Indivisibles,

Our focus this week is, you guessed it, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment. 

Trump’s second impeachment trial starts tomorrow (February 9) and will likely be much shorter than his first. Here are some impeachment FAQs to help you get through the week: 

1. What is the charge the Senate is considering? Last month, the House voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” Now, it’s up to the Senate to convict and disqualify him from ever holding public office again for the same reason. 
2. What's the precedent for impeaching an official who's already left office? Experts agree that it’s perfectly constitutional to convict a president after they’ve left office -- otherwise, why would the Constitution allow the Senate to permanently disqualify former officeholders if a vote to convict and remove is the first step in that process? The founders included disqualification as a common-sense solution to prevent someone like Trump from running for office and cheating again. It’s also important to remember that in an impeachment trial, senators are jurors NOT judges, so any lingering questions of constitutionality will be resolved by the courts. 
3. What are the odds that Trump will be convicted and disqualified? Recently, Rand Paul led a failed effort to declare the impeachment trial unconstitutional. What this vote showed us is that we’re close to the numbers we need to convict but that our fight isn’t over. In total, we need just 17 Republicans to join us if we are to meet the ⅔ threshold to convict. We’re just shy of that number, but there’s still time to apply pressure on senators to do the right thing. 

This could be our last chance to ever hold Trump accountable for his attack on our democracy. According to a recent poll, 56% of Americans believe Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office again. We can still have an impact on the outcome of this trial -- but only if we keep applying pressure on senators all week. Do your part by calling your senators all week long so they know their constituents want them to vote to convict and disqualify Trump. Then, tell your friends and family to do the same:

 Your weekly to-dos 

1. Make the most of February Recess (Feb 13-21) with our Democracy Defenders Toolkit. It’s not always easy to be heard by members of Congress -- but from February 13 to 21 they will be back in their home districts talking to constituents. This is our opportunity to do two things: 1) make sure MoCs are feeling the pressure and 2) build a national narrative for action. We’ve put together a Democracy Defenders Toolkit to help you get them on record supporting our asks for bold democracy reform and start a movement with other Indivisibles to get media attention. 
2. Call your members of Congress to demand they pass meaningful COVID-19 relief without watering it down. Last week, both chambers of Congress voted to pass a budget resolution that puts us on the path of passing a final COVID-19 relief package (for more details on this process, jump down to “Policy Updates”). This is just the first step in the process, so we can’t get comfortable until Congress passes a package that takes this crisis seriously. 
3. Tomorrow marks the start of Trump's second impeachment trial -- apply pressure on senators to remove and disqualify. Many Republicans are still promoting “unity” over accountability and would rather not disturb Trump’s base by voting to convict him. This is a fight we believe we can win -- but only if we bring enough pressure. 
4. Make calls for democracy reform. Now that we have a Democratic trifecta, we have to move quickly to unrig our democracy so all of our other priorities can be within reach. We’re setting our sights on passing H.R. 1/ S. 1, the For the People Act, a robust reform package that targets voter suppression, gerrymandering, money in politics, corruption, and more. Also on our agenda, passing H.R. 51/ S. 51 to make D.C. the 51st state. Both of these bills represent critical structural democracy reforms and racial justice priorities. They’ll make our democracy more equitable and representative of the people, and empower the long-term progressive goals that we’ve been fighting for. Click here to read more about the For the People Act and D.C. statehood.

 Policy Update 

Last week, after an all-night vote-a-rama, the Senate narrowly passed the budget resolution with Vice President Harris casting the deciding vote. 

With this from the Senate, the committees of jurisdiction in the House (Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Oversight and Reform) will start the process of writing legislation for COVID-19 relief. Speaker Pelosi has said she hopes to pass the full package about 2 weeks from now to send it to the Senate after they’ve wrapped up impeachment proceedings. That timeline gives the Senate enough time to pass the package prior to the expiration of some key programs (like enhanced unemployment insurance). 

Congress needs to build on Biden’s plan with meaningful improvements to pass a package that takes this crisis seriously. That’s why we’re following the lead of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to make these our top 5 priorities for the final relief package: 

1. Include Joe Biden’s promise to start increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour,
2. Expand health care access for the uninsured or unemployed through an emergency public plan,
3. Treat immigrants and their families with dignity by ensuring they have access to all benefits under the bill,
4. Increase the financial aid to state and local governments on the front lines of combatting the pandemic and delivering public services, and
5. Provide robust direct cash assistance in the form of survival checks to help families meet their basic needs and weather this emergency.  

Since the committees are in the process of drafting legislation, we still have a path to winning on each of our priorities. You can help by making calls to both the House and Senate to let your members of Congress know you want them to pass a relief package that meets the moment. Or, if your MoCs are on any of the committees of jurisdiction, you can use this template to send them an email. Generally, if a member has a public email address, their office may list a public email address or provide a form directly on the member's website.

Reminder: the budget resolution is the first step of the reconciliation process, it is not the final relief package. It is effectively an empty shell with a set of instructions that committees will fill with the actual legislation, based on those instructions, and then pass the entire package together. If you want more details on what the process is and how it works, check out our budget reconciliation resource here.

P.S. -- We rely on your support to keep these call pages up and running, fund ads to get the word out, and continue all the work we’re doing this year. If you’re able, click here to donate to help fund our work.

 National Events 

POC (People of Color) Caucus Monthly Call 
Join with staff of color from Indivisible National to talk and connect around issues that directly affect POC, the work that we do, and the world in which we try to create lasting change. Please note that this is a space specifically for people of color/indigenous group leaders and members. Feel free to email [email protected] if you have any questions! 
Date: Tuesday, February 23rd, 7:30 pm ET -- Register here.

 Black Futures Month 

This week, we thought we’d share some extra content that relates to our mission and Black Futures Month. Here’s what we’re reading and streaming: 

📝 Stacey Abrams: Our democracy faced a near-death experience. Here’s how to revive it. In this opinion piece, Stacey Abrams recounts the pain of the last few weeks and explains how democracy reform will put us on the road to recovery. She explains some of the topics we care most about, like D.C. statehood and the For the People Act, to provide a clear picture of the issues we should tackle first. (The Washington Post, February 7) 

🎧 Podcast: The Lasting Power Of Whitney Houston's National Anthem. This episode reflects on the cultural impact of Whitney Houston’s National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl and what it meant in that political context. Even though it was 30 years ago, this moment of Black history still resonates with us today and is worth revisiting time and time again. (It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, February 5) 

📖 Haymarket Books, a nonprofit book publisher, is offering 40% off a selection of books on the history and politics of the Black freedom movement. This offer is only valid for the month of February, so make sure to check out their options here. 

We hope these selections motivate and inspire you to take action -- we need all hands on deck to pressure our members of Congress to convict Trump, secure meaningful COVID-19 relief, and pass the first of many democracy-saving reforms.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team