Trump and Musk are orchestrating an illegal and unconstitutional hostile takeover of the federal government, and Russell Vought, if confirmed, will help them do it. The time for bipartisanship is over. Senate Democrats must play procedural hardball to shut down Trump’s agenda, using all procedural tools available to grind Senate business to a halt and force Republicans to feel the political cost of supporting this cruel and unconstitutional power grab. Our MoCs must also use all forums available to expose Trump’s cruel agenda—enriching billionaires by killing the programs benefiting everyone else. 

Trump has nominated Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI), making her responsible for overseeing the intelligence community and safeguarding America’s national security. This entails protecting U.S. interests, ensuring unbiased intelligence analysis, and maintaining the independence of agencies like the CIA and NSA. 

Gabbard is completely unqualified for this position. She has zero intelligence experience, has amplified Russian propaganda, has sided with foreign adversaries, and has cosied up to the recently deposed Syrian dictator. National security experts and veterans consider her “a very dangerous choice for DNI, because she’d likely make the U.S. more vulnerable to foreign adversaries and political influence. 

Gabbard will be appearing before the Intelligence Committee for a hearing on her nomination on Thursday, January 30. As your constituent, I urge you to convince your colleagues to use this opportunity to explain to the American people how unprepared and dangerous she would be to the safety and security of our nation and to remind them that any Senator voting for her will be complicit in the harms she causes both here and abroad. 

Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be FBI Director. A long-time MAGA loyalist, conspiracy theorist, and right wing attack dog, lacking in experience and expertise, Patel plans to politicize the FBI and weaponize it against anyone thought to be disloyal to Trump—journalists, government officials, nonprofit organizations, and even ordinary Americans—and his vow to punish everyone who refused to promote the Big Lie about the 2020 election, makes him an extremely dangerous FBI Director.

Patel will be appearing before the Judiciary Committee for a hearing on his nomination on Thursday, January 30. As your constituent, I urge you to convince your colleagues to use this opportunity to explain to the American people how dangerous Patel’s weaponization of our justice system will be and to remind them that any Senator voting for him will be complicit in the harms he will cause to innocent Americans, the rule of law, and democracy itself.

On Thursday, January 30, 2025, members of the Senate budget Committee, on which Senator Wyden sits, must decide whether to send Russell Vought’s nomination for OMB Director to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. Because his confirmation would supercharge MAGA authoritarianism and directly threaten our democracy, working families, and the future of our planet, derailing his nomination as soon as possible is necessary. 

t is clear that, if confirmed, Vought, the architect of Project 2025, will work to empower an already reckless and authoritarian Executive Branch and harm millions of people around the country who depend on federally funded programs. Does the Senate want to protect critical climate investments, job-creating infrastructure programs, and the rights of working families or vote for a nominee who would burn it all down for political gain?

I am calling on my Senators to make clear to the American people what they will face if Russell Vought’s confirmed and to do everything in their power to prevent his nomination from moving forward.

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee must decide whether to send the nomination of Pam Bondi to be Attorney General to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. Because she has demonstrated that she will not vigorously enforce America’s civil rights laws and will not uphold the agency’s long-standing independence from undue political influences, she should be considered disqualified from serving as Attorney General.

Bondi’s participation in and support for Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and her refusal at her confirmation hearing to directly answer questions about her ability to impartially administer justice raise serious doubts about her devotion to the rule of law, her professional legal judgment, and her ability to lead the DOJ fairly without undue influence from Trump.

So do her voter disenfranchisement activities, her defense of Florida’s ban of same-sex marriages after the Supreme Court invalidated a similar federal law, her support for restrictions on abortion and contraceptives, her attempts to declare the ACA unconstitutional, her support for a census citizenship question, and her refusal to denounce Trump’s dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric or to admit birthright citizenship was the law of the land all clearly demonstrate that she lacks the commitment to defending the core tenets of our democracy and the civil and human rights of all people in America.

For these reasons, as your constituent, I urge you to oppose the nomination of Pam Bondi for Attorney General and to do everything in your power to convince a majority of the Judiciary Committee that, because she is profoundly unqualified to be Attorney General, her nomination should die in Committee. 

Vaccine skepticism and other anti-science conspiracy theories are deadly. As HHS Secretary, Kennedy would do untold damage to our health care and public health infrastructure, to the detriment of millions of Americans.

Any senator voting for him will be complicit in the harm he will cause to public health and the lives of America’s children.

Our MoCs must convince colleagues to oppose Kennedy’s nomination for HHS Secretary in the Finance Committee on 1/29 and in the HELP Committee on 1/20 and vote against him on the Senate floor if his nomination gets that far.

Americans deserve leaders who will prioritize the needs of everyday people over Trump’s need for revenge against his perceived enemies and his debts to extremists, his billionaire friends, and the special interests chafing at government regulations . Our MoCs must use their role in the nomination process to shape the narrative and explain to the American people how Trump’s nominees, if confirmed, will use their power to serve his interests rather than ours

The US is the only developed country in the world that does not define healthcare for its citizens as a human right. When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot on December 4^th, it triggered a national conversation filled with collective anger. We should harness the zeitgeist. Demand single payer health insurance and ban for-profit healthcare for good.

In a last-ditch effort to prevent the American people from learning about Trump’s engagement in a sweeping conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and retain classified documents and the behavior of his unindicted lackeys, such as Tash Patel, his unqualified Attorney-General nominee for A-G, his attorneys, and those of his Mara Lago co-defendants sought and received from Trump-appointed Judge Cannon, despite her complete lack of jurisdiction to hear this motion. In support of their request, Trump disingenuously required these co-defendants to claim the release of the report would prejudice their pending cases, which Trump intends will be dismissed soon after January 20.

The 11^th Circuit Thursday refused to block DOJ from releasing these volumes to the public. Nevertheless, Garland plans to release only volume 1 (the elections subversion case), based on the absurd argument of Trump’s Mara Lago co-defendants that release of volume 2 would prejudice their cases—despite knowing Trump’s DOJ will bury the report if given the chance.

There’s another alternative better protecting the public’s right to know what Jack Smith’s investigations revealed—which our Members of Congress must impress on Biden and Garland—that  Garland must expeditiously release to the public all of volume 1 and all of volume 2, except those portions specifically discussing these co-defendants.

Time is of the essence here, because Garland will lose this ability to ensure these volumes ever see the light of day at the end of the week. He needs to do the right thing and release both reports to the public immediately.

Responding to Trump’s pressure for speedy confirmation of his nominees, GOP Senate Committee Chairs have set hearings for 11 nominees next week —1/14: Hegseth (DOD), Burgum (Interior), Collins (Veteran Affairs) ; 1/15: Bondi (A-G), Rubio (State), Ratcliffe (CIA), Noem (DHS), Wright (DOE), Duffy, (DOT), Vought (OMB); 1/16: Scott (HUD). It’s unclear how many nominees have complete files and whether committee members have reviewed them.

The Senate’s constitutional duty to advise and consent requires careful consideration of each nominee. This is why Senate committees don’t typically conduct a hearing until all vetting paperwork—a filled-out standard questionnaire and financial disclosure form, Office of Government Ethics approval, and a full FBI background check—is complete.

Being able to perform these constitutional functions is especially important here because many nominees lack relevant experience, are unqualified to hold the nominated-for positions and have disqualifying biases and conflicts of interest. Trump seems to have chosen them for their willingness to lie about the 2020 election and January 6^th and the expectation that they’ll carry out his orders, even if  illegal.

Democratic  Senators must insist that no confirmation hearing be held until all committee members have received, and have ample time to review (at least one week),  the candidate’s complete file with all of the above vetting paperwork. Please convince your colleagues to adopt this position and refuse to consent to any exceptions.

The new House’s first order of business was repassage of the Laken Riley Act, a bill targeting undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes that died in the Democratic Senate last session. Reps. Hoyle and Bynum were among the 48 Democrats voting for passage of this possibly unconstitutional mean-spirited bill requiring ICE detention of undocumented immigrants arrested for the property crimes of burglary, theft, or shoplifting and allowing states to sue for the federal government’s alleged failures related to immigration enforcement. Because wrongful arrests are common in minority communities, many innocent people could be indefinitely detained, which violates due process; and allowing state A-Gs to sue removes immigration enforcement from federal jurisdiction and gives incredible power to federal courts and A-Gs hostile to immigration.

 The fate of this bill, labeled by Voto Latino as a “chilling first step toward widespread family separation,” lies with the Senate, where it’s already being considered. CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS NOW: Thank Reps. Bonamici, Dexter, and Salinas for sticking up for immigrant families and opposing this mean-spirited unconstitutional legislation; castigate Reps. Hoye and Bynum for their hypocrisy in labeling it “immigration reform;” and demand that Sens. Merkley and Wyden convince their colleagues that it violates due process, upends federal immigration jurisdiction, and does nothing to fix our broken immigration system or to secure the border.

Time is running out for President Biden to use his executive authority to provide temporary protection for the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding immigrants who will be targeted by Trump’s draconian mass deportation policy. Our Members of Congress must convince him to limit the economic and humanitarian harm to these vulnerable communities and to minimize the number of ICE detention facilities available to the Trump administration.