Schumer: Democrats will hold Trump accountable

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is laying out a path forward for Democrats in the Trump era, pledging they will hold the new Trump administration “accountable.”

“We shall fulfill our solemn Constitutional duty to hold the other branches of our government accountable,” Schumer said as part of a weekly Democratic address. “It is not our job to be a rubber stamp. It is our job to do what’s best for the American people.”

He added that “Democrats will make this year’s Congress an “Accountability Congress.”

{mosads}Schumer’s comments come a day after he was booed while he spoke at President Trump’s inauguration, urging equal protection for all Americans despite “challenging and tumultuous times.”

The Senate’s top Democrat reiterated Saturday that Democrats will be focused on “economic justice” and willing to work with Trump on issues like infrastructure and tax reform.

But, he said, they are also prepared to fight him “tooth and nail” on issues like repealing the Affordable Care Act.

“Democrats will fight them with every fiber of our being — as we’re doing right now,” he said. “And what we will always do is hold the President accountable.”

Democrat have been locked in a weeks-long battle over Trump’s Cabinet selections, using hours-long confirmation hearings to grill the nominees.

Schumer pointed to Trump’s Cabinet as an early example that the president is breaking his promise to “drain the swamp.”

“His cabinet is stacked with billionaires, corporate executives, titans of Wall Street, and those deeply embedded in Washington’s corridors of power,” he said. “We are already working to hold him accountable for that.”