Okay, so the Taft-Hartly Act basically curtailed the power of the unions by: Not allowing them to directly donate to a politician, no more closed shops, no more political strikes, no solidarity strikes, and they all had to sign affidavits that they weren't commies. They thought the act would never pass, and when it did they were unprepared for the fallout. I thought I'd written that but I guess I didn't.
Now obviously the DOGE/USAID stuff is nowhere directly as damaging as that, and they did find a few workarounds but it was a drop in the bucket compared to what they used to wield.
The democrats who have to run are now put into a position where they either have to denounce their party mates, or defend themselves. MAGA and republicans can now just snipe at will because this type of party infighting always brings out some of the insider info that isn't available outside the party or those in the know.
This isn't an excuse to give MAGA the time to navel gaze either. Turtle and his ilk are a dying breed, and people now see that action matters. They can't be a lion on the campaign trail, and then turn into a lamb once they have their seat.