In the wake of Rubio’s bigoted trans passport ban and Trump’s federal grant freeze and temporary shutdown of Medicaid portals, I called my US senators and US representative yesterday morning to ask them to stop cooperating with this administration in any way. I asked them to vote against everything Trump proposes, including every single Senate confirmation. I asked them to shut down every meeting, deny every courtesy vote. I asked them to obstruct in every way they can because everything the Trump Administration is trying to get done hurts vulnerable people — which means all of us.
If you feel similarly, please feel free to look up your senators here and pick up the phone. You can also call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and they’ll connect you to your senators.
Indivisible has also put up a fantastic explainer and form titled “Call Your Democratic Senators: Demand They Shut It Down to Stop Trump’s Unconstitutional Power Grab” that you can use to be connected with your senators. There’s lots of great language you can use there to make your calls. Check it out!
Here are the specific things Indivisible says our senators can do to shut down Trump and the Senate:
- Committing to oppose all of Trump’s nominees unless OMB reverses their guidance and releases the funds
- Denying any GOP requests for Unanimous Consent that would speed up floor proceedings
- Opposing all cloture votes to further stall floor proceedings
- Requesting a Quorum Call at every possible opportunity to force Senators to physically be on the floor for business to proceed
The first and third are the obvious main ways senators should be voting against Trump — and sadly often are not — so tell your senators to oppose every one of Trump’s nominees and every cloture vote!
But I particularly love the second and fourth suggestions — denying unanimous consent and requesting quorum calls. These are great, specific ways senators can kick normal bipartisan “courtesy” to the curb and gum up proceedings to slow down the damage the Trump Administration is doing.
Sometimes fighting back is making big dramatic statements; sometimes it’s just making things really ANNOYING for the opposition. Tell your senators to do these annoying things!
And if you’re looking for specific examples of reasons WHY our senators should be voting against every nominee and Trump proposal, here are some things you might mention, particularly if your senators voted for these particular nominees:
- Over the last week, we’ve seen every Democrat present in the Senate vote to confirm Marco Rubio for Secretary of State – who then immediately froze ‘all applications for passports with “X” sex markers and changes to gender identity on existing passports’ (link). Whichever Senator represents you, please tell them how you feel about their vote.
- We saw seven Senate Democrats vote with Republicans (link) to confirm dog-killer Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security. If you’re repped by Fetterman, Hassan, Kaine, Kim, Peters, Shaheen, or Slotkin, please tell them how you feel about their vote.
- We saw fifteen Senate Democrats vote with Republicans (link) to confirm Scott Bessent as Secretary of the Treasury – even though he testified that he’s against raising the federal minimum wage from $7.50 an hour. If you’re repped by Blunt Rochester, Booker, Cantwell, Coons, Fetterman, Gallego, Gillibrand, Hassan, Hickenlooper, Kaine, Kelly, King, Peters, Shaheen, Slotkin, and Warner, please tell them how you feel about their vote.
- We saw twelve Senate Democrats vote for the Laken Riley Act (link), which the ACLU called “likely unconstitutional.” If you’re repped by Cortez Masto, Fetterman, Gallego, Hassan, Kelly, Ossoff, Peters, Rosen, Shaheen, Slotkin, Warner, or Warnock in the Senate, please feel free tell them how you feel about their vote. You can also find which US reps voted for the bill here. Feel free to call them, too.
- And just yesterday, even while criticizing Trump’s federal grant freeze, Chuck Schumer and 22 other Senate Democrats voted for Sean Duffy for Transportation Secretary. Today, ONE DAY LATER, Duffy ordered a fuel economy rewrite. Check this list – if your Democratic senator is on it, tell them how you feel while you tell them never to vote for another Trump nominee.
Hope this is helpful! If you feel similarly about all of this, please do look up your senators here and pick up the phone!
