Indivisibles,

On Friday evening, we came to the brink of a government shutdown after Donald Trump and his benefactor/co-president-elect Elon Musk blew up a bipartisan funding agreement at the 11th hour via Twitter tantrum. 

The good news: A harmful shutdown was narrowly averted. Dems held the line and refused to give in to Trump’s demands to clear the runway for his massive tax cuts for billionaires. Americans in need of disaster relief will get it, and no existing programs were cut in the process. 

The bad news: Musk and Trump’s interference took a toll. Measures that would have funded childhood cancer research, lowered prescription prices, removed bans on junk fees -- and notably, would have complicated things for magnates doing business with China (for example…Elon Musk) -- were stripped out of the final bill.

This circus was a vivid preview of the fights we’ve got ahead of us. We saw the chaos, the incompetence, and the actual substance: Trump and Musk waging a messy battle to enrich themselves and their billionaire friends at the expense of programs that'd benefit the vast majority of Americans. We’re going to encounter iterations of last week over and over again for the next two years. 

We didn’t get all we wanted out of this fight, but Democrats showed some signs of life after largely flailing over the past month. And Republicans, for their part, showed deep divisions, with many bucking Trump’s demands, voting against their own bills, and attacking each other in the media. 

Soon this very Republican party is going to have to elect a new speaker. They’ll have to defend abhorrent cabinet nominees. Once all that’s done, they’re going to try to pass politically toxic legislation to cut taxes for the ultra-rich. 

If we can keep pushing Dems to show up and actually fight, we’re going to have a chance to score some wins over the next few months, even under a Republican trifecta.

We’ve only got a few to-dos this week, so take some time and rest up for the hard work ahead.

 Your weekly to-dos

1. Tell your representative to push for the publication of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA has cleared the threshold for ratification, but it’s been held up because of GOP opposition and legal debates. We’ve got 27 days left to take action to enshrine equal rights into our Constitution. Call your representative today and tell them to push President Biden and VP Harris to publish the ERA.
2. If you haven’t already, read the new Indivisible Guide over the holidays. Our new “Practical Guide to Democracy on the Brink” is full of information, tips, and strategies designed to help you harness your power, organize effectively, and push back as Trump seeks to undermine our democracy and impose Project 2025. Once you’ve finished reading the guide, take our short survey and let us know if there’s anything else you need to make it actionable.
3. Join an Indivisible group, or start your own.  Are you interested in being part of a local network of like-minded people who want to fight to protect our freedoms, families, and futures during the next Trump administration? Maybe you already know that you are interested in starting an Indivisible group, but don't know what the first steps are. Join an Indivisible group or start your own and get connected with other local activists in your area.

P.S. -- We have just 8 days left in 2024, and we're falling behind on our end-of-year fundraising goal. If you want to ensure this movement can continue fighting for our democracy in the new year, then chip in now to support our organizing.

Some items we can cross off the to-do list

It’s our last newsletter of 2024, Congress has gone home, so we figured this would be a good time to update you on the outcome of the priorities we’ve featured in our to-do lists over the past few weeks.

The nonprofit killer bill: One of our biggest concerns this past month was that Republicans would jam H.R. 9495 -- the ‘nonprofit killer bill’ -- into defense funding legislation and hand Trump some seriously scary tools to chill dissent in his second term. But you created an uproar, generating nearly 15,000 calls to Congress and we can happily report this bill is dead for now. We’ll have to be vigilant against Republicans trying to push it through next term, but this is a fight we can win, even under a Republican trifecta.

The Gaetz report: Matt Gaetz hoped his resignation would prevent the full House Ethics report on his illegal activities and misdealings from seeing the light of day. Indivisibles said ‘the hell with that’ and continued pressuring Congress to release the report. As of today, the report is out -- a victory for transparency hopefully a step on the way to real accountability. And quick reminder: Trump wanted this creep to be his Attorney General.

Confirm Biden’s judicial nominees: Our primary advocacy goal during the final session of this Congress was getting every last one of Biden’s judicial nominees confirmed in order to Trump-proof the judiciary as much as possible.

We almost got there. Working late into the evening on Friday, the Senate confirmed the 22nd federal judge of the final session, bringing the total for Biden’s term to 235 lifetime appointments to the bench.

Unfortunately, obstruction from Republicans and not-so-dearly departing Senators Sinema and Manchin prevented us from getting all outstanding nominees over the line. Three judges have canceled their retirements so Trump will not be able to replace them, and one circuit seat will remain open for Trump to fill.

Silver linings? With Friday’s confirmation, Biden passed Trump’s first-term total. Also: We never have to deal with Senators Manchin or Sinema again.

IndivisiWins

Indivisible Sedona had their December meeting where they opened up Christmas crackers and took steps towards building teams to respond to attacks next year.

Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to our text messaging program, where we send rapid response actions a few times a month.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team