TELL YOUR SENATORS WE NEED RELIEF NOW -- 

PASS $2,000 SURVIVAL CHECKS

Indivisibles, 

It’s been a few days since we’ve checked in -- believe it or not we’re also trying to take a little break before the new year. But, as expected, Congress keeps going, therefore so do we! 

The Senate GOP is at it again, stalling to try and prevent people from getting $2,000 survival checks. As our soon-to-be-president might say: that’s a bunch of malarkey. 

So what can you do? Call your senators now, today. The House has already passed the bill that will increase checks to $2,000, and Mitch McConnell and his Senate GOP are all that stands in the way. But we only have a few more days before this session of Congress ends so there’s no time to waste: Click here to get a script and call your senators right away, then share it with your friends and family and tell them why it’s so important to call. 

For the policy wonks:

If you’re the kind of person (hi from some former congressional staffers!) who likes the details, this part is for you. We’ll explain how we got here and the current state of affairs. But if not, the short version: The Senate GOP is standing in the way of larger survival checks, and your call could be the bit of pressure your senator needs to actually help people. 

So the story: 

First there was a bill with $600 survival checks. There were some good things in the original bill, some not-so-great things, but most importantly there would be some relief for millions of people across the country. And oh, PS, it would also avoid a government shutdown. 

That bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support, but a few days before the funding deadline, Trump announced he wouldn’t sign the bill unless the survival checks were increased to $2,000.

Spoiler alert, if you're worried right now: After some brinkmanship over the weekend, Trump signed the bill anyway. We avoided a government shutdown after an unnecessary delay, Unemployment Insurance (UI) will be picked right back up, and folks are already beginning to receive their $600 survival checks. The real tragedy of Trump’s temper tantrum is that it caused needless harm and anxiety for those in urgent need of relief. 

Back to the survival checks: Several Democrats, like Rashida Tlaib and AOC, were more than happy to update the survival checks to $2,000, since Democrats had been demanding higher checks all along. They drafted a new bill and it passed the House a few days ago with a two-thirds majority -- in other words, a lot of Republicans voted for this bill too. 

But since then we’ve been in a holding pattern. Bernie Sanders is slowing down another vote (the NDAA veto override) in an attempt to force Mitch McConnell to take this one up 👍. McConnell is refusing to bring the bill to the floor 👎 and trying to add on bad policies that would force it back for another vote in the House (which has already adjourned until the new year, having actually done their jobs) 👎 👎. 

So we’re back in our favorite (least favorite) situation of the last four years: the fate of millions of people hanging on the Senate GOP’s whims. 

Here’s what you can do 

Our senators need to feel pressure from all of us to pass this bill. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: we're nine months into this pandemic and $600 just won’t cut it for real, meaningful relief. 

The only things standing between the American people and additional cash assistance are Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans -- even Trump supports this! Click here to call now and demand more assistance during this crisis from your senators -- without harmful trade offs or further delays.

Once you’ve called, two more asks: 

1. Tell your friends and family (no matter where they live) to call their senators too. There’s strength in numbers and when we flood call lines, not only do Senate staff notice but senators will definitely hear about it too. Share it on social media, call or text your family, whatever you can do to cause a ripple effect of calls.
   
   
2. If you can, donate $10 or more to Indivisible Project. We’re committed to this work for the long-haul, and there’s a lot more to do, but since we don’t take money from politicians or corporations, in order to keep creating resources like these call scripts, organizing nationwide and more, we need grassroots support. 

Say goodbye to 2020 with (hopefully) your last call to Congress this year. And thanks for always taking a few moments, even amidst the holidays, to tell Senate Republicans to do their jobs. 

In solidarity, 
Indivisible Team