I expected that by now there would be new bills introduced in the House of Representatives which I could point you to and say please support this one or oppose that one with our Action Alerts. However, this is not the House we have become accustomed to in the last 100 years. It’s been that long since it took more than one vote for the majority to elect a Speaker. As a result the House isn’t functioning yet and no bills are publicly available.

Reactions to the chaos have varied. Democrat Ted Lieu brought popcorn to the House floor to help enjoy the show during multiple hour-long votes for a Speaker. Republican George Santos said, “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 20 years in Congress.”*

What you can do at this point is encourage your representatives to join the Congressional Freethought Caucus (the CFC). These are members of Congress who believe in separation of religion and government and in employing science and scientific research to find solutions to problems. They oppose legislation and government regulations that discriminate against the nonreligious.

The CFC has taken on Christian nationalism, health insurance clubs that really aren’t insurance, and the IRS’s lack of concern about politics in churches and what actually qualifies as a church. We work with the Freethought Caucus members and staff on these and other issues, and sometimes just get advice on things like how to get a bill approved by a particular committee they know. You can read more about the CFC here. 

We will soon be reaching out to the 74 new House members about joining the CFC but hearing from constituents makes that a lot more likely. That is also true for all the returning members who have not joined. If you go to our Action Alert and hit send, your member will either get a “please join” message or a “thanks for being a CFC member” message. Yes, we figured out how to do that. 

We know for a fact that one CFC member joined because a constituent asked her to. She joined the next day. If you’re ever going to be at an event with your member of Congress you can pull up our Advocacy Toolkit and print the last page. It’s a handout that gives members the information they need to decide to join. There is also advice in the Toolkit on how to get a meeting with them on this or other important matters. 



One potential member of the CFC is new California Congressman Robert Garcia who will eventually be sworn in with his hand not on a Bible but on the Constitution, a photo of his parents, and the very first Superman comic book (borrowed from the Library of Congress). He learned to read English by reading Superman comics. If you are in his Long Beach district please be sure to ask him to join the CFC.

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Thank you to everyone who donated $10 or more to ensure that I won’t use the same Christmas joke again. I am already looking for a replacement joke and welcome suggestions at [email protected]. And thank you to everyone else who donated to SCA in amounts large and small prior to that year-end, end-the-joke opportunity. We really appreciate it because we can’t advocate for equal rights for nonreligious Americans without your support. 


*A cheap shot but I’m just helping him get used to them.