Dear Indivisibles,
It's the first day of spring recess! From March 24 to April 9, your members of Congress (MoCs) will be home. This is your opportunity to hold them accountable and build momentum going into election season. You can find everything you'll need, including resources and town hall questions, at recess.indivisible.org.
For two weeks, you'll have the opportunity to meet with your MoCs face-to-face (at office visits or Town Halls) and ask them the hard questions. And there are several different ways you can take action around recess.
Here's how we hold them accountable:
- Show Up. Before you fight back, you need an event to attend. Find an event near you here or organize your own district office visit with your Indivisible group! Or, see if your member of Congress has the guts to face their constituents and show up with your questions ready.
- #NeverAgain. Hold them accountable to their inaction around gun violence. You showed up to support students during walkouts. You're showing up today for the #MarchForOurLives. But where are our MoCs? Like so many other issues, our MoCs need to feel pressure in order to act. At the federal, state, and local level, you can have an impact to prevent gun violence. Check out our guide and tell your MoCs enough is enough.
- Stay ready. We have the ultimate resource for all the questions you could possibly have for your MoCs. Given recent bad votes (and what's ahead on the Congressional agenda) they need to hear from you when they're home during recess. Make sure to discuss with your MoCs the things that matter most to you.Whether it's the banking bill, the tax scam or net neutrality -- we've got you covered.
Remember, recess is just one way we let our MoCs know that we haven't forgotten the votes they've cast in the past year (good and bad). If they voted against their constituents in the past year, we're ready to VOTE. THEM. OUT. Take your energy and bring it with you to every event these next two weeks. We've already seen your work in action, now we just need to keep the momentum going.
On deck for Capitol Hill
Congress is about to go on its longest recess so far this year. They left town after passing an "omnibus" government funding bill that will go through the end of September 2018, and failing to rein in Trump's illegal war in Yemen (though having a vote to rein in Trump's war authority at all was a positive development).
Here are some things you keep your eyes open for after they return:
- Trump's cabinet nominees Gina Haspel (CIA Director) and Mike Pompeo (Secretary of State) will come up for confirmation votes in the Senate. Haspel is a war criminal who personally helped torture detainees in a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand during the Bush administration. Pompeo is a Trump clone who's displayed anti-Muslim bigotry, spouted dangerous warmongering, opposed diplomacy with Iran, and denied climate change. We are all less safe if Pompeo and Haspel are confirmed. Tell your Senators to reject them.
- The #BankLobbyistAct continues making its way through Congress. House Republicans, led by ultra-conservative Jeb Hensarling (TX-5), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, think the bill doesn't go far enough to deregulate big banks. They have at least 40 additional pieces of legislation they want added to the Senate bill before the House takes it up. We'll know just how bad the new bill has gotten -- along with at least 40 new reasons for your Democratic Senator to oppose it -- after recess.
This week's #TrumpThreatLevel:
- Trump named John Bolton his new National Security Advisor. This drives the Trump Threat Level higher than it has ever been. Bolton is a warmonger and conspiracy theorist who helped the Iraq War happen and, in recent months, has advocated bombing North Korea and Iran next.
- The Mueller investigation is at risk. John Dowd, the lead lawyer for Trump's legal team, quit on March 22 as Trump ratcheted up his attacks on the Mueller investigation. It seems Trump is more worried about congratulating Putin on his recent re-election (against the explicit, all-capital letters advice of his advisors) than he is about protecting our democracy.
- A Saudi prince bragged about having Jared Kushner "in his pocket." Kushner reportedly shared information from the President's Daily Brief -- the most classified rundown of intelligence in Washington -- with Mohammed bin Salman as the Saudi prince was violently consolidating power in 2017. Despite not even having a security clearance, Kushner is mismanaging classified information by sharing it with a foreign leader -- the same one bombing civilians in Yemen and carrying out human rights abuses in his own country.
Visit trumpthreatlevel.indivisible.org for a running list of all the ways Trump makes us less safe and our latest foreign policy resources.
Tax Day is coming.
Recess is a crucial time to keep your MoCs on their toes and remind them exactly who they work for. They work for YOU, not corporations.For months, we've been driving the message to them that when they voted for the tax scam, they voted against the people.
✔️You held retirement parties for Republicans who voted for the tax scam.
✔️You thanked Democrats who held the line.
✔️You showed up at rallies with big checks to show the GOP that they turned their backs on their constituents.
Now, let's keep that momentum going. Not only can we push this message during recess, but we have another chance coming up with Tax Day around the corner. Check out Tax March events in your area leading up to Tax Day and keep holding them accountable all the way up to election day.
We're building a better website -- for you!
If you checked out any of the resources above (we hope you did!), that means you went to our website: indivisible.![]() org. And while it works, there's room for some (okay, a lot of) improvements.
That's why we're redesigning our website so it better supports the thousands of Indivisible groups across the country and improves the experience of activists looking for resources, call scripts, and more to resist Trump and the GOP's agenda. If you can, chip in to help us hit our $100,000 goal! That's the cost to cover everything from cutting edge design, building a back end to support hundreds of resources, creating new interactive features to help Indivisibles organize, and some more fun stuff we're keeping secret for now!
We're 29% of the way to our goal, and a contribution of $18, $10, or $5 helps us reach it! Here's what our new website will do:
- Drive impactful, measurable actions: calling tools to connect you to your MoCs, new and improved resources, and better toolkits for groups organizing events.
- Grow the movement: a functional, searchable new map to drive more people into groups' events.
- Improve navigation: find exactly what you need without endlessly navigating through the website.
- Universal, or accessible, design: people with diverse abilities will be able to access our website, resources, and tools on any device -- desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet.
In 2017, 5 million people used our website has been a powerful tool to resist the Trump Administration's legislative agenda. It's where 398,930 people went to get resources to defeat TrumpCare. And it's where 90,000 people went in February to pour over our latest resources on recess, supporting Dreamers, and winning elections.
And with your support, we'll build a powerful new site to support our movement as it continues to grow, organize, take action, and build the power needed to win in 2018 and beyond!
In solidarity,
The Indivisible Team
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