When they are in opposition, they are more than happy to let the Republicans destroy all of their supposedly beloved ‘institutions’ (EPA, FDA, IRS, etc.) and then, when they do get in, do absolutely nothing to fight against the institutions that are bulwarks of Republican support (ICE, DHS, etc.).

It isn’t that they have a gentleman’s agreement, and more that they have the same agenda, they just have fundamental disagreements on how it should be pursued, and who they are appealing to. Democrats believe it should be pursued quietly and efficiently, with a focus on maximizing the numbers and effectiveness of these austerity policies in order to appeal to naive progressives and RepublicansturnedDemocrats, while the Republicans do it as loud as they can, even if it reduces its effectiveness, in order to appeal to their base.

Democrats do believe that Republicans are destroying the country, but only in so far as they believe that they are pursuing these policies in such a way that Democrats can no longer publically support these policies that they believe work because the Republicans are pursuing them poorly.