Indivisibles,

This is a big week full of predictable drama. Part of Indivisible’s role is to demystify complex congressional events, so I’m going to try to do that as succinctly as possible in this intro before we get to this week’s action items. Let’s see if I can cover the main parts in three short bullets:

• If Congress doesn’t act by Friday, we go into a government shutdown.
• Republicans are pushing their own bill forward without negotiating with Dems, hoping that Dems will simply cave.
• Democrats have leverage. In the Senate, you need 60 votes to pass a funding bill -- that means at least 7 Dem votes. In the House, the Republicans are such a clown show that they might not be able to get every Republican onboard, in which case Dem votes would be needed there as well.

That much is known. But both sides are posturing, so it can be hard to tell who’s bluffing and who’s representing their real “best and final offer.” Dems are saying no votes unless the bill includes safeguards against Musk’s illegal and unconstitutional behavior. Republicans are rejecting that, have kicked Dems out of the negotiations, and are aiming to jam their own bill through the House tomorrow. 

Here are the two main questions we have: 

FIRST: Will Republicans force a shutdown? Republicans aren’t acting like they want a deal. They’ve put out a funding bill with MAGA treats included. This isn’t a “clean” funding bill -- it makes MAGA-friendly adjustments to existing funding levels (e.g. more money for ICE) and gives the administration more discretion over spending, rather than simply continuing the current funding status quo. 

Republicans are implicitly threatening congressional Dems: give in to our funding demands, or we will blame you for shutting down the government. 

Maybe this is bluster. Maybe Republicans in the House won’t be able to muster votes for this bill. Or maybe they’ll find Democratic resistance in the Senate, and then they’ll drop their additional demands. We don’t know.

A lot depends on how Dems respond. Which brings us to the next big question...

SECOND: How much will Dems give in to avoid a shutdown? Congressional Dems are currently opposing a “blank check” without safeguards against Musk. There are four potential ways this goes:

No concessions: Dems flat out refuse to give any votes without safeguards against Musk. If a shutdown happens, they blame Republicans and Musk. This is the current public position of many congressional Dems, including those in the negotiations and in leadership.

Fall-back position: If Republicans refuse to rein in Musk, Dems agree to a short-term funding bill of a couple weeks. The main advantage of this is Dems don’t agree to a blank check, and they force Republicans to use up additional time fighting for short-term funding rather than doing additional damage. 

Cave: Dems drop the demand for safeguards against Musk and agree to a full-year clean funding bill. This would require Republicans amending their current proposal. But it would still give a blank check to Trump and Musk, and it would relinquish the only real leverage congressional Dems have this year. 

Unconditional Surrender: Dems drop any demands and agree to the GOP funding bill with MAGA goodies. If House Republicans succeed in passing their funding bill tomorrow, it only takes 7 Senate Dems to pass it through the Senate. It’s possible they just surrender for fear of being blamed for a shutdown.

What we’re communicating to Congress right now:

On last Thursday’s “What’s the Plan” chat with me and Leah, I previewed for folks a survey on this question on what Democrats should do. We had 3 options:

• Should they press for protections against Musk, even if that would entail a government shutdown? 
• Should they accept a short-term funding bill to maintain leverage? 
• Or should they accept a long-term clean funding bill? 

I didn't even ask about the unconditional surrender option, because my guess was that no active Indivisible member would favor that approach. As of this morning, here are the results of that survey:

• Accept a long-term clean funding bill: 3.9%
• Push for a short-term funding bill to maintain leverage: 29%
• Demand protections against Musk even if it entails a shutdown: 67% 

Essentially, what you're telling us is: You want Dems to play hardball. We're passing that message on to congressional Democrats. But we need your help to do it, which brings us to this week’s action items.

- Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Tell your Democratic representative to hold the line in the government funding battle. The government will shut down on Friday night unless Congress can pass a spending bill. Democrats came to the table with a simple demand: Guardrails to ensure that the funding allocated by Congress is actually spent -- and not frozen by Trump, Musk and the DOGE kids. Instead, Republicans put forward a partisan bill that actually gives Trump and Musk MORE discretion to use taxpayer funds however they choose. No Democrat should vote for this bill. If you’re in a blue district, call your representative today (calls are best, but you can also use this tool to send an email). 
2. Tell your Democratic senator(s) to hold the line, too. If this bill makes it through the House, there will be a lot of pressure on Senate Democrats to vote for it. But amidst this constitutional crisis, Dems should be doing everything possible to STOP Trump and Musk’s assault on our government -- not greenlighting legislation that gives them more power to choose which programs to fund or starve of resources. Tell your Democratic senator(s) that now is the time to take a stand. 
3. Tell your Republican representative to face their constituents this recess. After all they’ve done to enable the Trump-Musk coup and amidst their efforts to slash Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, we understand why Republican representatives are scared to hold town halls. At this point, GOP leaders are outright instructing their members to stay invisible. Let your Republican representative know you’re watching -- and remind them they work for you. 
4. Regardless of who represents you, get ready for the Musk or Us recess. A shutdown could change the schedule slightly, but every Member of Congress is currently expected to be returning to their states and districts from March 15-23. This is an opportunity to hold Republicans accountable for the lawless chaos we’re enduring, and to demand Democrats fight back. Our toolkit, linked above, has all the info you need to make the most of the recess and you can sign up here for updates on town halls and other events near you. 
5. Process the news with Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg this Thursday at 3pm ET/12pm PT: Every Thursday at 3pm, we take a step back to absorb the news of the past week, draw inspiration from the work Indivisibles and allies are doing all across the country, and talk about how we fight back. With a government shutdown looming, attacks on the Department of Education expectedly imminently, and some big announcements coming from the Indivisible team, there’ll be a lot to talk about. Join us.

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.

Red state and rural Indivisibles: Join our March 26 caucus call

One of the most common questions we get is, “I’m in a deep red district/I’m in a rural area with little party infrastructure -- what can I do?” Our Rural and Red Caucus calls are a great place to find the answers! 

Each month, grassroots leaders from rural areas and Republican-dominated districts/states come together to strategize about messaging and tactics that we employ to change hearts and minds in our communities and build grassroots political power. 

Join our next Red and Rural Caucus call on Wednesday, March 26, at 8pm ET.

Don’t let Elon buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court majority

With Trump and Musk staffing the federal government with far-right sycophants, it’s vital that we preserve our xxxxxxs against tyranny, from Democratic legislatures to liberal-majority courts. 

On April 1, control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is up for grabs. This is one of the most important elections of 2025 -- and not just for Wisconsinites. If conservatives win a majority, they will entrench the state’s gerrymander and get the final say in voting rights cases in the crucial swing state. That’s why Elon Musk is pouring millions of dollars into the race. 

We don’t have Elon’s funds, but we’re better at this than he is -- e.g., we actually know who the candidates are. We’re working with Wisconsin Indivisibles to get out every last vote for our endorsed candidate, Judge Susan Crawford. But if you’re outside Wisconsin, we need your help, too. 

We’ve got six upcoming phonebanks to help boost turnout and keep our liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Sign up for a shift today!

Help Combat disinformation with the Indivisible Truth Brigade

With social media companies dispensing with fact-checking and some platform owners/acting US presidents intentionally amplifying disinformation, we all have to step up to identify and combat propaganda and divisive lies.

Join us on Wednesday, March 12 at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT to learn about the Truth Brigade -- Indivisible Civics’ grassroots disinformation-countering project. This event will feature a new member orientation, so it’s a perfect onramp into our work -- but we won’t stop there. We’ll be launching a new messaging campaign and providing specific actions you can take to defend truth online.

IndivisiWin of the Week 

After Indivisible Kandiyohi County and Red River United helped organize hundreds-strong demonstrations outside Representative Michelle Fischbach’s (R-MN-7) offices, she denigrated her angry constituents’ protests as “garbage.” That led the local news site to publish the cartoon above -- not a great look for Rep. Fischbach! (Source: Trygve Olson, The Forum)

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.