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Two months into President Trump's second term, Democrats on Capitol Hill are still struggling over how to mount a more effective opposition. When it comes to some of their biggest worries, like questions about presidential power and the rule of law, House Democrats have put their trust in Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin. As the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Raskin is in the thick of many of these fights that are key to Trump's agenda. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has more.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin has seen plenty of political showdowns in his nearly decade-long career in Washington. But as the House Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, he's facing his biggest challenge yet in a fight against President Trump's Republican Party.
JAMIE RASKIN: Our job on the Democratic side - to try to challenge them to stand with us to uphold the rule of law at a very dangerous moment in American history.
GRISALES: It's an uphill battle. Raskin's party remains fragile, hoping to rebuild after last year's election losses. This as Trump is upending constitutional norms and congressional powers, with Republicans more united behind him than ever before.
JIM JORDAN: First is reconciliation and the fundamental design to improve our immigration system and secure our border. And then, of course, Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche, Kash Patel, work with them to get answers to some of the oversight concerns we had over the years.
GRISALES: That's House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan boasting about his committee's plans. And while Jordan and Raskin have cosponsored bipartisan legislation, the Ohio Republican knows his Democratic counterpart is up for a fight.
JORDAN: You appreciate a worthy opponent. I'm sure there's going to be some robust debate.
GRISALES: Raskin is a former constitutional law professor who draws accolades from both sides of the aisle. That includes retired North Carolina Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry.
PATRICK MCHENRY: He's a tough operator. He's somebody to watch closely as an effective warrior against the Trump administration.
GRISALES: McHenry has been in Raskin's position, trying to lead his party on a committee while in the minority. He describes the role as three things - important, limited and awkward.
MCHENRY: You spend most of your time trying to make a point the broader public will hear, and most of the time they don't hear.
GRISALES: And he compares it to sitting next to a bus driver.
MCHENRY: The bus driver's in control. You can help direct them in key moments, or you could be a crank and just yell at the bus driver.
GRISALES: Raskin is trying to do more than just yell. He's working to shape house Democrats' legal strategy against the expansion of presidential power, beginning with a legal brief in a case against Trump efforts to dismantle portions of the federal government. Democrats say it's the first filing of many. Raskin is also focused on counterprogramming. When Trump visited the Justice Department earlier this month, Raskin was outside sparring with the president's supporters and decrying moves to fire prosecutors.
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RASKIN: They're firing the best criminal prosecutors in Washington because they did their jobs.
GRISALES: So far, judiciary Democrats, like Vermont Congresswoman Becca Balint, says Raskin has made them more formidable.
BECCA BALINT: And we can have deep discussions about strategy and tactic, but also the law itself.
GRISALES: Raskin says he'll draw from his time as the House oversight panel's top Democrat, where he defended against efforts to impeach former President Joe Biden. He argues his party's fight must be informed by the success of past movements that have shaped the country.
RASKIN: They provide us a lot of hope. But we also have to maintain the memory of the struggles that they went through, and that should make us tough.
GRISALES: If they're successful, the fight could inject new momentum for a House Democratic caucus that, like the rest of the party, hopes to regain their political footing.
Claudia Grisales, NPR News, the Capitol.
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