February 24, 2025
Military purge underway, House set to bring up budget, get your marching shoes ready, and more!
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TRUMP PURGES SENIOR MILITARY OFFICERS
In another Friday night massacre, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth carried out an unprecedented purge of the U.S. military, firing Joint Chiefs Chairman General Charles “CQ” Brown, chief of naval operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Air Force chief of staff General James Slife and the judge advocate generals of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Trump is nominating retired general and Theil- and Kushner-connected venture capitalist Dan Caine as the new chair of the Joint Chiefs, an officer who has not commanded large formations of U.S. combat forces and vaults numerous higher-ranking generals, but who Donald Trump is accurately or inaccurately convinced will do whatever he wants. This is a continuation of their efforts to force non-white men from positions of authority and make our military less diverse, following the removal of Admiral Linda Fagan as commandant of the Coast Guard. It also reflects their insistence that our historically apolitical military should be yes men first and foremost loyal to Donald Trump and his agenda, above the Constitution and the rule of law – as Georgetown professor Rosa Brooks said, getting “rid of any lawyers who might try to slow you down” is “what you do when you’re planning to break the law,” and Secretary Hegseth acknowledged the top military lawyers could serve to be “roadblocks to anything that happens.” This is a threat to the strength and effectiveness of our military and a deeply frightening moment from an administration that has repeatedly threatened to use the military to put down public protest. Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and ask them what they are doing in response to this deeply authoritarian and dangerous move by Trump – and let them know extraordinary actions call for extraordinary responses. With our senators, let’s also urge them to vote no on the confirmation of General Caine and the replacements for these other officers. We can find call scripts and sample messages here. And let’s consider writing letters to the editor and posting on social media with our own concerns about Trump’s efforts to create a military that puts him before the country. We can find talking points from civil-military relations expert Steve Saideman here, from retired military leaders here and here, and from lawmakers and former Defense officials here.
HOUSE BUDGET VOTE EXPECTED THIS WEEK
The House is back in session this week, and Republicans plan to charge forward in attempting to pass their version of the budget, which would cut $880 billion from Medicaid over the next ten years to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. They’re attacking health care coverage for 1 in 5 Americans, including 40% of our children and 60% of all nursing home residents, and if they succeed it will devastate rural hospitals, treatment for substance abuse, and essential services that allow adults with disabilities to work, go to school and live in their own communities. Folks across the country let their members of Congress have it in person while they were on recess, and we’re going to keep the pressure up. Let’s reach out to our House members and let them know we oppose Medicaid cuts. We can use this guide to action from Matthew Cortland. We can also find more scripts, state-by-state and district-by-district stats and talking points on other failures of the House GOP budget here, and join Working Families Party to reach voters in key districts to rally them against the budget in a phonebank tomorrow at noon here.
MAKE CONGRESS ANSWER FOR IGNORING TRUMP’S DISOBEDIENCE OF COURT ORDERS
One of the most disturbing of the countless disturbing acts from this administration has been the president’s flagrant disregard of judicial orders when his executive actions are challenged in court. He has even had the audacity to claim he can ignore the law if it means he’s “saving” our country. To truly *save* our country we need to raise our voices loud and clear to our MoCs, including the Republicans, and demand that they honor the integrity of the judiciary and preserve the guardrails of our government. Whether or not they agree with the judges or the president, they must stand up for democracy and pressure Trump to obey the law. We can find scripts and sample messages here.
MARCH FORTH THIS MARCH 4TH
The movement against Trump will take a variety of tactics, including taking to the streets – and folks are taking notice of the burgeoning protest movement. The 50501 Movement has called for another day of action on TUESDAY, MARCH 4TH. Let’s check out this list of scheduled protests and attend if they’re in our area – and if nothing is on the calendar yet, consider hosting our own.
ECONOMIC ACTIONS RAMPING UP
Companies across the country are shamefully folding in the face of Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, fearful of what MAGA will do to them if they don’t surrender. But the public is not on board with these resegregation efforts – a recent poll suggested 53% of voters think pro-DEI policies in the workplace are good for organizations, making them substantially more popular than either Trump or Musk. Let’s make sure they know we have power, too. The NAACP is urging Black Americans and those of all backgrounds who support a more inclusive nation to refrain from shopping at retailers that have surrendered on diversity, highlighting McDonald’s, Meta, Walmart, Lowe’s and Target among those we should avoid. Let’s join them in shifting our dollars away from those who do not respect our values in following the guidance of the Black Consumer Advisory list. We can also take part in a similar boycott as part of the Latino Freeze Movement (targets listed here) and join in the 24-hour economic blackout this FRIDAY, February 28th (details here).
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
DE - VIRTUAL TOWN HALL WITH OUR FULL CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TODAY
Senator Coons, Senator Blunt Rochester and Rep. McBride are joining together in a virtual town hall TODAY at 12:30 PM Eastern. This will be closely moderated, but still a chance to get a live response to our questions from the delegation. Let’s sign up to attend and submit our questions at this link.
KEEPING AN EYE ON…
Phonebank and postcard to hold our majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court… support for Kentucky flood victims… keep distributing Know Your Rights cards, training with United We Dream Wednesday…
“Thoughtless and Dangerous “ from Senator Angus King https://youtu.be/g2ptQFOi9Pg?si=JfdXH3S5TaU7ubCn
pass the word!
MARCH FORTH THIS MARCH 4TH
The movement against Trump will take a variety of tactics, including taking to the streets – and folks are taking notice of the burgeoning protest movement. The 50501 Movement has called for another day of action on TUESDAY, MARCH 4TH