Congress heads back to Washington this week for four weeks of D.C. work before another recess in July, and they’re going to do everything they can to continue rubber-stamping Trump’s dangerous agenda. Republicans will try to push through their priorities so they can go home and tout their wins to their constituents, but the work Indivisible groups are doing in their own communities has severely hampered their momentum. Let’s keep it up through this stretch.
Answering your questions live tonight at 8:30pm ET.
You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers. Join us on Facebook Live this Monday June 5th at 8:30pm ET. We’ll be answering your questions in real time. Questions about the Paris climate agreement? Wondering how to pressure your member of Congress who’s hiding from you? Ask our team this Monday.
Trump against the planet.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he would be pulling the United States out of the historic Paris Climate Accord. By doing so, Trump hopes to roll back critical climate and health protections at the expense of the American public and of generations to come. Trump made this decision despite widespread opposition, including from the business community, political leaders from both parties, and just about every rational person who believes in science and cares about the planet. We updated these resources on our website so you have everything you need to resist this horrible mistake on your home turf.
- Hold your members of Congress accountable.
Real talk: Congress doesn’t have much power here, but you can call your senators to either admonish them if they’re one of the 22 who signed a letter urging Trump to leave Paris, or thank them if they’re one of the 40 who signed on to this letter in support of the Accord.
- Get involved to save the planet locally, on your home turf.
The good news is that we can get 60% of the way to Paris goals without any federal policy. Use our new guide, Trump Against the Planet: Defending the Climate with Local Action, to take meaningful action in your community.
This week is a big one on several fronts, and there’s lots to do.
TrumpCare is a looming threat. We’ve seen the news reports over the last few days showing just how nervous U.S. Senators are about gutting your health care. That means your pressure is working. But it doesn’t mean your work is done. Whether or not the Senate decides to move forward with a health care bill is completely dependent on how much pressure you continue putting on them. Keep it up.
Congress’ newest pro-Wall Street legislation. This week, we’ll also see the House of Representatives attempt to gut protections put in place following Wall Street’s attacks on our families. Keep up your visits and calls to tell them the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10) is the #WrongChoiceAct. The Senate may also try their hand at repealing protections for our families through the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 (S. 951), or, “The Worst Bill You’ve Never Heard of.”; Your visits and calls are more important than ever because we’re getting reports they don’t know if they have the votes.
Russia, Russia, Russia (Russia). This is also a big week on the #TrumpRussia front. Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump on May 9th in the midst of leading an investigation into ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign, is testifying in an open session of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, June 8th at 10 AM. We’ve got all you need to plan a Truth or Trump action at home. This is especially critical if your senator serves on the Intelligence Committee. Find out here.
And, if that wasn’t enough, on Monday, Trump plans to roll out his scam of an infrastructure plan and your MoCs need to hear from you about it.
This week’s action items in one nice, numbered list.
- Demand transparency from your Senators on their efforts to take away health care from 23 million people, gut protections for preexisting conditions, and cut $880 billion from Medicaid to fund a massive tax break for corporations and the rich.
- Visit or call your Representative and urge him or her to vote no on the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10), which rolls back protections put in place the last time Wall Street gambled away our savings, homes, and jobs. It’s scheduled for a vote this week.
- Urge your Senator to reject the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 (RAA)–”The Worst Bill You’ve Never Heard Of”– which guts protections for our environment, safety, and health.
- Call your members of Congress and demand an independent commission in addition to the special counsel. Neither the Senate nor the House committee are carrying out a responsible investigation into the Trump administration’s Russia ties. We can no longer wait on them to do it.
- Trump’s priority for the week is to create a distraction from Comey with a flashy, “smoke and mirrors” infrastructure plan, but we need to expose that it’s a big scam: Selling off roads and water systems to billionaires and foreign governments, who will hit us with huge new fees and tolls. Here is what you need to know to tell your MoC to stand against it.
You’re part of an incredibly creative and effective resistance.
This congressional recess, a scant few members of Congress held town halls, but you didn’t let that get in your way.
In Tennessee, you tracked down Speaker Paul Ryan and held a die-in outside his $10,000 per photo fundraiser. And on the same day back in Wisconsin, you held an Adopt-a-District town hall with Rep. Mark Pocan who showed up to answer questions in Ryan’s (perpetual) absence. Indivisible DuPage (IL-06) also got in on the Adopt-A-District fun with Rep. Jan Schakowsky standing in for the missing member, Rep. Peter Roskam. In California, your weekly demonstration at Rep. Darrell Issa’s office led to a viral video of the congressman bizarrely climbing onto the roof of his building. And at his last-minute town hall, you showed up in a big way. In New York, you held an empty chair town hall for Rep. John Katko. In Texas, you stood in solidarity with immigrant rights groups to protest the hateful, anti-immigrant SB4. In Virginia, you engaged in a bit of “Kayaktivism” at Trump’s golf course to protest his conflicts of interest. And in Pennsylvania, you showed Sen. Pat Toomey the faces of real Keystone Staters who depend on Medicaid, and whose lives would be devastated by Trump’s proposed budget cuts. And in over 100 cities around the world, you marched for truth to demand transparency in our democracy (and an independent commission).
And you turned your advocacy into big electoral wins. After the recent local elections in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in which Indivisible members increased voter turnout and won several races, on Tuesday, Indivisible Iowa notched its first electoral victory when a co-founder easily dispatched the incumbent to take a city council seat! Indivisible Iowa is showing that you can resist by pressuring your elected officials, or by replacing them.
This is the part where we ask you for money.
Trump’s latest assault on the planet is such a strong reminder that we need to retake power as quickly as possible. It’s not just our nation under threat, it’s all of Earth. The way we retake power is clear: we grow the indivisible movement to be as big, bold, and badass as we can. Keeping up this momentum is not just critical to holding Trump and Republicans in Congress accountable– it’s going to be key as we look toward electoral victories in 2018 (in 518 days!).
As we’ve said before, we’re committed to making sure this movement is funded by people just like you. To date, we’ve received over 30,000 individual donations; we’ve used those dollars to provide more support to our 5,900 groups working day in and day out in every congressional district across this nation. Chip in a few bucks to partner with us to do even more.
Together, we can transform this constituent power into victory at the ballot box in 518 days.
Never forget, there’s a time limit on this presidency. Every day your Indivisible group is successfully resisting is one less day that Trump can do damage to the country. Keep standing indivisible, and we’ll keep standing with you. Together, we will win.
In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Executive Director
Indivisible Project
P.S. Check out our new video on highlights from all that you’ve already done to hold your MoC’s accountable and save our care.