Indivisibles,

It’s congressional recess week! This is the first one of the year for the Senate, and the second for the House. As you’ll recall, last month we made quite the splash at Republican town halls, and successfully encouraged some Dems to fight back. 

Congressional recess is an enormous opportunity for all of us to use the power we’ve been building to pressure Republicans in red areas to break from Musk and Trump, to cheer on Democrats who are leading, and to help others find their spines.

Why this week is a big opportunity. Below you’ll find a lot of content about what we’re doing over recess. But I want to take a step back and talk about the strategic logic here, because I think it’s important.

Trump has spent the months since November claiming that his narrow plurality win gives him a mandate to remake our country, take a chainsaw to the government services we rely on, and govern as a king. He’s wrong. We don’t have kings in America.

Many elected Republicans won’t admit it, but they know that he’s wrong too. That’s why they’ve stopped showing up in public and started hiding from their constituents. If your policies are popular, you’re not scared to go talk to your voters. If you have overwhelming popular support for your plans, you go out and tell people about them.

Republicans know that cuts to cancer research, special education, national parks, and more are deeply unpopular. They know the public is horrified by Elon Musk firing air traffic controllers while he picks up big fat contracts from the FAA for himself. They know that most Americans hate the GOP's plans to gut Medicaid to pay for another round of giveaways to the rich. 

They have no mandate for what they’re doing. This month, our actions help make sure everyone knows it. And next month, with our April 5 Hands Off! national mobilization, we go on offense.

What about Democrats? Well. Where Democrats are ready to fight back, they need to be visible! Out and about, talking to everyone, shouting their heads off about the damage Trump, Musk, and congressional Republicans are doing to our government, our communities, and our democracy. When Democrats do that, we in the grassroots should cheer them on. When they fail to do it, we stiffen their spines.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t notice that we’ve had a pretty big wrench thrown in the plan last week, when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer abandoned House Democrats and rejected the advice of good government wonks, rule of law litigators, the federal government employee union, and the grassroots. He led the Senate Democrats to surrender and accept the GOP funding bill, giving up congressional Democrats’ biggest source of leverage this year. Trump, Musk, congressional Republicans, and the Wall Street Journal editorial board are thrilled.

How Indivisible is leading in this moment. Over the weekend, Indivisible officially called for Chuck Schumer to step down from Senate leadership. With Trump and Musk ramping up their assault on the constitution and rule of law, we cannot afford to quietly accept failed leadership -- it is because the stakes are so high that we need to make this call right now.

This is not a step we took lightly, and it’s not a decision that I made or Leah made alone -- 91% of the nearly 1,300 local Indivisible leaders on our emergency call on Saturday voted for this move. If you want to dig in more on the human and political cost of Schumer’s leadership failure, hit me or Leah up on Bluesky, or join our What’s The Plan discussion this Thursday. 

But because it’s recess week, I want to spend less space in this newsletter on analysis and more on action. It’s time for the grassroots, and those who are willing to fight, to step forward and lead. That’s what we do this week.

How we move forward: locate your leverage; organize with conviction; lead with integrity. Indivisible groups in red districts this week are hosting empty chair town halls to demonstrate their Republican Member of Congress is not just backing Musk and Trump, but also hiding from constituents. Indivisible in blue districts are cheering on House Democrats who held the line and did their part -- and holding those who did not accountable, starting with Minority Leader Schumer.

So with that, here’s what you can do during this special congressional recess week.

- Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Musk or Recess: Join a town hall or event. The congressional recess is officially underway and will run through March 23. This is an opportunity to hold Republicans accountable for the lawless chaos we’re enduring, and to demand Democrats fight back. Click the link above to find town halls and other events near you or read through our toolkit to plan your own event.
2. Find or register an event for our April 5 mass mobilization to tell Trump, Musk and the GOP: Hands Off! Americans are fed up with the Musk-Trump power grab and want an end to the lawless raiding of our government. Together with progressive partners, we’re planning a massive, coordinated mobilization in the streets to translate that anger into a nationwide show of defiance. Click the link above to find or plan an event, and join us on Friday, March 21 for an informational meeting for event hosts.
3. Call your Democratic senator(s) and tell them Schumer must step down. Last Friday, Democrats had a rare opportunity to exercise real leverage in the government funding fight and demand an end to the Trump-Musk coup. Instead, Chuck Schumer caved and allowed Republicans’ extreme funding bill to pass through without a fight. We need leaders who are willing to fight as hard as we are to save our democracy. If you have a Democratic senator, call them and tell them Schumer must step down as minority leader.
4. 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. 

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.

Demand your Member of Congress host a town hall

Click here to watch our video pushing for MoCs to host town halls.

The congressional recess is already underway, but there’s still time to demand your Members of Congress host a town hall. Whether you’re represented by Republicans or Democrats, your MoCs work for you and they should be spending this recess meeting with their constituents. 

If you have Republican MoCs, demand they host a town hall and explain why they’re gutting Medicaid and Social Security and looting the government for billionaires. 

Call Senate Republicans >>

Call House Republicans >> 

If you have Democratic MoCs, demand they meet with their constituents and explain how they’re fighting the Trump-Musk coup. 

Call Senate Democrats >> 

Call House Democrats >>

Fight Back with Friends

Are you attending or hosting a Hands Off! event on April 5? Want to use the Empower app, proven relational organizing skills, and Indivisible’s messaging to make your event even more impactful?

Join us Thursday, March 20 at 8pm ET/5pm PT to learn about our latest call to action, then use Empower to invite your friends, and grow this movement nationwide. We’ll cover the mass mobilization, the call to action, and how to use Empower to reach your network as a trusted messenger. Register for the call here!

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 Musk buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court majority

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’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!

And to learn more about this race and how we’re fighting back against Musk’s attempt to steal this election, click here to watch our latest Wisconsin Wednesday update on Bluesky.

IndivisiWin of the Week 

On Saturday, New York Indivisibles joined labor unions and other progressive orgs to host a 10,000 person-strong march. The protest featured a “die-in” outside the Stock Exchange coordinated by Indivisible Brooklyn.

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.