July 16, 2025 - One Day to Good Trouble Lives On

Pro-malaria/anti-Big Bird bill in endgame; Jerome Powell, Mike Waltz and Jeffrey Epstein in the spotlight; American children in ICE detention and more

We’re on the beach this week, so Rogan’s List will be publishing briefer issues - we will be back to our usual schedule starting next Monday!

Here’s some actions we can take today:

• H.R. 4, the rescissions package that rubber stamps Trump’s illegal cuts to foreign aid, NPR and PBS is set for a floor vote in the Senate TODAY. We’ve already earned one crucial victory - attacks on life-saving programs targeting HIV and AIDS are out of the bill. With this change, the legislation will have to go back to the House to be passed again, which must be done by Friday or the cuts will be blocked. Let’s reach out to both our senators and representatives and urge them again to oppose this bill (scripts and language here). If they’re Democrats, let’s also urge them to use every procedural tool they have at their disposal to slow passage, and tell them if this bill is made law we expect them to refuse to support upcoming appropriations bills that Trump and the GOP clearly won’t respect.

• Multiple outlets are reporting this morning that a senior White House official has said Trump is planning on firing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell soon and told House Republicans yesterday he would take this step, with the letter doing so already drafted. Trump is already contradicting himself, but our elected officials have to be ready for Trump to pull the trigger and risk a devastating financial crisis. Let’s contact our members of Congress and tell them to speak up publicly and privately against firing Powell and for them to prepared to act immediately if he tries. We can find scripts and language here or send this Resistbot message by texting SIGN PBLBKC to 50409.

• Trump and his attorney general Pam Bondi’s abrupt U-turn shutting down further investigation or releasing more information about the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein has even managed to upset a MAGA base normally prepared to swallow anything they're fed. New polls suggest just 3% of Americans are satisfied with how the federal government has handled this case, 55% of Republicans who have heard a lot about the Epstein records disapprove of Trump’s response, and 7 in 10 voters (including 6 in 10 Trump voters) believe law enforcement isn’t giving us the full story. Democrats in the House have made multiple efforts to force Trump’s Justice Department to publish everything they have on Epstein this week, and have been blocked in both the Rules Committee (where only South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman crossed party lines to join them) and on the House floor (where all present and voting Democrats voted for transparency and all present and voting Republicans voted for a cover up). Let’s thank House Democrats for their efforts, condemn House Republicans who once considered this crucial for falling in line with Trump’s stonewalling, and urge all our elected officials to keep pushing for real results.

• Former national security adviser and key Signalgate figure Mike Waltz is up for a cushy new job: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. At his confirmation hearing yesterday, he took zero responsibility for ignoring basic security protocols, destroying records and exposing sensitive information that could put American troops in danger. Let’s demand our senators stand up for our national security and the safety of our armed forces and vote on Waltz. We can find scripts and language here or send this message via Resistbot by texting SIGN PFUXSN to 50409.

• ICE has detained a Portland, Oregon-area family, including the family’s four U.S. citizen children, all under ten years old. The family — Kenia Jackeline Merlos, her 9-year-old triplets and 7-year-old son — have been locked up for two weeks, long past the 72-hours maximum under Customs and Border Protection rules. ICE has also detained Merlos’ husband and mother. Mimi Lettunich and Kris Wigger, the legal guardians of Merlos’ children in case of emergency, have started a GoFundMe fundraiser to support the family. Funds will go toward attorney’s fees, bond payments, emergency transportation and relocation costs, basic needs and care for the children while separated from their parents, and advocacy and translation services as needed. We can read more about the fundraising campaign and donate if we wish here.

• In this blog post in

  The Grassroots Connector
  , Catina Voellinger, executive director of Ground Game Texas, describes how her group uses direct-democracy ballot initiatives on the local level to achieve progressive wins. Wins like: capping campaign contributions for local officials. Decriminalizing marijuana. Raising the minimum wage. Defeating an anti-abortion travel ban. Banning chokeholds. Reversing the conservative overturning of progressive wins. Let’s read about the model Ground Game Texas uses, and let’s consider how we might adapt it for where we live.

And don’t forget for a second - the mass mobilization in honor of civil rights hero John Lewis is TOMORROW. Let’s make sure we know where we’re headed for it and are asking folks to join us!

---