February 12, 2025

Education Secretary hearings, trade war expands, GOTV against Amazon, and more

Contact all members of Congress:

• By phone: (202) 224-3121

• By email: Congress.gov

• By US mail: Representatives / Senators

• By fax: Representatives / Senators

• By Resistbot: Resist.bot

Contact White House or other federal agencies:

• usa.gov/federal-agencies

If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!

• EDUCATION SECRETARY IN CHARGE OF ABOLISHING THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

  Conservatives have long demanded the destruction of the Department of Education and shifting public money to corporate-run schools, and Trump has promised his administration will set off the dynamite. In recent weeks we’ve learned he plans to do so via executive order – which would be illegal. Dismantling the department would impact Title I funding for low-income school districts, Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA) funding to support students with disabilities, anti-discrimination protections offered by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights, oversight for for-profit universities and the administration of federal student loans. This would take a serious toll on public school students in our country – especially those in low-income communities. Trump has nominated former World Wrestling Entertainment executive and Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education, giving her the charge of shutting it down and “putting herself out of a job.” Tomorrow, she will get her hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. This is a crucial opportunity to focus the spotlight on their elimination plan. Let’s contact our senators, especially if they’re on the committee, and tell them to use this moment to publicize Trump’s attacks on the department, nail down what exactly is going to happen to the irreplaceable funding they currently administer, and push McMahon on what their agenda will cost our kids. We can also urge them to highlight the lawsuit against McMahon by “ring boys” as young as 13 at WWE events who say she and her husband were aware they were being sexually abused and failed to protect them and her connections with the corporate school lobby. And of course we should ask them to vote no on her nomination – Advocates for Trans Equality and End Rape on Campus are organizing a call-in tomorrow with this guide and sample script.

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• PATEL CAUGHT LYING TO THE SENATE ABOUT HIS ROLE IN PURGES

  Kash Patel earned Trump’s nomination to be the director of the FBI after vowing to purge anyone in the Bureau who didn’t support the MAGA agenda and weaponize it to “come after” those who criticized Trump and stood against his coup attempt. At his nomination hearing, he promised the Judiciary Committee under oath FBI employees would be protected against political retribution and said he was “not aware” of any plans to get rid of FBI officials involved with investigating Trump. A little over 24 hours later, the Justice Department ordered the acting FBI director to illegally fire eight senior executives and to turn over the names of every employee involved in January 6th cases. Now, Judiciary ranking Democrat Richard Durbin has multiple whistleblower reports that Patel personally orchestrated these dismissals. With Patel having made it clear he intends to openly hijack the FBI and crush dissent, and will happily lie to senators’ faces in the process, the committee is set to vote tomorrow on whether to send his nomination to the floor. Let’s contact our senators, especially if they’re on Judiciary, and tell them voting for Patel will make us less free and less safe. If they are already No votes, let’s urge them to hold public events with fired prosecutors and FBI agents to highlight their history of crimefighting and what Trump and Patel’s purge will cost us. We can also ask them to put a hold on all Justice Department nominations as long as MAGA continues to politicize the DoJ. We can find base scripts here.

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• TRUMP RISKS EXPANDING TRADE WAR

  As China’s counter-tariffs start to take hold, Trump is trying to launch new fronts in the trade war. On Monday he imposed 25% tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports – ending exemptions for suppliers including Canada, Mexico and Brazil. He is now threatening broad-based reciprocal tariffs, and continues to claim 25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian imports are on the table. These are import taxes, and we’re going to be the ones to pay for them with higher prices – with this set most notably on appliances and cars, which could see $1000-$1500 cost increases. Even the United Steelworkers, whose jobs this is supposed to protect, have expressed concern it will backfire. Any retaliation is likely to mean fewer people buying American-made products, putting American jobs at risk. Previous tariff hikes have hurt growth and haven’t brought manufacturing jobs home as promised, and there’s no reason to think this will be any different. Even Trump himself has admitted Americans will suffer from his import tax. The President has wide authority to impose tariffs unilaterally, but only because Congress has granted the White House that power. If they want to step in and stop the economic wrecking ball from swinging by revoking that power or putting guardrails on its use, they absolutely can. Let’s remind our representatives and senators the constitutional power to impose tariffs ultimately lies with them, and they can stop Trump if they wish… and if they choose not to, we will hold them accountable for spiking costs on things we buy every day. We can use this language from Resistbot or send the letter directly by texting SIGN PBSFBM to 50409, and find call scripts here. We can also find some tips on how to effectively talk about the Trump tariffs from Navigator Research posted here.

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• FILE A PRIVACY COMPLAINT WITH THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT
  As individual citizens we have the right to speak out against Musk and his team compromising our privacy. Let’s file a complaint by emailing privacy@treasury.gov and citing the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 USC, Section 552a - reminding them that under this act, any disclosure of personally identifiable information would constitute a breach of our right to privacy and demanding the Department reveal what unauthorized disclosures were made, stop access, force any files that Musk acquired to be returned and/or permanently destroyed, and seek criminal penalties against Musk and DOGE for this blatant violation. We can find a sample email via

  Qasim Rashid, Esq.
  here.

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• FIGHTING THE OLIGARCHS IN AMAZON UNION VOTE

  Only one Amazon warehouse in the United States has ever unionized. This week, an independent group of workers in Garner, North Carolina is pushing to become the second. Voting began Monday in Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE)’s representation election and runs through Saturday. Amazon has, as usual, pulled out all the stops to defeat labor, including firing a leading organizer. We need to do the same in solidarity. CAUSE will be holding phonebanks to reach Amazon workers and encourage them to vote yes for the union today, tomorrow and Friday. We can sign up to get out the vote for the union here. We can also consider donating to their solidarity fund, and if we’re local to the Research Triangle signing up to volunteer on the ground.

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STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS

• NY – ERIC ADAMS IS COMPROMISED

  Eric Adams was the first sitting mayor in modern New York City history to earn a federal indictment. He was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, and bribery in September, and multiple members of his inner circle are also facing corruption charges. But after a committed campaign to curry favor with Donald Trump (at the expense of the immigrant community), Adams may be temporarily off the hook – Trump’s Department of Justice on Monday ordered the charges against him dropped on the grounds it has “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime.” They are recommending charges be dropped without prejudice, however - giving the DoJ the option to reopen prosecution if Adams crosses Trump, an incredible amount of leverage. Those who believe the city deserves a mayor who isn’t compromised by the authoritarians in DC or foreign nationals still have a path open to seek accountability. Under New York City’s charter and the state’s Public Officers Law, the governor has broad authority to oust a mayor from office. While this is an extraordinary power to use and should be reserved for the rarest occasion, this is a rare and extraordinary moment. Let’s reach out to Governor Hochul by messaging here or calling her office at 1-518-474-8390 and ask her to end Adams’ crime spree and remove him from his position.

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KEEPING AN EYE ON…

Phonebank and postcard to hold our majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court… Don’t cross the picket line at Colorado supermarkets… Continue ringing alarms on Trump threats to defy courts… Los Angeles wildfires contained, need for relief remains… Keep distributing Know Your Rights cards…

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