Indivisibles,

To prep for writing this final newsletter of the year, I re-read the first one we sent out in 2025: Contagious Courage vs. Capitulation Caucus. I’ve got to be honest -- I’m kinda taken aback by the chutzpah in that newsletter. This sums up Indivisible’s analysis of the moment:

• MAGA controls the federal government, but their coalition is fragile, their leaders malevolent muppets, and their agenda deeply unpopular.
• From media institutions, to corporations, to wayward elected Democrats with their tails tucked between their legs -- the capitulation caucus has been growing.
• The good news is courage is contagious. And there’s a serious case of courage spreading fast across the country.
• In the weeks to come, a lot of electeds and other elites are going to see rising backlash and opposition to the chaos, cruelty, and corruption that’s coming. And they’re going to shift course.

I think we had our heads screwed on pretty straight. The weekend after the election, Leah and I dropped the kids with my mom, went to a cabin, pulled a couple of all-nighters, and wrote a new Indivisible Guide firmly planting the movement at the forefront of the fight back coalition. We didn’t know exactly what was going to come, but we had an abiding faith in the power of regular Americans in local organized communities. We believed in the Indivisible movement.

This has been a hell of a year with a lot of chaos, cruelty, and corruption. But our belief in this movement and in the power that we could collectively build and wield was pretty damn well founded.

Defiantly celebrating what we’re proud of. Authoritarian regimes grind you down -- it’s part of their strategy. They cultivate an aura of inevitability and invincibility. They want you feeling alone, powerless, and hopeless. So when I asked in a What’s the Plan survey this month what Indivisible members are proud of, that wasn’t just fluff. Celebrating victories against the regime is one of the most brazen acts of defiance we can engage in. And it feels good too! Here’s are the top five most common responses from your fellow Indivisible members:

• Historic levels of peaceful, powerful mobilization. You can check it on Wikipedia -- we collectively organized three of the five largest protests in American history. Hands Off, No Kings I, No Kings II -- three million people, five million people, seven million people. There will be dissertations and movies and songs written about this. Hell, there are already songs. 
• Building real infrastructure. The Indivisible movement ballooned in size this year. We doubled the number of local groups and quadrupled our membership. Existing groups recruited new first-time members, built new leadership teams, and became local political powerhouses showing up week after week after week. The phrase “build power” gets bandied about a lot -- this is what it actually looks like on the ground.
• Stomping the regime, electorally. We beat Elon Musk in Wisconsin. We beat the regime in the off-year elections. At just about every special election with a passing hint of viability, we destroyed the MAGA coalition at the ballot box. “Sure they’ll march, but will they vote?” Damn right we will, and we’ll bring millions with us.
• Evolving into corporate pressure. Indivisible has historically focused our strategies and tactics on policymakers and politicians. This year saw a ton of new activity on boycotts, corporate pressure, and economic cooperation. Jimmy Kimmel is on the air, Elon Musk is out of the White House, and Home Depot, Target, Amazon, and Spotify are on notice. 
• Standing Indivisible against ICE. This movement is crystal clear: We stand with immigrant communities under attack. Earlier this year, when many Democratic political consultants advised the party to ignore the issue or make deals with the regime, Indivisibles said f*ck no. Rapid response networks, millions of Know Your Rights Cards, community defense trainings, whistle kits, court watching, food drives, mutual aid efforts for immigrant families, and sanctuary city and school board advocacy campaigns. Reading these responses made me so damn proud of this movement.

Rebellions are built on hope (because I can’t end the year without another quote from Andor). But seriously, this is hard work. And we can’t do it unless we have a firm grasp of what we’re looking forward to. So I was buoyed by the fierce, hard-headed optimism of Indivisible members who wrote in with their hopes for 2026. I’ll give you the top three:

1. Win the 2026 midterms. Damn straight. We’re going to build the largest midterm margins against the incumbent party that this country has ever seen. We’re going to take the House, the Senate, governorships, and state legislatures all over the country. And we’re going to use those majorities to finally exercise oversight over this lawless regime. 
2. Reshape the Democratic Party. On the road to a midterm, we get to remake the Democratic Party into a fighting force. We’ve spent a year organizing to push Dems to fight back. In the primaries, we get to choose the leaders who will instinctually join us.
3. No Kings, No Kings, No Kings. Y’all, everybody is looking forward to the next No Kings in the spring. Official date to-be-announced once we land this with the full coalition, but trust me it’s coming. And I can’t wait either.

This wild ride is likely going to get wilder -- we’ll see you in 2026. Nine years ago, Leah and I posted the original Indivisible Guide to a website formally known as Twitter. I’ve been proud of this movement every year since then, but I have to say I feel like the movement’s hit a crescendo in 2025. The role we played this year in rallying the troops, stubbornly refusing to let this regime of malicious muppets destroy our democracy, and standing up for our neighbors will go down in history. Thank you for believing enough in our democracy to fight for it. It’s been the honor of a lifetime to link arms with you and fight together with the Indivisible movement.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Tell your senators: No war with Venezuela. Trump is continuing to escalate his warmongering: On Saturday, the Coast Guard boarded an oil tanker that doesn't even appear on US lists of sanctioned vessels; Hegseth's "Department of War" is now in active pursuit of a third oil tanker; and last week saw an uptick in drone attacks on small boats, bringing the total number of people needlessly killed to at least 100. The Senate will be voting after the holiday on War Powers legislation that would block the march to war. Call your senators and urge them to vote yes.
2. The Epstein cover-up continues. If you have a Republican Member of Congress, email them to demand action. On Friday, the Trump regime blew past the legal deadline set by the Epstein Transparency Act to release all the Epstein Files, releasing instead a tiny, selective, and heavily redacted portion of them. This government-wide cover-up was already a scandal -- now, it’s blatantly illegal. Use our email tool to send a message to your Republican Members of Congress demanding to know what they’ll do to uphold the law and give Epstein's survivors the justice they deserve.
3. Submit a public comment on the Trump regime's new attacks on trans youth. The government is now accepting public comment on two proposed rules that would severely restrict access to gender affirming care for young Americans. These comments will be supportive of legal challenges aimed at blocking the new rules. Submit a comment now, or read on (below) for more information. 
4. Join What’s the Plan with Leah and Ezra: New year, new registration link! Our informal weekly Zoom chats with Indivisible co-founders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin are done for the year, but we’ll be back on January 8. We hope you’ll join us in the new year -- HOWEVER, to do that, you’ll need to register at the new link above.  

P.S. We’re hoping to keep fundraising messages to a minimum over the next week (as is always our goal), but we do have about $200,000 left to raise to reach our end-of-year goal. If you’re able to chip in to support the Indivisible groups on the frontlines of the fight against authoritarianism we’d be immensely grateful.

The Trump regime’s latest attack on healthcare, science, and trans youth

Last Thursday, the Dr. Oz-run Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced two proposed rules intended to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for trans youth to receive the healthcare they need. 

One prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery; the other would coerce hospitals into denying this care by threatening to take away their Medicare and Medicaid funding.

The sheer disregard shown by this regime for the humanity of trans kids and their families is breathtakingly cruel. Dr. Oz's proposed rules come after 27 states have already banned medically necessary care for trans youth, forcing many families to uproot their lives entirely -- to leave jobs, schools, communities, and loved ones -- and relocate.

We expect robust legal challenges to these hate-filled proposals and are actively engaged with organizations on the frontlines of the fight about how best to respond. For now, the most important thing you can do is submit a public comment about the harm these rules would cause. These comments may not ultimately sway this transphobic regime, but they will be very important for future lawsuits. 

Our friends at the Human Rights Campaign have put together a portal where you can submit your comments, with helpful background, sample language, and guidance. While the HRC form asks for some personal information, identifying information will not be submitted with your comment to the government. 

The road ahead may be long, but we'll walk it alongside our trans siblings and their families until everyone can live their lives as their most authentic selves, in freedom, dignity, and joy.

IndivisiWIN of the week

Just days after Rock River WI Indivisible was established, an area police chief learned that ICE was offering significant payouts to police departments that train and deputize officers as ICE enforcers. The police chief wasn't sure such collaboration was a good idea for his town, Palmyra, but the village was facing significant financial challenges; he applied.

Residents, on the other hand, were sure: Inviting ICE into their village was a terrible idea. Within days of the offer going public, Rock River WI Indivisible played a key role in forming a rapid response coalition. They knocked on doors, talked to neighbors, and communicated quite clearly to Palmyra's village board that ICE was unwelcome.

And they won! After broad opposition from the village, the application was dropped. This is the power of grassroots organizing!

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.