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Warning Schatz

A wide-ranging conversation with Senator Brian Schatz about Trump deploying troops to Los Angeles, the dangerous rhetoric of “invasion,” the trouble with the Big Beautiful Bill, and how to un-DOGE America.

Brian Schatz
Schatz has elevated his reputation on the Hill as one of few members of the minority to get creative, not just rhetorical, in opposing Trump, including by placing holds on administration nominees to protest the administration’s “lawlessness.” Photo: Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
June 12, 2025

At the tender age of 52, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz represents a generational shift in the Democratic Party, even if he still needs to wait his turn for top leadership—or at least until 2026, when Sen. Dick Durbin retires and Schatz will finally get his shot at becoming the Democratic whip. Until then, he’s positioned himself as a critical voice in the caucus, even as Democrats, by Schatz’s own admission, are aimless.