Chop Wood, Carry Water 4/24

Trump is unfit / End ICE Detention TOMORROW! / Fund maternal and child health overseas / No clean FISA! / War Powers resolution now / New leadership for Dems / Come see me talk to Ron Wyden!

Hi, all, and happy Friday.

Doesn’t the photo above say it all? It’s a picture being shared widely on social media—I’m sorry I don’t know who took it—of our president, literally passed out in his chair, head drooping, while his team of incompetents stand around him mulling the bad choices they’ve made in life.

Trump is unfit. It becomes more palpably true every day. While he’s been unequipped for this job from day one, his physical and mental deterioration have become so obvious to anyone paying attention that one really wonders how much longer his allies can keep backing him. Those, I mean, who are still with him at all. Trump’s approval is underwater in 135 GOP-held congressional districts and Senate seats. He’s also underwater in key battleground states ranging from Georgia to Nevada to Arizona and even Texas — putting Republican candidates at major risk of losing their seats.

GOP lawmakers have got to be feeling conflicted.

Our job is to keep pushing them to separate themselves from Trump, finally, and start doing their jobs. Will they accede? The likelihood isn’t high. But it’s nonexistent without our pressure, so we’re going to keep it on.

As for Democrats, let’s keep pushing them to block a clean FISA, to stop this ICE funding bill if they can, to impeach Trump, and to bring yet another War Powers resolution up. Oh, and today we’re going to remind them that Democrats need new leadership. Because that subject is evergreen.

OK, folks. I also have a really exciting last minute Substack live today with one of my favorite Senators…more on that below.

Let’s get to work!

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

First, I strongly oppose passing a clean re-authorization of FISA. I know the Trump administration is putting pressure on Congress to get this done quickly but there’s no reason to rush. The surveillance section of Section 702 has already been extended by the FISA court until next yeat. It is Congress’s job to protect us from government overreach, and that can only be done by passing a bill like the SAFE Act that closes the data broker loophole and ends warrantless, backdoor searches. I’ll be watching this vote closely. No clean re-authorization, please!

Also, it’s time for a War Powers Resolution. Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing. Congress must step in.

Speaking of which, Trump is deteriorating mentally and physically. He’s broken the law more times than I can count. He’s running the economy into the ground. His continued threat to commit war crimes in Iran is disqualifying. He needs to be impeached.

[If Democrat add:] One last thing. Democratic voters have lost all faith in Minority Leader Schumer. We want new leadership desperately. Just look at his poll numbers! He needs to step aside and it needs to happen before the midterms. Please ask the Senator to call on him to do so. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

First, I strongly oppose passing a clean re-authorization of FISA. I know the Trump administration is putting pressure on Congress to get this done quickly but there’s no reason to rush. The surveillance section of Section 702 has already been extended by the FISA court until next yeat. It is Congress’s job to protect us from government overreach, and that can only be done by passing a bill like the SAFE Act that closes the data broker loophole and ends warrantless, backdoor searches. I’ll be watching this vote closely. No clean re-authorization, please!

Also, it’s time for a War Powers Resolution. Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing. Congress must step in.

Speaking of which, Trump is deteriorating mentally and physically. He’s broken the law more times than I can count. He’s running the economy into the ground. His continued threat to commit war crimes in Iran is disqualifying. He needs to be impeached.

[If Democrat add:] One last thing. Democratic voters have lost all faith in Minority Leader Jeffries. We want new leadership desperately. He needs to step aside and it needs to happen before the midterms. Please ask the Congressmember to call on him to do so. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Stop the Money Pipeline, Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Tesla Takedown just launched the DOGE Accountability campaign calling on members of Congress to hold Elon Musk and DOGE personnel accountable for the immense harm they caused our nation –– specifically urging Members of Congress to commit to holding hearings and investigations into DOGE in the new Congress.

We know Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was a complete disaster.

They promised DOGE would save U.S. taxpayers trillions. Instead, it cost us all money, destroyed vital agencies, left tens of thousands of dedicated public servants jobless, gutted regulation, exposed the personal data of nearly every American, and resulted in the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Be sure to tell your friends and family to add their voice as well!

Sign the DOGE Accountability Petition!

Get Smart! 📚

I’m about to hop on a Substack Live with Senator Ron Wyden, whose office reached out to me this AM because he wants to talk about FISA! Senator Wyden is fantastic—he is also THE expert on why reforms are so badly needed to this law. He sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence and has probably more knowledge of FISA than almost any other lawmaker. Bring your questions! We’ll do a deep dive on why this moment matters and what we can do to make sure we get the reforms we need!

Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣

Please help amplify tomorrow’s Stop ICE Warehouse Detention actions by sharing posts in this toolkit!

Give 💰!

Friends, Georgia has really important Supreme Court elections coming up on May 19, and we have two great Democrats running.

From the AJC:

Georgia Democrats are aggressively campaigning to unseat two sitting Supreme Court justices, a marked escalation in officially nonpartisan races long treated as sleepy, low-profile contests.

At last week’s annual Democratic gala in Atlanta, party leaders made no secret of their push to elect left-leaning challengers Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin over incumbent Justices Charlie Bethel and Sarah Warren, who are both backed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

“I need you to give them money. I need you to get on those phone banks. I need you to get on those doors,” Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey told hundreds of attendees from the stage.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said they would “stand as sentinels defending the rule of law and civil and human rights.” And even congressional candidate Shawn Harris, one of the party’s rising stars, joined in by introducing a flashy video touting the challengers.

Oath has created a fund to donate to both candidates (it also includes other state Supreme Court candidates, but if you don’t want to give to them you can un-click their names). Please give if you can. As we’ve learned in Wisconsin and other places, Supreme Courts are SO important!

Get in the Streets! 🪧

Friendly reminder that tomorrow is a Communities Not Cages day of action across the country. You can find an event near you here or here.

Win Races! 🗳

Help Turn CA-22 Blue to Reflect its Constituents!

Cartoons for Democracy just launched its latest campaign to reach Spanish-speaking voters in CA-22. This district is more than 70% Hispanic, but Hispanic voters here have a disproportionately low turnout rate. The campaign targets voters over 35 who range between “lean” Democrat, Independent and “lean” Republican and who did not participate in the 2024 election. Choose from three SHORT messages – you so not need speak Spanish to write them – you can easily copy the text from the directions provided. The postcards present an encouraging message of inclusivity and point the recipients to Spanish voter resources. Directions are provided in both English and Spanish. Also they still have their Go Blue Michigan campaign targeting MI-07 and MI-10. Don’t Sleep on Michigan! Its a a “triple threat” state with a mission critical senate seat, multiple house races and a governor’s race up for grabs.

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: your two US Senators] [H/T Sam Daley-Harris] [Text SIGN PAOZQF to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]

(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)

The Trump Administration continues its brutal attack on global health, but you have an opportunity to push back, and as my Senator, I want you to.

Please sign Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s Dear Colleague letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

The letter, slated to close on April 29th, asks for increased funding in fiscal year 2027 (FY27) for Maternal and Child Health which includes funding for the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and for Nutrition.

Instead of President Trump’s proposed 91% cut to $85 million for FY26, Congress appropriated the full $915 million for Maternal and Child Health of which $300 million was for GAVI and an additional $165 million for Nutrition for a total of $1.08 billion in funding. Please support fully funding these programs by signing the letter today. The link to sign is here:

https://results.org/wp-content/uploads/FY27-Senate-MCH-Gavi-Nutrition-Dear-Colleague.pdf

Thank you very much.

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OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess