February 7, 2025
Vought confirmation aftermath, standing with Ukraine, postcards galore and more
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VOUGHT IS CONFIRMED – WHAT’S NEXT?
Last night, in spite of aggressive Democratic use of procedural tools to stall him, the Senate confirmed Russ Vought as director of the OMB on a straight party line vote. We’ve posted a lot of action items about stopping Vought, a Project 2025 author who is one of the leading architects of the funding freeze, the civil service purge, and the vast expansion of presidential power to dictatorial levels. But the big fights are still ahead of us. With him in place, we can anticipate even more aggressive use of “impoundment” – in which the Trump White House steals money they are bound by appropriation law to spend for the American people, so they can “save” it for billionaire tax cuts. We need any member of Congress with a conscience to be ready to be just as aggressive in pushing back. Let’s contact our representatives and tell them with Vought’s confirmation, it is that much more important that they oppose any government funding bill until the threat of impoundments is removed. If Trump wants to steal from the American people, he can do it without their rubber stamp. We can use language from this Resistbot petition for calls and emails or text 50409 to PZOBQT to send it directly. Let’s do the same for our senators, and also thank the Democrats for their opposition and tell the Republicans we will hold them accountable for the damage Vought does.
INTERNATIONAL FUNDING FREEZE HURTING UKRAINE, TRUMP SIDING WITH PUTIN
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US led by Biden has supplied Ukraine with about $39.8 billion in aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development. Trump freezing foreign aid and shutting down USAID is a problem for our allies. We continue to see new signs Trump will not only not provide support for Ukraine, but is instead taking sides with his old buddy, Putin. Trump’s Ukraine envoy postponed his trip and has said both sides will need to make concessions, despite Russia being the aggressor. Ukraine has been excluded from talks between the US and Russia about the war, which Zelenskyy describes as “dangerous,” and Trump’s team “had not worked with the Ukrainians to schedule formal talks.” While Trump has announced that as a result of talks with Putin he thinks they could do something “significant” towards ending the war, there is no detail, no plan, no sanctions and no progress. Meanwhile, Russia is gaining ground, with Ukraine losing Velyka Novosilka and Russia getting near to cutting off Ukraine’s supply lines and Russia is committing further war crimes, executing POWS. While ending the war is a critical goal, the most urgent need is to unfreeze international aid. Lives are endangered in many struggling places in the world by the sudden withdrawal of this essential support. Let’s ask our reps to urgently demand the restoration of international aid funding, including to Ukraine, and to join Senator Brian Schatz in putting a hold on Trump’s State Department nominees until the attacks on USAID end. As the shutdown continues, Ukraine is dependent more than ever on charitable agencies, so we can also consider a donation. The Obama Foundation has compiled a list of organizations we can support to help Ukrainians here.
LEARN WAYS TO ADVOCATE FOR MEDICAID
In their idea of “making America healthy again,” Trump, Musk and congressional Republicans are planning major Medicaid cuts that could lead to devastating coverage losses. To help advocates prepare disability activist and lawyer Matthew Cortland will be holding a webinar MONDAY, February 10th at 4 PM Eastern, focusing on how to engage with congressional staff to defend this crucial program. The session is designed for people who rely on Medicaid or have family members who do, though there may be future training for providers if there is interest. Kim Knackstedt, PhD, a seasoned disability policy expert with experience in Congress and the Biden administration, will join the discussion. If we are interested in learning more about possible Medicaid cuts and how we can lobby against them, we can register for the Zoom webinar here.
GOTV FOR WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT ELECTION
When Justice Ann Walsh Bradley retires at the end of her term, there will be an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. While Democratic-backed justices have maintained a slim 4-3 majority on the court, Justice Bradley's retirement could allow Republicans to take back control. An election will be held on April 1st to determine who fills the open seat, and Democrats in Wisconsin are supporting Judge Susan Crawford. Judge Crawford has experience as a circuit court judge and assistant attorney general, and as a lawyer she represented Planned Parenthood and the teacher’s union in court. She has placed an emphasis on remaining fair and impartial, while her opponent is running on a "tough on crime" message and has lamented "open borders." Let's request addresses from Postcards to Voters and encourage Wisconsinites to turn out and vote for Judge Susan Crawford in the April 1st election. For those of us new to Postcards to Voters, we can become approved writers by following the instructions on their website. We can also sign up to call voters with Grassroots Democrats HQ Sundays and Wednesdays here and with Swing Blue Alliance on Mondays here.
SIGN UP NOW FOR OVERSEAS BALLOTS
Speaking of Wisconsin: this is one of many state and local elections we will see over this “off-year,” and we need to make sure ALL Americans get a chance to be heard. For U.S. voters living outside the country, Democrats Abroad advises requesting overseas ballots every year, and has a webpage set up for ask for this year's ballots. After the overseas ballot request is accepted, the voter should receive a ballot for all elections for which they're eligible to vote, for the rest of the calendar year. If we’re abroad, let’s make sure we sign up - and if we’re not let’s help spread the word.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
WA – ACCOUNTABILITY ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Advocates in our state are pushing measures to get local governments to increase housing production with the Housing Accountability Act. SB5148 requires cities to demonstrate to the state that they’re planning for and accommodating housing that’s affordable to all – and for those that are not, they could have state grants or loans for public facilities withheld, and be prevented from denying a building permit to anyone looking to build in a multifamily housing zone as long as 20% of units are set aside for low-income housing. This will hold localities to their commitments and help us address the high costs. This bill is scheduled for action in the Senate Housing Committee today. Let’s send a note of support for this effort to our legislators here.
KEEPING AN EYE ON…
Phonebank shifts to unionize Starbucks this weekend!
LINK NEEDED. The WA affordable housing accountability blurb ends with what I think should be a hyperlinked sentence about contacting state lawmakers to support the bill.
You are essential. Thank you.