Hi friend,
The government has been shut down for 26 days, and the GOP is still dead set on raising health care costs for millions of Americans. Meanwhile, they continue to use every lever of government to sell out the middle class and increase their own power. But the Patriotic Majority is fighting back, and I’m confident that we will win.
How to stay involved
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What’s going on
Hudson Valley
What I’m doing: The GOP claims to be the party of law and order, public safety, and patriotism. But the reality is they are anything but. My constituent Christopher Moynihan was convicted of a felony for his actions on January 6th, storming the halls of Congress to try to overturn the election. Donald Trump pardoned him. Now, he’s been arrested for threatening the life of Leader Jeffries.
As I said on social media, Trump is once again putting political loyalty ahead of public safety. It’s disgraceful. It’s putting our public servants in danger. He’s betraying our country.
What you can do:
✔️ Speak out. Use your platform — online and in your community — to remind people that violence and extremism have no place in our democracy.
✔️ Support leaders who stand up for the rule of law. That means getting involved in local elections, helping protect voting rights, and rejecting the lies that fueled January 6th.
✔️ Stay vigilant. The threats to our democracy haven’t gone away, but neither has our resolve.
New York
What I’m doing: Last weekend, I rallied with hundreds of people across the Hudson Valley to make it clear that America will never have a king. America was founded with the original No Kings document, the Declaration of Independence.
That’s what the No Kings movement is all about. Across the country, millions of Americans came together to send a message that Donald Trump’s authoritarian ambitions have no place in our republic. I was proud to stand in Warwick with veterans, families, and young people who know what’s at stake and who are determined to protect the values that make this nation great.
As I told the crowd, I wear a memorial bracelet every day with the names of my fellow soldiers who never made it home from Iraq. They gave their lives defending the freedoms that Trump and his MAGA allies are now trampling. They didn’t fight for one man, they fought for the Constitution.
We don’t take an oath to a president. We take an oath to the people, to our democracy, and to the idea of America itself. And I will keep fighting every day to make sure that idea endures.
What you can do: We need to keep the momentum going past just one weekend of protest. While important, it’s not enough.
In under two weeks we have local elections across the Hudson Valley. It’s critical that we vote, canvass, donate, and use our voices to make a huge statement that the status quo is unacceptable.
And after that, we must keep fighting for our rights and keep pushing against Trump.
Washington
What I’m doing: This is one of the most underwatched stories right now—Mike Johnson is denying the duly elected Representative Adelita Grijalva her seat in Congress. He says he’ll swear her in when the government reopens, but his reasoning is total BS.
The real reason that Johnson is refusing to complete his constitutional obligation is because Representative-elect Grijalva would be the deciding vote on a discharge petition to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files.
To put it more plainly, Johnson is denying over 800,000 people their voice in Congress to protect sexual predators.
Even worse, Johnson invoked me as part of his absurd justification for his inaction. And I called him out for it.
This is one story that’s part of a larger pattern—the GOP’s continued betrayal of the American people. Jacking up health care costs, carrying water for predators, and depriving people of their constitutional right to representation all show that the GOP will screw working people to protect themselves and their donors.
What you can do: If you’re not in NY-18 (and especially if you have a Republican representative), call your member of Congress and demand that Representative-elect Grijalva be sworn to the seat she earned. And keep up the pressure for the release of the Epstein files.
Going on offense
As I’ve been saying for the past year, Democrats need to make it clear that the flag belongs to all of us. We cannot and will not accept being lectured on patriotism by a party of insurrectionists, a party that wants America to have a king, and a party that sells out the majority of the country at every opportunity they get.
I served our country in combat and many of my Democratic colleagues in Congress did as well. That Scott Perry has the audacity to tell us that we “hate the military” shows just how deep the GOP’s disdain for our country really goes. America is about an idea, it’s not about fealty to one man. And it’s about time the GOP realized that.
Keep the faith, keep up the fight, and thank you for reading!
In Solidarity,
Pat
