AMID rampant corporate greed, rising inequality, and the erosion of democratic rights, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) continues to uphold its century-long mission of fighting for the working class. 

With its recently launched rapid response project, the party is mobilising members and allies, as part of the broader resistance movement, to confront the Trump administration and its billionaire backers.

“We’re in for a period of intense class and democratic struggle,” Joe Sims, co-chair of the CPUSA, said. “It’s going to be heavy. We can expect that the GOP is going to use all of the means at their disposal, including threats, intimidation, and fear, to accomplish their goals.”

The rapid response project traces its origins to the post-election period, initially launched as the “Sixty-Day Campaign.” This effort aimed to maximise pressure on Congress during the critical window before the presidential inauguration. 

Inspired by the widespread mobilisation tactics adopted by hundreds of organisations, the party’s initiative helped amplify grassroots pressure while complementing on-the-ground organising efforts in the face of a rising fascist threat.

In the period between the election and Trump’s inauguration, the CPUSA mobilised against the Stop Terrorism Financing Act, a draconian Bill that would have granted the Treasury Department unchecked power to accuse any nonprofit of supporting “terrorism” and dismantle it. 

The project also rallied forces behind Senator Bernie Sanders’ joint resolutions to block arms sales to Israel and demanded Congress confirm 47 pending judicial appointments before Trump could further stack the courts with far-right judges.

Additionally, the project pushed for the passage of the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, legislation which aimed at protecting immigrant communities from mass detention and deportation — policies that harm all working people. 

The act would have repealed the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 [adopted on the eve of a quasi-war with France 1798-1800, it tightened restrictions on foreign-born Americans, limited speech critical of the government and permitted imprisonment and deportation], a law that could be weaponised to deport millions of immigrants.

The party also advocated for the Social Security Fairness Act—which successfully passed — repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset to end discriminatory practices that reduced social security benefits for millions of workers.

The initiative also played a role in advocating for Cuba’s removal from the so-called “State Sponsors of Terrorism” list. 

While President Biden briefly delisted Cuba during the end of his term, the Trump administration, led by anti-Cuba hawk Marco Rubio, swiftly reversed the decision. 

The CPUSA highlighted the humanitarian stakes for the Cuban people and the benefits that co-operation with Cuba would bring US workers and farmers.

Following the inauguration, the campaign evolved into the ongoing rapid response project. Drawing lessons from the original “Sixty-Day Campaign,” party organisers recognised the dual impact of sustained protest: maintaining consistent pressure on members of Congress from their constituents while strengthening local, on-the-ground organising efforts.

Today, the rapid response project has turned its focus to the growing threat posed by Elon Musk and the billionaire class that finds its voice in the Trump administration. 

Musk’s attempts to consolidate power and influence government policy have sparked outrage, and the CPUSA has mobilised its network to demand that Congress take action to halt this coup attempt.

Musk’s power grab has escalated to the point of locking down federal buildings, enforced by unidentified individuals from mysterious security forces. 

In a manner reminiscent of Nazi brownshirts of 1930s Germany, these enforcers are physically blocking doorways, preventing the public, federal workers, and even elected lawmakers from entering the very buildings where they carry out the essential operations of federal agencies.

The fightback in DC has taken shape, spearheaded by the trade union movement, with leadership from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFSCME) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). 

Some members of Congress are standing with them, including representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. 

The party is rallying its members to join the mass protests in Washington, DC, including recent demonstrations at the Department of Labour.

The CPUSA sees defending the trade union movement and public workers from Elon Musk’s power grab as critical. They are urging public opposition to all Trump nominees and demanding Musk’s removal, as well as an end to his efforts to unconstitutionally seize public funds. 

The party’s message to Congress is consistent and clear: stand with the working class, not the billionaires.

In a direct assault on undocumented workers, President Trump and the ultra right, with some Democratic support, have pushed through the Laken Riley Act, a law that undermines constitutional rights by stripping undocumented workers of due process. 

The measure mandates the indefinite detention of non-citizens accused of even minor offences, such as shoplifting, without trial.

“It treats immigrants in this country like enemy combatants, opening them up to the same abuses as those who were sent to Guantanamo on unsubstantiated charges of terrorism, and grants to racist vigilantes the power to initiate a deportation process with a mere pointing of the finger,” the immigrant rights subcommittee of the CPUSA said.

In addition to the Laken Riley Act, the rapid response project has also taken aim at Trump’s unconstitutional executive order ending birthright citizenship — a brazen attack on the 14th Amendment and immigrant communities. 

As a result of the struggle, multiple lawsuits were filed. The courts have not made a definite decision yet, but have stopped it from moving forward as of now.

In the face of Trump and MAGA’s McCarthyism 2.0, the CPUSA has launched a campaign to fight against the so-called “Crucial Communism Teaching Act,” a Bill designed to vilify progressive movements and divide the anti-MAGA coalition. 

By labelling everything from labour rights to climate action as “socialist” or “communist,” the ultra-right seeks to roll back decades of social progress won by the working class and criminalise dissent.

The rapid response project has rallied opposition to this Bill, which would allow far-right groups like the so-called “Victims of Communism Foundation” — backed by Project 2025’s Lee Edwards— to infiltrate classrooms and spread propaganda that highlights the supposed virtues of capitalism and the “evils of communism.” 

The CPUSA warns that this legislation threatens not only communists but every movement fighting for social justice, from our trade unions to environmental justice organisations.

Joelle Fishman, the chair of the party’s political action commission, told People’s World that, in her experience, “one call by me to a member of Congress and speaking with an aide offered a new perspective that contributed to changing a vote against the Laken Riley Act.

“I grew up in the McCarthy era and I know this is the opening gun in criminalising immigrants and the new McCarthy 2.0 period.”

The CPUSA’s rapid response project is more than a simple tool for mobilisation — it’s striving to be a connector between the broader working class and democratic forces and the party in an era of unprecedented social challenges.

“The answer is to organise, organise, organise in unity and solidarity. That is the only way to defeat the fascist forces, defend democracy, and even make progressive gains and victories for the working class and people of this country,” Fishman said.

As the struggles against fascism and monopoly rule intensify, the rapid response project stands as a key tool in the organised resistance. 

The CPUSA is proud to stand with the many labour, democratic and progressive forces that continue to make demands on their representatives from Washington down to city councils, and take to the streets with labour and its allies in organised, mass struggle. The future of the country depends on it.

For more information on how to get involved with the CPUSA’s rapid response project, visit cpusa.org/resist.

This article first appeared in Peoples World.

Cameron Harrison is an organiser for the CPUSA labour commission.