hall, attendees raised concerns about the future of Medicaid, educational programs, and other issues.

Another attendee, Terri Neifert, told the crowd that she has lived in Bethlehem almost her entire life and became disabled after a fall at a grocery store, which changed the trajectory of her life. She said she managed to get her degree and to support her family through Medicare, food banks, and Social Security disability.

“If they cut Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps… I would lose everything,” Neifert told the crowd.

Neifert received a round of applause from the audience, and other attendees went up to her after the event wrapped to thank her for sharing her story.

Asked by ABC News after the town hall how she was feeling by then about the Democrats’ response to the Trump administration, Neifert — similar to other attendees — focused on the road ahead.

“It looks like it’s gonna be a fight, and an uphill battle… more public outcry, more marches, and Congress needs to pull up their big boy pants and start doing their job,” Neifert said.

Going on the road

Some Democrats or Democratic-aligned allies are taking a different tack than the town halls — and going on the road.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent who caucuses with Democrats, has been on the road for weeks with what he calls the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, making stops for rallies in both right- and left-leaning districts. The Democratic Party has shown support for his efforts, reposting social media posts from Sanders about the tour.

Out there on Sanders’ tour, some attendees said they’re disillusioned with the party’s response to Trump.

“They gotta be a little tougher,” one rally attendee told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl at the Denver event. Another was blunter: “Quit being a bunch of doormats.”

But — in a sign that the rallies may be a successful tactic for Democrats to reach their base — they’re attracting thousands of people. Sander’s Denver appearance, alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., brought in more than 30,000 attendees.

Sanders said it was the largest rally he’s ever hosted — bigger than the rallies on his two presidential runs.

Sanders himself has his own criticism for the Democratic Party, telling Karl in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” that the Democrats should have done more for working people when they had control of the Senate.

“And since then, do I think the Democrats have been effective in rallying the American people, in stopping Trump’s movement toward oligarchy and authoritarianism? No, I don’t,” Sanders told Karl.

Donna Brazile, a former DNC chair and an ABC News contributor, said on “This Week” after Sanders’ interview, said, “Bernie Sanders is filling a void, a major void left after, of course, the defeat of Kamala Harris last year by Donald Trump. This void has to be filled because there’s so much anger, anger not just in red districts, but also in blue districts.”

That void is one that Democrats hope to fill with these events.

Martin, asked by ABC News after the Bethlehem town hall if he thought the messages of the Democrats is going to resonate in Republican districts or with Democrats themselves, said that wasn’t really the point.

“It’s really not about the message resonating,” Martin said. “What this is about is listening to people. Hearing the concerns of Americans right now throughout this country, who deserve to be heard, right?”

Martin added later: “We’re going to fill a void for them, and we’re going to talk to more people throughout this country.”

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Isabella Murray, Jonathan Karl, Meghan Mistry and Quinn Scanlan contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — As courts block parts of his agenda, President Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up criticism of judges and continuing to question judicial oversight of the executive branch.

While he’s said he would abide by their rulings — but also appeal them — he kept up the effort to undermine the authority of the courts on Wednesday, alleging in a social media post that a “highly political, activist judge” wanted to stop the work of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk’s aggressive and controversial cost-cutting effort has faced several lawsuits, one resulting in his team being temporarily restricted from accessing the Treasury Department’s vast federal payment system containing sensitive information of millions of Americans.

The court action prompted swift rebuke from Musk and Trump’s team. Vice President JD Vance went so far as to suggest judges “aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

“Maybe we have to look at the judges because I think that’s a very serious violation,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon alongside Musk, who defended his team’s work.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt continued to blast the courts at Wednesday’s press briefing, claiming “each injunction is an abuse of the rule of law and an attempt to thwart the will of the people.”

“We will comply with the law in the courts, but we will also continue to seek every legal remedy to ultimately overturn these radical injunctions and ensure President Trump’s policies can be enacted,” she said.

The escalating clash between the new administration and the courts has some legal experts sounding the alarm, and is prompting fears of a potential constitutional crisis.

“The entire premise of our constitutional system of limited government of checks and balances and separation of powers involves deference to judicial determinations of what the law says and complying with it. This goes back to the beginning of the republic,” said David Schultz, a constitutional law professor at Hamline University.

Ray Brescia, a professor at Albany Law School, called the theory being pushed by Trump allies that the executive branch should operate free of judicial checks “preposterous.”

“They are velociraptors testing the fence. They’re looking for holes. They’re looking for weaknesses. They’re checking to see where they can push the envelope,” Brescia said of the Trump administration. “I think for now, the system has largely held but we’ll see as these cases get to the appellate courts, and ultimately, many of them are likely to go to the Supreme Court.”

Much of Trump and Musk’s attempt to overhaul the federal government is being met with lawsuits, including the dismantling of USAID and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as well as the buyout offer extended to tens of thousands of federal employees.

The key question is how Trump and his officials will respond as the court challenges progress.

In his first term, Trump amended his policies to comply with judicial rulings. One example was what Trump referred to as his “Muslim ban” restricting travel from several countries that have a majority Muslim population, which was rewritten several times before it passed muster with the Supreme Court.

“We thought that administration was so shocking and bending the rules on executive authority and so on, but it turns out to have been nothing compared to this one where it is seriously being discussed and contemplated whether or not the executive branch has a duty to follow the courts,” said Claire Finkelstein, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump directly on Tuesday: “If a judge does block one of your policies, part of your agenda, will you abide by that ruling? Will you comply?”

“Well, I always abide by the courts and then I’ll have to appeal it. But then what he’s done is he slowed down the momentum,” the president responded.

If that were to ever change, however, it would be uncharted territory in the modern political era with no obvious recourse.

Judges can push back if the administration refuses to comply but their power is limited, experts said. They could hold the administration in contempt, and either impose fines or in extreme cases direct the U.S. Marshals Service to take individuals into custody.

There are complications, though. The U.S. Marshals Service falls under the Justice Department, which is unlikely to go after Trump officials.

“Presidential refusal to comply with court orders undermines the very concept of constitutional order and limited government our country is supposed to respect and if Trump were to refuse to comply, then we have a constitutional problem,” said Schultz.

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