June 1 update – Last night the House passed the dirty debt ceiling deal with no amendments. About 100 Democrats voted against the "no amendments" rule before they voted for the dirty deal, which is the most, and depressingly inadequate, good news I can give you about the vote.

The better news is that the bill now moves to the Senate, which is a much more open and welcoming venue for amendments. Several Senators have already said they will offer amendments, like Tim Kaine. And a few, like Bernie Sanders, have said they won't vote for the debt ceiling deal unless it gets less dirty. So, keep calling!

Pick up the phone (or click here) and call (833) 971-2490 to tell your member your Senators to clean up the dirty debt ceiling deal.

Can't call, or already know where your Representative and Senators stand? Chip in $1.98 or more to keep calls coming and free for all.

Hell No, Joes! Call now to stop the dirty debt ceiling deal

There's a longer explanation in the blog, but here's a short version of the context in case you need more info or want to forward to a friend.

Kaine gave a fiery speech introducing his amendment earlier today, and Senator Merkley of Oregon has also promised to introduce an amendment that would undo the bad NEPA limitations in the dirty debt ceiling bill. What happens next is uncertain.

Because margins are close in the Senate, and rules require more Senators to go along in order to advance any piece of legislation or amendment, Sen Schumer is trying to balance several competing interests. On the one hand, he can't allow too many amendment votes, or the process will bog down, senators will talk all night, and they'll fail to pass a bill by June 5 (which is, maybe, when the government runs out of money). On the other hand, he can't do what the House did and just refuse to allow any amendments at all, because Senator Kaine or Merkley on the left, or a right-wing Senator like Rand Paul, could filibuster the whole process and blow up the deal.

We've been building support for weeks around the idea of Kaine's amendment, in particular. And now is the moment to deliver. In a clear sign that our pressure is working, Sen Warner of Virginia went from saying he would not support Kaine's amendment because the debt ceiling deal was too important and fragile to be amended; to saying that he WILL vote for Kaine's amendment today after an avalanche of protests, calls, and letters from Virginian's asking him to do so.

So we're asking you to pick up the phone (or click here) and call (833) 971-2490 to ask more Senators to do the same thing as Kaine and say they'll support amendments that make the debt ceiling bill cleaner, and more fair for Americans.

Drew and the 198 zombie slayers crew

PS - Want to make more calls? Use this toolkit from our allies on the frontlines of the #StopMVP fight to spread the word and pressure key members of Congress.

Sources: Lots more in the blog!

New for June 1

Older links for context