Indivisibles,

History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Look at these headlines:

• Anger erupts at Republican town halls
• At town halls, doses of fury and a bottle of Tums
• The massive wave of town hall protests ruining the GOP’s week, explained
• Republicans face angry voters at town halls, hinting at broader backlash
• At testy town halls, Republicans take heat for Trump’s bold moves
• At town halls, Republicans feel the heat from Trump and Musk's firing and cutting spree

The first three of those come from February 2017 -- the first congressional recess after Trump and congressional Republicans rolled out a deeply unpopular agenda. And the last three came from last week, the first congressional recess after Trump and congressional Republicans rolled out a deeply unpopular agenda.  

This energy isn’t just making congressional Republicans quake in their boots. It’s also shifting the strategy of congressional Democrats, who started the year somewhat sleepy, but are starting to wake up. Reports last week were that Democrats are using their leverage over the coming government funding fight to demand safeguard protections against Musk’s hostile takeover. This is precisely what we’ve been asking congressional Democrats to do. Further reports say Susan Collins is “concerned,” another throwback to 2017. We don’t know how this fight will play out, but the fact that there is a fight rather than the strategic silence that characterized early Democratic response is itself a win worth celebrating. A unified opposition is building -- and we’re building it.

Much of the moment we are now in was predictable shortly after the election. The week after the 2024 election, Leah and I posted the new guide, Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink. We knew Trump would overreach. We knew that congressional Republicans could only goose-step behind Trump and Musk for so long before it caught up to them. We knew there would be backlash. And we knew Indivisible’s role in this period would be to organize that backlash into an effective opposition to stop us from falling over beyond the brink. Hell, we even knew this congressional recess would be a huge opportunity, which is why we released this great field manual for how to take advantage of it. 

But one thing that’s hard to predict is courage. As Leah and I wrote in a new Nation op-ed that Rachel Maddow generously quoted on air:

These are frightening times, and frightening times call for active, courageous leadership. Musk and Trump are really seeking to annex the operations of the state to their pet vanity projects, bigotries, and conspiracy theories, but our enemy is not one or two men. Our enemy is apathy, cynicism, and fatalism; the pernicious, authoritarian-friendly belief that we are merely victims of world events rather than active participants in a global struggle for freedom and justice. Every time one of us -- a family member, a community organizer, a representative, a senator -- takes a step forward in this fight, a thousand pairs of eyes watch and learn. Courage is contagious.

We could only hope for widespread organic energy behind our side in this fight. That kind of energy is not preordained. It depends on individuals -- and groups of individuals -- choosing to take a step forward in this fight. So thank you to Indivisible North Metro Atlanta who showed up at Rep. McCormick’s town hall, and thanks to Indivisible Manheim Township who held a mock town hall in Pennsylvania’s 11th congressional district to shame Rep. Smucker for being a chicken, and thank you to Livermore Indivisible and Tri-Valley Indivisible who showed up in force at Rep. Swalwell’s townhall to encourage him to fight back.

We are all watching. We are all learning. 

And for those of us who, up until this moment, have only consumed this political content but not yet taken action, I’ll let the Indivisible national team take it away with things you can do this week to take your own step forward in this fight. 

- Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

Note for our new folks (hi!): When we start an action with “tell your Democratic representative to do XYZ,” we’re suggesting that action specifically to people who have a Democratic representative. So number one below is just for folks with Dem representatives, number two is for those of you with Republican representatives, and number three works for everyone! Not sure who represents you? Look it up here. 

1. Tell your Democratic representative to use their leverage to stop the Trump/Musk coup: Republicans need to pass a spending bill by March 14, but their internal divisions and minuscule House majority mean it’ll be pretty much impossible for them to do it without Democratic votes. And that gives Dems real power to put an end to the lawless dismantling of our government by Trump and DOGE. Join us in urging House Dems to use their leverage in the spending fight to impose restraints on Musk, and block any bill that slashes funding for vital programs. 
2. Tell your Republican representative to oppose a budget that guts the social safety net to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. You’ve seen the town halls in the news. Republicans are getting spooked by constituent anger over their complicity in the Trump/Musk coup and know the anger will be turned up to 11 if they back a spending bill that slashes Medicaid, public education, and other popular programs. If we keep the pressure on, we can splinter the Republican coalition and block the worst cuts from making their way into the final budget bill. 
3. Help block Republicans from disenfranchising millions of voters with their ‘SAVE ACT.’ As early as next week, the House could vote on H.R. 22 (the SAVE Act) -- one of the biggest threats to voting rights we’ve seen in a generation. The bill requires voters to show proof of citizenship documents that match their current legal name -- something tens of millions of Americans simply don’t have. It’d cause massive challenges for married women and trans and nonbinary people who’ve changed their names, and disproportionately impact people of color. We’ve got a lot more info (including key Members of Congress needed to stop the bill) here. But if you’re ready to take action now, you can use our tools to call or email your representative. 
4. Take the fight to Elon: Plan or attend a Tesla Townhall. Even though the House recess is over, we know that hunger for in-person actions isn’t slowing down. Until Congress is back in district (mid-March) Tesla dealerships are a great location for big, attention-grabbing events protesting the Trump-Musk coup. We’ve already seen events all over the country and more are being planned every day.

P.S. -- With social media companies bending the knee to Trump, Project 2025 purging the government of dissenters, and corporate media companies caving in the face of speech-chilling lawsuits, it’s never been more important to invest in organizations you believe in that are willing to speak out and defy autocracy. Please consider chipping in with a monthly or one-time donation to help us keep up the fight

Wherever you live, you’ve got a stake in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election

We know there’s a lot competing for your attention right now, but we’d like to make a case for why a Supreme Court race taking place in the Badger State 36 days from now is worth your attention. 

With Trump, Musk and MAGA Republicans taking a flamethrower to any element of our democracy within reach, it’s vital that we protect the xxxxxxs against tyranny beyond their control. The Wisconsin Supreme Court -- a liberal majority court in a crucial swing state -- is one of those xxxxxxs.

If we lose the majority on April 1, MAGA Republicans (who control the legislature) will push through new attacks on fair voting maps and attempts to suppress the vote. A conservative court would rubber stamp their attacks on the rights of Wisconsinites and entrenchment of GOP power. 

It’s no surprise that Elon Musk is pouring resources into the race on behalf of the pro-gerrymandering right-wing candidate. But we’ve overcome massive Republican spending in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race before. We can do it again -- with your help. 

Visit our Wisconsin Action Hub to learn about our endorsed candidate, Judge Susan Crawford, and sign up for a phonebank to help defend the court’s liberal majority. 

Slow down and process the news with us every Thursday at 3pm ET

Early in December, we knew the news would be coming at us fast and we’d need a time and space to pause, discuss, and strategize together as a movement. So we started a weekly Zoom with Indivisible founders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin to slow down and process what’s happening.

We only planned on continuing them for a few weeks, but they keep getting more popular, so we’re keeping them going.

On our “What’s the Plan” calls each Thursday, Ezra and Leah take a few minutes to talk through the week’s news and our latest calls to action before answering questions from the thousands of folks in attendance.

Register here to join us on Thursday >>

And please note: If you ever misplace the signup link, it’s got a permanent spot on the Indivisible homepage.

IndivisiWin of the Week 

Here’s where we normally lift up one Indivisible group to celebrate, but it’s impossible to choose when we’ve seen groups plan over 200 office visits and protests across the country in just the last week. Visit our Bluesky for some highlights. Pictured (clockwise from top left): Events in Alaska, New Jersey, Florida, and Montana.

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.