As Democrats struggle to respond to ‘King Trump,’ a British idea might help | Opinion
The day after Donald Trump won his return to the White House, then-North Carolina Congressman Wiley Nickel began calling for a shadow cabinet, a group of Democrats who would mirror the positions represented in President Trump’s Cabinet.
Shadow cabinets are common in Great Britain, Canada and Australia,where representatives from the out-of-power party focus their party’s response to government actions. Nickel, a Democrat from Cary who did not seek reelection, floated the idea of a U.S. shadow cabinet in a Washington Post op-ed on Nov. 11. It received mild interest and some media play and then seemed to fade away.
Now, as Democrats are getting crushed by Trump’s blitzkrieg of executive orders and stunning social media posts, their party clearly needs the unified, pointed and effective response that a shadow cabinet could provide.
“Our response has been disorganized; no one knows who to go to,” Nickel told me. ”All we’re doing is being reactive instead of proactive in holding the Trump administration accountable. We’ve got to get much, much tougher as Democrats.”
The idea is gaining traction in liberal circles.
Yale professor and historian Timothy Snyder called for a shadow cabinet in his influential “Thinking About” newsletter. “Members of a shadow cabinet would be there to comment on all the Trump outrages,” he wrote, “not just with expressions of outrage or hasty warnings, but with specific knowledge and plausible alternatives.”
Another popular newsletter, “Today’s Edition,” by California attorney Robert Hubbell, seconded Snyder’s call. “We have been flat-footed too long,” Hubbell wrote. “We are not sheep. Get louder. Take action. Create a shadow cabinet!”
Nickel’s version of a shadow cabinet would consist of 26 Democratic members of Congress named by congressional leaders.
Nickel, who plans to run for U.S. Senate in 2026 if former Gov. Roy Cooper does not, said a shadow cabinet “isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s one of the things that we could do — and should do — that would allow us to tell the American people where we stand and why we’re opposed to each of the 20 to 30 things that happen every day in Washington.”
In discussions with those who have served in shadow cabinets elsewhere, Nickel said he learned of another strong feature of the arrangement – “It’s a bonanza for leaks.”
“If you’re in one of these agencies and something is happening that’s really bad, you don’t really know who to go to right now,” he said. “They’ve fired the inspector generals.”
There might be a particularly strong desire to blow the whistle after Trump’s clumsy and cruel firing of thousands of federal workers. A shadow cabinet should include a hotline.
A change in how Democrats respond is needed not only because of Trump’s orders and policies, but also because of Trump’s overwhelming style of communication, Nickel said.
Nickel has grudging admiration for Trump’s showmanship. The White House recently circulated a fictional magazine cover featuring Trump wearing a crown and Trump signed off a social media post with “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
“He dominates the news cycle every single day. I think that is his only goal. It’s just, ‘How can I be 100 percent the center of attention and drown out all of my opponents?’ We should take some lessons from that. I hate the message, but he got it out there.”
Maybe assembling a chorus of Democratic speakers who are well-versed and eager to respond and advocate could counter Trump’s domination of the public stage.
“We’re building more and more support for this, but change is tough in Washington,” Nickel said. “I hope we don’t have to keep getting punched in the face over and over before we start realizing we can’t do the same thing if we want a different result.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 8:06 AM with the headline "As Democrats struggle to respond to ‘King Trump,’ a British idea might help | Opinion."