usernamesAreTricky

If they don't testify, they can put people in contempt of congress which can be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms.

The Sergeant at Arms as I wrote. They are part of congress. They are not part of the executive branch

Under this process, the procedure for holding a person in contempt involves only the chamber concerned. Following a contempt citation, the person cited is arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House or Senate, brought to the floor of the chamber, held to answer charges by the presiding officer, and then subjected to punishment as the chamber may dictate (usually imprisonment for punishment, imprisonment for coercion, or release from the contempt citation).[18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_Congress

The sergeant at arms of the United States House of Representatives is an officer of the House with law enforcement, protocol, and administrative responsibilities. The sergeant at arms is elected at the beginning of each Congress by the membership of the House.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_at_Arms_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives

even if in a hypothetical that it was just blue states that held elections, that would be enough to potentially flip the house. California and New York have enough potential and realistic house flips to change the US from red to blue

Because they do have power if they're willing to use it. It can slow them down. For instance,

They have subpoenas. Make republicans have to spend all their time talking about all the horrible things they're doing to the floor. Remove all their time to do said horrible things because they're too busy testifying

If they don't testify, they can put people in contempt of congress which can be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms. This is something that did happen to Steve Bannon when he refuesed to testify for the Jan 6th committee. Not just a hypothetical power

Elections are run by the states including for federal office. They are not run by the federal government

Nor are there is no provision anywhere to cancel elections due to war. They still happened during the US Civil war

Hell even if in a hypothetical that it was just blue states that held elections, that would be enough to potentially flip the house. California and New York have enough potential and realistic house flips to change the US from red to blue

Declaring that they won't happen just plays into Trump's hands. It makes people more cynical and less inclined to fight back

Protests flow in waves. After Trump was removed from office in 2020, it lost a lot of energy. The protests in his first term did successfully getting voted out of office and limited the damage. Now it's growing again after a period of stagnation

Look at the AFD protests and you'll see they too also died down and then started growing again

I think you mistake what I am saying. I am not saying their shouldn't be larger numbers. I am telling you why it has been difficult to get those back again. But the movement is starting to grow again. Comparisons to the crescendos of other movements isn't helpful to understand what it takes to make that happen

Yes, it's not new which is also why protestors are burnt out. There were millions protesting across the US during his first term and that movement did work - it lead to him getting voted out in 2020 and limited his damage to be less than it was this time around

But five year have now passed between him getting voted out of office and so the movement against him lost energy. It has to be re-build essentially. Now people are much more cynical after he was re-elected. The 1st time people were absolutely pissed about him getting elected. No one like him had in their lifetimes. But now, it's no longer "how could this happen?", but "this is happening again". That's a much harder starting point for a movement - one with less hope

Plus, the US media environment is actively worse - making the news about pushback harder to find. The protest aren't covered anything close to as much as they were in 2017. The US media is now much more concentrated in billionaire control than it was in 2017. Since then Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and made changes, CNN's new billionaire owner John Malone has shifted coverage, Elon Musk bought twitter, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the LA Times and blocked endorsements of Harris, and so on

There has been plenty more resistance that aren't just protests right now too. For instance, in the courts with more success in getting him to stop things than you otherwise might think. Yes, he has been somewhat ignoring the courts, but mostly following them and they are blocking a lot. Hundreds of lawsuits are ongoing, many of which were filed on day 1 of his 2nd term. Here's one tracker

There has also been more resistance from state and local governments too - at least ones where Democrats have control. States and cities have a fair amount of power in the US. For instance, many have been blocking collaboration with ICE using local police and such (which slows the federal government down a lot)

I think you misunderstand what I am saying. Once a movement has grown it can organize things more quickly, but you're looking at things at way too short of a time scale here.

I assume you are referring to the recent protests in Germany based on your description. There were already growing protests of the AFD in Germany well before the CDU/CSU's actions. That large protest wasn't the first at all. There were protests growing earlier in 2025 and even some smaller ones going back to Jan 2024

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%932025_German_anti-extremism_protests

The fact that things are declining at such speed in a weird way makes getting protests spread harder. It's a lot easier to unify around a single bad thing than five thousand things. Nothing feels shocking in that environment. Keep in mind that Trump's strategy is to flood the zone with so many bad things it's hard for anything to break through the noise. It's designed to make people so numb they don't think they can do anything. It takes time to remind people they can

Especially with the online social media environment in the US repeatedly telling Americans that no one is fighting back. Comments like "we're cooked", "why is no one doing anything", "where are the people protesting", etc. have more of a negative impact than you would think

Protest movements take time to grow. Especially when most within the US don't have any idea they're going on. Because the media coverage of protests is limited (though not zero, yes)

I know Indivisible is trying to get a larger DC specific group together on April 5th if you're looking for larger in one place. Though there will also be protests in all 50 states that day too

People are protesting locally in tons city not just every state capitol. It's helped get local news coverage when national news orgs have limited converage. It helps the average person be more likely to run into them and learn about it as well

There are people protesting, you're just not seeing it because the media is suppressing coverage of it

Here's a protest yesterday in DC

Here's another for Ukraine aid the other day in DC

I also think you underestimate how big the US is. 2-3 hours would be if you're close by DC. People on the other side of the country in California, Washington State, Oregon, etc. are 5 hour plane rides away or 40+ hours of driving

They are being suppressed in media coverage, but there are people protesting. Media coverage paints a false picture that no one in the US is fighting back

Here's one from today with 1000 people in Boise, Idaho

Here's a super incomplete timeline with just a handful of the nationwide protests. I'm missing a lot, I'm just showing your the photos I had from recent memory

8 days ago there were national protest for science funding cuts. Here's the main one in DC

11 days ago there were nationwide protests in all 50 US state capitols + DC + Many cities within those states. This was part of the 50501 movement

Portland, Oregon

Monroe, Wisconsin

San Fransisco, California

Albany, New York

Raleigh, North Carolina

Richmond, Virginia

Austin, Texas

Protests Outside Fox News in New York City

16 days ago there were large protest in the Iowa Statehouse

19 days ago, a protest in Cherry Hill, New Jersy outside Tesla Showroom as part of a nationwide movement protesting Telsas. There have been tons more than just this one and these happen basically every day

21 days ago, large protests in DC for Ukraine aid

And so on. There's a lot more going on than just this

Keep boycotting, and join protests outside Tesla showrooms. ~60% of Musk's wealth is in Tesla shares. Tank the stock and tank his wealth and thus influence

There are protests all across the US and starting to spring up in other countries. Here's a list of upcoming ones + a guide to help organize one around you if none exist

https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/teslatakedown

There being cracks is a motivation to act. It's a point to apply pressure, not a reason to stop

Things don't get better by magic, no, they get better when we stand up