Indivisibles,

We get a lot of replies to our emails, and it’s rare that nearly every
response is asking about the same exact thing. But that’s what happened
last week after we sent an email about Republicans’ Medicaid-slashing
reconciliation bill.

Loads of you reached out about House Republicans’ [ [link removed] ]single-sentence
sneak-attack on federal courts -- a provision buried deep in the 1,000
page megabill that some fear would allow the Trump administration to
totally ignore court orders. People asked:

What does this mean exactly?
Is this a done-deal, or can we stop it?
What are you doing to fight back?
What can *I* do to help?
Is this really as bad as it sounds?

We’ll try answering all those questions in a moment, but let’s start with
the last one first:

Donald Trump is a lawless menace trying to disregard the constitution and
grab king-like power, and this “No Contempt Clause” is a serious
escalation requiring a strong and immediate response. But it is NOT a
permanent end to judiciary checks and balances.

And yes -- we can stop it.

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What does the provision really do?

The No Contempt Clause limits courts’ authority to hold government
officials in contempt when they violate a court order. But this next part
is really important:

It does NOT fully eliminate contempt authority -- not even close. In fact,
the clause leaves a simple workaround in place that judges will likely use
to hold the administration accountable in future cases.

Let’s unpack that. To start, here’s the exact text of the provision:

No court of the United States may enforce a contempt citation for failure
to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security
was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to
the date of enactment of this section.

Confused? We don’t blame you! The true legal eagles might be ready to jump
ahead to the next section, but for everybody else, here’s what that means
in plain English...

In civil and criminal cases, judges sometimes require parties to post
money called “bond”  -- or “security,” in the bill text above -- to help
ensure litigants follow court rulings. But in cases involving the federal
government, a bond is rarely required.

There are already dozens of [ [link removed] ]court orders against the Trump
administration in cases with no bond; House Republicans’ sneaky provision
aims to retroactively defang those rulings by saying judges can’t enforce
contempt of court unless that “security” is in place! The orders would
still exist, but judges would have no means to enforce them.

If the No Contempt Clause becomes law, it’ll cause chaos for our courts
and country -- not just by (temporarily) freeing Trump from legal
restraints, but by upending decades of key judicial rulings.

Dozens of injunctions against the Trump administration -- including
rulings protecting Birthright Citizenship, combating unlawful
deportations, and restoring funds targeted by DOGE -- would become
temporarily unenforceable under this provision. And that’s only part of
the issue.

Thousands of other cases that have nothing to do with Trump would also be
caught up in this reckless attack on the courts! Even decades-old landmark
rulings relating to civil rights, voting rights, and gun control could
become effectively powerless.

Republicans probably didn’t intend the provision to be SO broad that it
undermines thousands of cases, but, well, they wrote this thing and rammed
it through in the dark of night, [ [link removed] ]without understanding the
repercussions.

But even if the No Contempt Clause passes, judges will still have the
power to hold government officials accountable.

The requirement to secure a bond would create an extra step -- but not an
insurmountable barrier -- for judges to charge officials with contempt of
court. As [ [link removed] ]Democracy Docket explains, “judges presiding over
Trump-related lawsuits would still have the discretion to significantly
minimize the bond amount -- potentially to just $1 -- when reissuing
orders.”

In other words, judges hearing future cases could nullify the No Contempt
Clause by requiring a token bond virtually any litigants can afford, and
judges on currently active cases may be able to reissue recent orders to
do the same.

To sum things up, the No Contempt Clause would unleash legal chaos by
rendering thousands of existing rulings unenforceable -- all to make it
harder, but by no means impossible, to hold Trump and his officials in
contempt.

It may not be the democracy-threatening masterstroke that some initially
feared, but it’s still a reckless, anti-democratic ploy that needs to be
stopped. And luckily, we have time left to stop it.

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What happens next?

The reconciliation bill now heads to the Senate, where [ [link removed] ]it’ll be
substantially rewritten before it can win the 51 votes needed to pass.
From our standpoint, that leaves three paths to killing the No Contempt
Clause before it can get to Trump’s desk:

 1. Vulnerable Senate Republicans could take it out. Republicans facing
tough re-election races want to dial back the “politically toxic”
pieces of this bill as much as possible -- and unlike when House
Republicans snuck it in hours before voting, their secret plan to
shield Trump is out now. Senators can’t quietly pass this clause and
hope nobody notices.
 2. The Senate parliamentarian could rule against it. Under a Senate rule
called the Byrd Rule, only policies that impact budgets/revenue can be
included in reconciliation bills. This clause doesn’t do that, so the
parliamentarian -- essentially the Senate referee -- [ [link removed] ]could rule
that the bill can’t move forward until it’s removed. (That’s
admittedly not a sure thing, though; Republicans have defied the
parliamentarian before.)
 3. The entire bill could fail outright. In [ [link removed] ]our response to the House
megabill vote, we outlined the huge inter-party fights still ahead for
House and Senate Republicans. If we exploit their divisions and keep
turning up political pressure, we have a real chance to stop this bill
in its entirety -- just like we did last time the GOP used
reconciliation to try taking healthcare away.

And even if the No Contempt Clause does manage to squeak through Congress
and onto Trump’s desk, it could be met with swift legal challenges once
it’s passed.

In short, this isn’t a done deal. Far from it.

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How can we fight back today?

Since the reconciliation bill still needs to pass the Senate -- and then
get voted on for a second time in the House -- we need to hold Republicans
in both chambers accountable and keep turning the political tides against
the bill.

Here are four actions you can take right now:

 1. [ [link removed] ]Email your senators to demand they speak out against this
chaos-inducing attack on democracy. We need to get GOP senators on the
record about this sneak-attack on checks and balances, and we need to
push Democrats to speak out LOUDLY about what Republicans are
attempting.
 2. [ [link removed] ]If you have a Republican representative, send an email shaming them
for supporting the dangerous reconciliation bill. House Republicans
betrayed their constituents by voting to gut Medicaid, crush SNAP, and
weaken the courts -- all so Trump can gain more wealth and power.
Let’s hold them accountable.
 3. [ [link removed] ]Sign up for a phonebank to mobilize people in key states against
the Republican reconciliation bill. Phonebank volunteers connect other
folks directly to their Republican senators so they can voice their
opposition to the dangerous megabill. Phonebanks are open each week in
June to volunteers nationwide; all you need is a phone and a computer.
 4. [ [link removed] ]Join a No Kings protest on Saturday, June 14, to rally against
Trump’s tyrannical power-grab. We’re gathering millions of Americans
in thousands of places to remind the world what democracy looks like.
Together, we’ll show the overwhelming resistance towards
authoritarianism of all kinds -- including this bid to sideline the
courts.

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Folks are right to call attention to this chaotic attempt at shielding
Trump. But this is a time to organize -- not to agonize. The No Contempt
Clause isn’t an insurmountable barrier to holding Trump accountable, and
together we can defeat it.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

P.S. Fighting back against the reconciliation bill is one of the hardest
things we’ve ever done together -- requiring Indivisibles to be louder and
more organized than ever before. [ [link removed] ]If you can spare anything at all,
please consider donating so Indivisible can lead the fight to kill the
bill and hold Republicans accountable.

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