Laying out his plans to fight what he called a “power grab,” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Wednesday he will not vote for any nominee proposed by the Trump administration during what he defined as a “constitutional crisis.”

That strategy — the refusal to move any nominee forward — is what Murphy posted on the social media site X as a “starting point” for “real opposition.” 

“Democrats need to act like our democracy is weeks away from disintegrating — because it is,” he said on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

Murphy laid out his opposition plans during a Wednesday morning appearance on MSNBC. 

“We should not be moving forward nominees or legislation in the United States. Senate Democrats should not be giving votes to nominees or to legislation in the United States Senate until Republicans get serious about this crisis,” Murphy said. “Democrats should not help Republicans raise the debt ceiling in order to pass their massive tax cut for billionaires and millionaires.”

Billionaire Elon Musk, presumably at the behest of President Donald Trump, took control this week of U.S. Treasury data and began dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, which Murphy and other Democrats said was illegal in a letter to newly named U.S. Attorney General Marco Rubio. 

On Wednesday's television appearance, Murphy called Musk’s actions a “billionaire power grab.”

“I think Elon Musk is trying to steal our money, is trying to steal our data,” he said on MSNBC. “I think Elon Musk is shutting down the USAID because he wants to do deals with China and make more money.”

Senate Democrats, Murphy said, should act like “a true opposition party,” by “using our tools to make life difficult for complicit Republicans.”

The next step, Murphy said, is to lead “public engagement.” Murphy led a rally Monday outside USAID’s Washington headquarters 

“USAID chases China all around the world, making sure that China doesn't monopolize contracts for critical minerals and port infrastructure all around the world. It supports freedom fighters everywhere in this world, up until yesterday, delivering firewood, for instance, to the brave Ukrainian defenders on the Eastern Front,” Murphy told the crowd at the rally. “This is all a smoke screen, a shell game in order to turn this government over to a handful of unelected billionaires and corporate interests.”

Murphy was later asked on MSNBC his thoughts on Trump’s proposal this week to “take over Gaza.” Murphy said it would never actually happen. 

“The impact is to try to distract Americans from the real story,” he said. “We're not going to invade and occupy Gaza. We're not going to invade Greenland. We're not taking back the Panama Canal, but Donald Trump is really good at this campaign of distraction.”