Progressives are focusing their messaging on being anti-oligarchy, training their sights not just on Republicans but also on Democrats they argue are too beholden to corporate interests. Following Inauguration Day, Democrats on the left have been taking steps to call out the surge of incoming wealth in Washington, critiquing the GOP president whose front row was dotted with some of America’s richest leaders. But they aren’t just looking at Trump. Liberals are also forcing a conversation about their own party’s money-in-politics problem, hoping to redirect the focus ahead of the midterms. Justice Democrats is now recruiting dozens of new candidates, while Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) former 2020 campaign manager is now running to chair the Democratic National Committee. Meanwhile, strategists are working to protect members of the Squad from defeats. “November’s election is a mandate for the Democratic Party to clean up shop,” said Usamah Andrabi, communications director of Justice Democrats, the most prominent group in charge of nurturing new progressive candidates for the House and Senate.  Strategists like Andrabi say progressives are responding to an explicit call from voters demanding that their party “rid itself of the same consultants, donors, advisers, and career politicians that ushered in a Republican trifecta and second Trump administration.” Incremental change up and down the ballot, they believe, is not nearly enough to tackle the supercharging of money pouring in under Trump 2.0.  For many on the left, the re-brand is long overdue. For nearly a decade, ever since Sanders angered establishment figures in Hillary Clinton’s inner circle with a primary bid, moderate Democrats have relied on similar corporate influences as Republicans to various degrees. Many operatives still haven’t fully denounced corporate money funding elections, with many watching the donor-first approach work effectively for the GOP. Trump’s recent success has amplified that. By surrounding himself with the top 1 percent of the 1 percent, progressives say the president has created a prime backdrop for Democrats to create a contrast on campaign finance, their agreed-upon top issue for their party this year. “Voters made overwhelmingly clear,” Andrabi said, “that they want a new era … led by a new generation of leaders unafraid to take on billionaires and corporations to deliver an agenda for working-class communities.” Flooding the party with fresh candidates from each state, organizers believe, will help the party reject wealth concentration by default. That includes more primary challengers to sitting Democratic officeholders when necessary. The approach is what brought Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) into power, but also pushed Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) out over a mix of special interest spending and a conservative public sentiment.  Some progressive Democrats in the House, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), have already come out publicly in support of more primary campaigns, while activists have expressed a stronger desire to break the centrist stronghold after their November defeat.   “The Democratic Party is in crisis,” Alex Minsky, who serves as executive director of Progressive Democrats of America, told The Hill. “As progressives, we must redouble our efforts within the Democratic Party structure.” Progressives are forming into different camps as they look to drain the party of donations from corporations and high net-worth individuals. Some believe they can make more impact on the outside, while others are hoping to start working from within. Faiz Shakir, a former senior Sanders adviser, wants to drastically alter one of the most antiquated structures, the Democratic National Committee, as its new figurehead. He got into the chairmanship race after seeing few differences between candidates who he believes don’t actually address the significant issues plaguing the party. Like others on the left, he wants the DNC to do more than just engage in small-level state party disputes.  The clearest example of where Shakir differs from his handful of opponents came when Ken Martin, the state chair of the Minnesota Democratic Party who is considered center-left and a frontrunner in the race, said that the party should not be opposed to collecting “good billionaires’” money, but draws the line at donations from “bad billionaires.” That sentiment runs counter to what Sanders campaigned on, and what even President Biden referred to as the ascendent “oligarchy” class in a surprising turn toward populism at the end of his only term in office. “When I started talking about oligarchy, many people didn't understand what I meant,” Sanders wrote in a social media post across several platforms on Jan. 20, referencing Trump and his associates. “Well, that's changed. When the 3 wealthiest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government,” he wrote. “We must fight back.” Other elected leaders are trying to get the coalition to coalesce around reform in other ways. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is out with a new book, titled, “It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change,” in which he proposes talking about larger-scale economic issues, while other progressives like Khanna and Sanders believe framing the latest tech debates, like the recent TikTok ban and subsequent reversal, as another way to win the fractured Democratic coalition.  Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who appears to be angling to become a new voice for the left, took issue with Biden’s broad pardon of his family members minutes before leaving office. While most Democrats were silent on the matter, Murphy said to reporters that it’s “probably time for us to take a look at the way the pardon system is being used,” introducing another critique of how his party operates.  While there’s a strong progressive desire to start over from the ground up, there’s still a rawness among those who saw their fears of an ultra-wealthy government actualized in real-time by Trump’s actions. Trump’s second inauguration came the week that the landmark Supreme Court Citizens United decision marked its 15th anniversary. Some leftists privately expressed feeling disillusioned by the pomp and circumstance, uncertain of what is likely to make a dent in the problem.  “I’m watching in horror as we see our country being stripped away right before our eyes,” said one progressive leader who oversees a political organization in charge of left-wing candidate recruitment and retention. “Billionaires flaunting their newly found power to match their exorbitant wealth not just in front of the country but the world to see and take notice.” “I’m trying to stay focused and provide leadership for our staff [and] supporters,” the source added, “but I’ll be honest, I’m at a loss of words.”