March 26, 2025 - 6 Days to Wisconsin
Voters, students, everyone on Social Security... we've got a lot of folks to protect
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:
If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!
PROTECT VOTING RIGHTS AGAINST THE SAVE ACT, TRUMP’S ORDERS
Another day, another massive power grab from Trump that threatens our democracy. Yesterday, Trump issued a flagrantly illegal executive order, claiming vastly expanded influence over our elections and potentially disenfranchising millions of Americans. He wants to require proof of citizenship for voter registration, which would prevent a minuscule amount of noncitizen voting at the cost of stopping countless Americans who don’t have easy access to the correct documents from exercising their basic rights. He also wants to stop ballots received after Election Day from being accepted and let Elon Musk subpoena voting records.
This would seize control from the states and override Congress, and it will be fought out in the courts for a long time before coming close to being real policy. But the judiciary isn’t the only branch weighing in on voter suppression. As Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes put it, this order is a “cheap substitute” for the SAVE Act. Instead of acting by executive decree, this bill (H.R. 22, introduced by Texas GOP Representative Chip Roy) amends the National Voter Registration Act to require voters registering or changing their registration information to provide ID that many of us do not have, and forcing them to present that ID in person.
We recently saw these kinds of restrictions in action in local elections in New Hampshire, and as expected they significantly restricted access to voting, with married women who changed their names notably burdened. We’ve also seen them put to work in Kansas, where roughly 30,000 people were prevented from registering to vote by a citizenship requirement – almost all of whom were in fact U.S. citizens. This would also effectively lock overseas voters out of the ballot box entirely.
Let's call our Members of Congress and tell them to vote no on the SAVE Act. We can use this script from 5Calls.org or send this message via Resistbot by texting SIGN PMUDSD to 50409. For overseas voters, Democrats Abroad has a script and action items especially for us, along with an FAQ on the bill we can share.
Let’s also be sure to reach out to our state officials charged with overseeing elections – especially those who are elected themselves – and urge them to join Fontes and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold in condemning Trump’s executive order. We can find scripts here.
TRUMP’S NEW STEPS AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Trump is making a lot of noise about his effort to tear down the Department of Education. He declared Friday that the management of the federal student loan portfolio will be moved to the Small Business Administration – the same day the SBA announced they will fire 40% of their workers. He also indicated the Department of Health and Human Services will handle “special needs” – possibly referring to funding and administration of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). (Both of these moves are in direct defiance of federal law.) There were already serious concerns about whether or not students will be able to access financial aid next year if Trump sends the system into chaos, and these announcements have made the confusion worse. Advocacy organizations and teachers’ unions have already filed suit against Trump’s planned shutdown, and we all need to do our part too. Let’s:
Call and email our members of Congress to urge them to fight back. Indivisible has produced a new guide on what the costs of Trump destroying the Education Department will be and what Congress can do about it, complete with call and email tools we can put to work here. Our friend and ally has also put together this Resistbot letter on protecting the department we can sign by texting SIGN POZXCJ to 50409.
Make sure we’re getting updates from the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. The teachers’ unions will be leading the fight to protect our kids.
“SOCIAL SECURITY IS BREAKING DOWN”
The Washington Post reported in detail yesterday confirming how much damage Musk and Trump are doing to Social Security. The “DOGE” attacks on the Social Security Administration have led to jammed phone lines, with wait times on the toll-free line doubling and some recipients facing four or five-hour holds. Online claims are piling up, and the overload on the servers has crashed the SSA website four times in 10 days. Office visits are growing even as offices are threatened with closures. A shrinking staff is overwhelmed, and the only solution suggested by interim administrator Leland Dudek is outsourcing even as they continue to fire federal workers.
Meanwhile Dudek, who last week needed to be warned by a judge against shutting down Social Security entirely, has confessed that they are rushing cuts that should take two years to implement in two weeks at the White House’s request – saying the SSA has been too “thoughtful” in considering beneficiaries before making previous changes. Not to be outdone, Trump’s nominee to take over leadership of the SSA, self-described “DOGE person” Frank Bisignano, was caught lying to the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing – claiming he has not been involved in discussions with DOGE about Social Security cuts when a whistleblower says he absolutely was.
Trump and Musk won’t stop coming after our benefits. We need to keep ringing the alarm bell with our members of Congress and with our friends and neighbors. Let’s continue to reach out to our members of Congress using scripts and language here – now with new asks for our members of Congress to endorse Rep. John Larson (D-CT)’s measures to protect the SSA and to our senators to vote against Bisignano’s confirmation and demand Dudek’s removal. We can also continue urging our local media to cover what it will mean for us if our local SSA offices close down and doing standouts and visibility at those offices. (Please be sure to send us photos if you do!)
ICE IS SPEEDING UP DEPORTATIONS WITH EXPEDITED REMOVALS
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded a policy that allows certain noncitizens to be deported quickly, without a chance to gather evidence, talk to a lawyer, or go before a judge. This change could have serious consequences. Noncitizens and everyone standing up for our friends and neighbors need to understand the risks and know their rights. We can use this toolkit from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center to help legal service providers and advocates support those at risk of expedited removal when dealing with immigration authorities. And let’s also be sure to connect with local groups advocating for and serving immigrants in our communities - we can find a list here.
30 LONELY BUT BEAUTIFUL ACTIONS - HONEST CONVERSATIONS, PART #3 (Via )
We’re continuing to highlight a series of actions from Barnraisers Project founder on small ways to stay grounded and serve others – helping everyone find something to fit our comfort level. Next on the list, a third way to encourage honest conversations… and have a little fun at the same time.
We can throw the best damn party we can imagine - a party we'd like to attend. If we like to bowl, listen to death metal, knit and sip tea, dance through the night, have a few beers at a kid friendly brewery while the children run about the place? Then let the party be about that thing, the thing we love. We can put the word out so that people who also love that thing find out about it, get to know them, and tell them that the only cost of admission is we want ten minutes to speak about the actions they can take against Trump right now.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
GA – NEW VOTER PURGE COMING THIS SUMMER
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is planning on cancelling more than 450,000 voter registrations in our state this summer, one of the largest registration removals in U.S. history. This includes voters who they claim have moved out of state or are unreachable by mail, but also those who have simply gone a long time without voting. Purging folks from the rolls has been a key tactic of vote suppressors, and we can’t allow anyone’s voice to be silenced. Let’s be sure to check our own voter registration status before and after this purge using the office’s My Voter Page, and spread the word in our community to make sure others do, too.
KEEPING AN EYE ON…
Keep up the pressure on firings over Signalgate - scripts and Resistbot
Six days until the April elections, here’s all the ways we can help win the Wisconsin Supreme Court and compete for House seats in Florida - where they’re running scared after last night’s big legislative flip in PA!
New tarriffs begin April 2nd - tell Congress to stop the Trump import tax with these tools
Hands Off National Day of Action April 5th, find a protest near you here or organize one here and make social content to grow the crowds here
Target Fast boycott in effect through April 17th, Latino Freeze boycotts on resegregation supporters continuing
Resistance Rangers rallies at national parks for Earth Day April 22nd
Join the federal workers #SaveOurServices rapid response network here
Has a boycott of the major law firms who are caving to the Trump intimidation started? It should! And it should extend to each firm’s top 20 major corporate clients. Someone needs to organize this! Thanks!
The latest issue of Chop Wood Carry NY has been released. Lots of regional events. Feel free to leave a comment on the newsletter or here if we forgot to post something.
https://open.substack.com/pub/adoptny/p/chop-wood-carry-new-york-326?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1tapn