Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
LEONARD LEO FINALLY SUBPOENAED - AND DEFIES IT
Months after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to authorize a subpoena of conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo as part of the inquiries into Justice Clarence Thomas’ corruption, Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) finally issued that subpoena on Thursday. Leo announced he would not comply within hours. With the clock running down on this Senate, we don’t have any more time to lose, and the current pace of action is unacceptable. Let’s reach out to our senators and tell them to pursue steps to enforce the subpoena immediately, and urge them to push for contempt of Congress charges.
FILL EVERY SEAT ON THE FEDERAL BENCH
Democrats face a tough fight to keep both the White House and the Senate this November, raising the stakes of every judicial vacancy – just two seats flipped would deny us a clear shot at getting progressives on the federal bench until at least 2027. While the Biden Administration has kept pace with Trump’s progress on judges and has done remarkable work diversifying the bench in both personal and professional background, there are currently eight vacancies on circuit courts and 62 on district courts, of which 52 have no nominees. Their efforts have been particularly stymied by the tradition of honoring “blue slip” vetoes on judicial nominees by home state senators in district courts – 31 of the judgeships without nominees are in seats where Republican senators have been granted the ability to block them. The confirmation process is also slow and is starting to run up against a Senate schedule marked by election year breaks. We need to raise the pressure on our elected officials to fill every seat while we’re sure we can. Let’s contact the White House and push them to quickly put up a nominee for every single vacancy. And let’s reach out to our senators and urge them to make filling judicial vacancies a priority, including by finally tearing up blue slips and by committing to stay in session as long as it takes to ensure every nominee gets a vote.TELL FEDEX AND PFIZER TO CUT TIES WITH PROJECT 2025 FUNDERS
We already know what a disaster it would be if Project 2025 came into being. Abortion would be illegal under any circumstance anywhere in the country, there would be no more efforts to fight the climate crisis, and LGBTQ, immigrant, and all communities of color would be threatened. Yet many prominent companies, including FedEx and Pfizer, are key funders of ALEC, which is one of the architects of the plan. The National Campaign for Justice has started a letter writing campaign to tell FedEx and Pfizer to disassociate from ALEC for the good of the wider communities they serve. Let’s join this campaign by sending letters from this template, which contains key talking points, making this an easy and important action. We can also check out StopTheCoup2025.org for more ways to resist Project 2025.
SEND THANKS TO PRESIDENT BIDEN ON NEW GUN RULES
Last week the Biden administration finalized new federal regulations that clarify that anyone who “sells firearms predominantly to earn a profit must be federally licensed and conduct background checks, regardless of whether they are selling on the internet, at a gun show or a brick-and-mortar store.” Let’s thank President Biden for doing what he can, in the absence of Congressional and state legislative action, to make our communities safer. And let’s make sure we’re ready to vote for President Biden and other gun safety candidates in November.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
AZ – SUPREME COURT JUDGES ELECTION IN NOVEMBER
This is a quick one. If you or anyone you know is in Arizona, write down these two names: Clint Bolick and Katherine Hackett King. These are two of the justices who signed onto the Arizona Supreme Court's decision to enforce their 1864 law that bans abortions. Both of them are up for what they call a retention election in November, i.e. voters aren't being asked to vote for them vs. an opponent, but instead voters are simply being asked if you want to retain these judges. Vote No. That way, they'll get kicked off the court and the Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, can appoint two new justices. (h/t Political Charge)
AND FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS
LAST WEEK’S WINS
It may not always feel like it, but our work is making a difference every day. Our friend Jessica Craven at
outlines a few ways how in her run-down of last week’s victories, including yet another $7.4 billion in student loans forgiven, the EPA finalizing the first national limits on forever chemicals in drinking water, and President Biden successfully deterring - at least for now - further escalation between Israel and Iran.