Brian Schatz, Hawaii’s senior U.S. Senator, has seized center stage in the national political debate by putting a blanket hold on all Trump administration nominees for positions in the Department of State.

In a press release, Schatz, the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, explained his action.

“Dismantling USAID is illegal and makes us less safe. USAID was created by federal law and is funded by Congress. Donald Trump and Elon Musk can’t just wish it away with a stroke of a pen – they need to pass a law,” said Senator Schatz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Until and unless this brazenly authoritarian action is reversed and USAID is functional again, I will be placing a blanket hold on all of the Trump administration’s State Department nominees. This is self-inflicted chaos of epic proportions that will have dangerous consequences all around the world.”

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Schatz’s move shows that Democrats are stepping up their efforts to block DOGE’s attempts to dissolve USAID-and it a signals a greater willingness to push back on the new president.

Democratic lawmakers Monday gathered at the agency’s Washington headquarters to protest the Trump administration’s proposed closure of USAID. Democratic senators said they have spoken with Republicans in recent days over what actions, if any, they might take to reverse the administration’s actions against USAID. For now, they say there is little they can do legislatively, especially because the organization’s existence already is delineated in federal statute.

Schatz said he expects the judicial system may at least temporarily stop DOGE’s attempts to close USAID. “You cannot wave a wand and eliminate a department established by federal law, so it will be reversed by a court,” Schatz said. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D., Md.) said he was in touch with the group Democracy Forward, a legal nonprofit organization, that would be willing to take up USAID’s cause. The best venue may be filing a lawsuit in Washington, D.C.’s federal court, he said.

On Monday, USAID personnel woke up to an email barring them from showing up for work. The agency’s personnel were instructed to work remotely except for officials with essential functions who have been directly contacted by senior leaders. The email indicates that employees will receive more instructions later.

Charles Pierce, writing in Esquire, described Schatz’s action as “what you do when there isn’t much you can do.”

Last week, Senator Schatz used a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the “Malign Influence of the People’s Republic of China at Home and Abroad: Recommendations for Policy Makers,” to call attention to the importance of U.S. leadership and global engagement in advancing American interests using the Philippines and Papua New Guinea as examples of the consequences of the Trump administration’s attempted cut-off of all foreign aid.

In response to a question about PNG, Dr. Melanie Hart, Senior Director of Global China Hub at Atlantic Council, said it was a gift to China.

“Basically we’ve given Beijing a blank check and kneecapped the United States and the entire global pro-democracy movement. If you want to talk about PNG and their need for medicine, there is very clear pattern that, during the COVID crisis, Beijing forced nations around the world… to carry out its political edicts in exchange for COVID vaccines. I have no doubt that Beijing is already showing up in capitals where the United States is pulling back and saying here is your HIV medicine and guess what: here’s the three things you need to do for me today to get it.”

Although Schatz’s move to stall nominations was widely reported in the national media, it got scant attention here in his home state. We really need to be paying more attention to the senator’s role in the pushback against the Trump administration.