Imagine showing up to a new job and announcing at orientation that you refuse to do any of the work. Not some of it – all of it. You haven’t met your colleagues, haven’t seen your desk, haven’t read a single memo. But you’ve already decided: hard pass on everything.
Illinois just elected that person to the United States Senate.
Juliana Stratton, the state’s lieutenant governor and Gov. JB Pritzker’s handpicked successor to retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, cruised to a 61-37 victory on Tuesday in deep-blue Illinois. Her campaign slogan? “F— Trump.” Not exactly the dignified rhetoric you’d expect from someone about to join the world’s greatest deliberative body. But then again, Pritzker’s $10 million investment wasn’t designed to produce a statesman – it was designed to produce a loyalist.
The quiet part out loud
Two days after her victory, Stratton sat down with CNN and said something that should stop every American who still believes the Senate has a purpose.
From CNN News Central:
I won’t vote for any of Donald Trump’s nominees, and I’ve made that very clear. Look at what this administration is doing, led by a President who is not concerned about what’s in the best interest of the American people. This is a time for Democrats to demonstrate to Americans all across the country that we are there to push back and fight back against this President’s authoritarian agenda.
When anchor John Berman pressed – “Period. Full stop. No matter what?” – Stratton didn’t flinch. No conditions. No exceptions. No interest in even reading a résumé.
The question, by the way, was about a potential new Defense Secretary nominee. National security. And Stratton expanded her refusal to cover every name the president might ever put forward – every cabinet pick, every judicial appointment, every ambassador. Sight unseen, rejected before the ink dries. Call me old-fashioned, but I thought senators were supposed to at least pretend they’d do the job before refusing to do it.
What “advise and consent” apparently means now
Article II gives the president the power to nominate. The Senate’s role is to advise and consent – to evaluate, question, and decide on the merits. It is not to pre-stamp “DENIED” on a blank page because you don’t like who’s sitting in the Oval Office.
But this tracks perfectly. Stratton’s platform includes abolishing ICE and imposing a $25 minimum wage. She isn’t coming to Washington to govern. She’s coming to perform.
This is what one-party rule produces
Here’s what gets me. Her Republican opponent, Don Tracy – a man who never had a real shot in Illinois – conceded graciously and urged Stratton “not to forget the people that voted on the other side.” One candidate acted like a public servant. The other is already acting like an activist with a taxpayer-funded salary.
I don’t expect Stratton to vote with the president. That’s politics, and honest disagreement is what the Senate was built for. But refusing to even consider his nominees before she’s unpacked her office? That’s not resistance. That’s dereliction.
The Senate was designed for deliberation. Illinois just sent someone who’s already decided she has nothing to deliberate.
Key Takeaways
- Incoming Sen. Stratton has pre-announced blanket rejection of all Trump nominees before taking office.
- Her refusal abandons the Senate’s constitutional advise-and-consent responsibility.
- A vulgar campaign slogan and billionaire backing reveal political theater over serious governance.
- Illinois voters deserve a senator who evaluates nominees – not one who refuses to try.
