WHAT DSA WANTS. With recent victories in New York, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., there’s no doubt that leaders of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America are riding high. The DSA’s prominence has raised some basic questions, like: Are they communists? A good case can be made that they are. But put that aside for a moment and ask a simpler question: What do they want?
They want to destroy the government of the United States as it was created in the Constitution. They want to destroy the U.S. capitalist economy, the most powerful in the world. And they want to destroy the way millions of Americans live their lives. The DSA’s astonishingly destructive goals are laid out clearly in the organization’s just-released 2026 national platform.
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The document starts by describing a DSA “future without capitalism.” What would life be like for a person of working age in DSA world? “You enjoy your work; it’s interesting to you, and you’re well trained for it,” the platform says. “You work as much as you are able and no more than needed, and you would control your own labor and see it going to good use. It’s not just a job to pay the bills.”
“You have no debt,” the platform continues. “You don’t need health insurance. You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a human right. Your retirement is publicly funded. Food, education, energy, medicine, and transportation aren’t for-profit businesses; they are common goods and utilities.”
This wonderful new world will be within reach if Americans put DSA in charge, the document says. “If we lived in a classless society and governed ourselves, we could freely build a world without war or poverty,” the platform says. “We could build a world where no one suffers for their race, gender, or religion, and everyone is free, equal, and cared for. Building this world is the guiding star of our movement.”
What, specifically, would DSA do if it were to hold the reins of power? Start with the structure of the U.S. government. The DSA would “replace the two-party system with a multi-party democracy.” It would then “expand the House of Representatives,” based on proportional representation and ranked choice voting. It would then “abolish the Senate.”
Yes, the Senate would go out the window. To hear DSA officials tell it, it’s just a bunch of rich guys nobody needs.
The DSA would also abolish the other two branches of government. The platform pledges to “replace the president and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.” But Congress, of course, without the Senate, is now a unicameral super legislature that used to be the House of Representatives. If you liked three branches of government and checks and balances among them — you’re out of luck. (By the way, in DSA world, everyone can vote — no citizenship required.)
In addition, the new DSA government would abolish the Pentagon and the Department of War and “close overseas military bases.” The platform says little about any foreign policy or national security agenda. It makes no mention of China, Russia, Iran, or any other U.S. adversary or ally. Its only specific commitments come during its discussion of the most important non-country in the DSA’s world, which is of course Palestine.
“Recognize the rights of the Palestinian people,” the platform says, “including the right of return, the right to resist military occupation, and the right to self determination in a free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute U.S. and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza.”
Back home, as far as public safety is concerned, the DSA would “demilitarize police departments, disempower police unions, and redirect funding to public services as steps toward fully abolishing the police and prison system which protects the rich and jails the poor.” As for immigration, the DSA would “legalize migration” and “grant amnesty for all immigrants regardless of status.”
Meanwhile, the “people” would enjoy a “federal jobs guarantee.” Acting through the super legislature, they would “establish public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries to ensure democratic control and accountability to the people.” And of course the DSA leadership would pursue the “rich,” however it defines that word: “Enact aggressive wealth taxes on the richest individuals and corporations to spend on public goods and infrastructure.”
But wait, there’s more! “Socialist feminism fights for queer liberation and the freedoms of all working class women,” the platform says. “Stop gender violence and end policies that oppress bodily autonomy and intimate life, including patriarchal restrictions on abortion, childbirth and child raising, gender expression and transition, marriage, and divorce.”
That’s not everything, but it gives you a pretty good idea of the U.S. that the DSA envisions. The platform, DSA authors say, was “born of our comradeship and commitment to our movement.” It closes with a simple exhortation: “Solidarity!”
The DSA is the political home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the newest kingmaker in Democratic politics. It is the political home of Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who won primaries in New York City, defeating longtime incumbent Democrats. It is the political home of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the star of the House Democratic conference, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a member of the so-called Squad of far-left Democrats. It is the political home of Melat Kiros, who defeated a longtime House incumbent in Colorado, and of Janeese Lewis George, who is very likely to be the next mayor of Washington, D.C.
“They’re not a fringe group anymore,” Ruy Teixeira, the centrist Democratic analyst, told the Washington Examiner. “Their influence is far more than people would have guessed it would be just several years ago.”
So what are Republicans going to do about it? First, defeat it wherever possible. But far beyond New York and Colorado and Washington, D.C., the GOP should press Democrats of all varieties on the DSA platform. Do they approve of doing away with critical branches of our government? How about a takeover of the U.S. economy? No national defense? No police? Unlimited immigration? Will Democrats denounce the threat that is growing within their party?
