Indivisibles,

Phew! What a week! Oh...it’s only Monday…

To kick-off our Monday morning, the Supreme Court gave us one win and one loss. Thankfully, the win is a major one: in a 5-4 decision, the Court struck down a Louisiana law that would have made it nearly impossible to obtain an abortion. We were pleasantly surprised by this outcome considering that Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the four liberal justices to uphold the law, is famously hostile to abortion. But let’s be clear: Chief Justice Roberts made his decision based on a technicality (that the Court should abide by precedent), not because he believes that women or trans folks who need abortions deserve to make decisions for themselves.  

In even less shocking news, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who you might remember successfully fooled Senator Susan Collins into believing he was committed to upholding Roe v. Wade, joined the dissent that would have upheld Louisiana’s anti-abortion measures. All of this is a reminder that, while this might be the outcome we wanted, our values will be under attack until we can take back the courts.

And now, on to the loss: the Court ruled that the way the Consumer Financial Protections Bureau (CFPB) is structured is unconstitutional. The CFPB (an independent agency whose jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors and other financial companies operating in the United States) is headed by a single director who is confirmed by the Senate and serves a five-year term. Before this decision, there were reasonable limits on the president’s power to fire the CFPB director. But the conservative justices on the Supreme Court disagreed. Now, the director of the CFPB can be fired at-will by the president, doing away with that whole promise of keeping the CFPB independent from the executive. It remains to be seen how this case might be applied to other independent government agencies that are structured the same way (like the Federal Reserve) -- but for now it’s a pretty big gift to presidential power.

Now that the Supreme Court has your attention, we leave you with our weekly to-dos:

 Your 5 weekly to-dos 

1. Register for our Fight Back for Fair Courts Virtual Rally. With the mixed-bag of SCOTUS decisions we’ve received recently, it’s clear that the courts have a big impact on our lives. That’s why we want you to register NOW to join Take Back the Court, Indivisible, and Demand Justice in our fight to press for court reform. Join Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Ilhan Omar, Representative Ro Khanna, NY-17 Democratic nominee Mondaire Jones, Alicia Garza, W. Kamau Bell, and Dan Pfeiffer TOMORROW, June 30th at 8pm EST for an hour-long live virtual protest on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

2. Call your Senators and demand they cosponsor the D.C. statehood bill. This historic bill passed in the House last week, acknowledging that D.C.’s 700,000+ residents live without their constitutional rights as Americans, lacking full representation in Congress and control over their own affairs. A historically-Black city, D.C.’s lack of statehood is a remnant of Reconstruction when racist white politicians sought to prevent the District’s plurality of Black residents from gaining political power. Check out our resource about why D.C. statehood is a racial justice issue and call your Senators to demand they support D.C. statehood.

3. Call your Senators and demand they pass the Heroes Act without watering it down. Unemployment insurance benefits from the CARES Act are set to run out on July 31. We must extend and expand coronavirus relief legislation -- vulnerable people across the country are depending on it.

4. Check out our final episode of our Youtube series, COVID Corruption. In our fifth and final episode, we discuss how Republicans want to protect corporations who are putting their employees at risk of contracting coronavirus.

5. Call your local officials to express your support for defunding the police, ICE, and CBP. So many of you joined the fight to support and protect people of color from state sanctioned violence, but the truth is a lot of that work has to happen locally, in your town and cities. Call your local officials and demand that they defund the police and invest those funds in resources. If you need more context, check out our latest video where we explain exactly what we mean by #DefundThePolice.

 2020 Update 

July 27 marks 100 days until the general election. We’re giving it our all over the next 100 days to defeat Donald Trump in November -- but we need all the help we can get. That means rallying behind Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee and doing everything we can to make sure he becomes our next president. If you’re committed to beating Trump, make sure you’ve signed our 2020 Indivisible Pledge.

We have every intention of beating Trump -- but we already have a feeling he won’t go quietly. That’s why Indivisible and Stand Up America recently announced the launch of Protect the Results, a joint initiative seeking to protect the valid results of the 2020 election. Why are we doing this? Because in 2016, Trump repeatedly threatened to not accept the results of the election. Because he’s made baseless claims of voter fraud and has called into question the validity of vote-by-mail. And because he’s made disturbing comments in recent months that he could stay in office past 2024.
Protect the Results will build the infrastructure to mobilize millions of Americans should Donald Trump take steps to undermine the outcome of the election. If you're with us, click here to learn more about how you can Protect the Results!

 Find a Virtual Event "near" you 

1. July National Activist Call
Join us and Indivisible-endorsed candidate, Alex Morse on our upcoming National Activist Call -- a monthly space for Indivisible leaders, members, and other activists to hear updates and connect with one another. 
Date: July 2, 2020 08:00 PM EST -- Register here.
2. Indivisible Textbanking Training
Wondering how you can get involved in upcoming elections from wherever you are? We’ll teach you how to start texting with the IndivisiText program on our platform, TextOut!
Date: July 7, 2020 08:30 PM EST -- Register here.

 Support the Payback Project and double your gift

Big news about the Payback Project: a donor has stepped up to match every gift up to $75,000! Our four-step plan to take back the Senate is in full swing, and we’re building the accountability and the organized movement to win against key GOP senators in November. But it’s your help that makes it possible: can you donate $10 to have your gift matched, support the Payback Project, and fund all our work?

 IndivisWin of the Week 

Over the weekend, our Rural Summit brought together 1000+ participants from rural Indivisible groups and rural organizers in all 50 states -- and they really showed up! We can’t help but smile thinking about everyone who makes this movement possible. Even when the world feels like it’s on fire, you keep giving us something to fight for and for that we thank you. 

In solidarity, 
Indivisible Team