First off, I hope you paid attention to what was happening at airports across the country this weekend. I'm not sure what to make of it all. There were definitely some very bad things vis a vis Trump's executive orders, but the immediate and huge protest action that resulted was amazing. Look through this spreadsheet if you are curious what your senators had to say about the matter, and call them to share your feelings. While both my senators (Feinstein and Harris) were on record as being opposed, neither made a particularly strong statement. They need to do better.
Anyway, that's important to set the stage for today's Yopp! The good people at Indivisible sent out an email that details some of the key things happening in Congress this week. I highly recommend you get on their mailing list yourself for the full email, but here's the edited version:
What’s happening in Congress this week?
We’ve heard you loud and clear that you want more details about major votes in Congress each week so that you go into your office visits and phone calls with as much information as possible. Since this can change fast, we’re working on improving how we get you the most up-to-date news. For now, we’re flagging the top-level actions below, but know that we’re working to get you more in the future. Here’s the big thing on Capitol Hill this week:
More Votes on Trump’s Cabinet:
Trump’s parade of racist, sexist, and plutocratic Cabinet nominees continues this week. Republicans and Democrats alike should take a stand against these unqualified and inappropriate nominees, like the five below:
Today, Monday, January 30: The full Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on Rex Tillerson, former CEO of ExxonMobil, to be Secretary of State. This is the last chance for Senators to stop this pal of Vladimir Putin and climate skeptic from becoming the leader of American foreign policy.
CALL TO ACTION: Call your Senators and urge them to vote “No” on cloture for Rex Tillerson.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31: The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination to be Attorney General. Jeff Sessions was rejected for a federal judgeship by the Senate in 1986 for being too racist, and he hasn’t gotten any better since. He’s spent his career making it harder for African Americans to vote, fighting against equal rights for women, minorities and LGBTQ people, and demonstrating consistent hostility to the rule of law and human rights.
CALL TO ACTION: Call your Senators and tell them to vote “No” on Sen. Sessions’ nomination.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31: The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of billionaire GOP fundraiser and anti-public schools advocate Betsy DeVos to lead the Education Department. HELP Committee Democrats continue to request additional hearings following DeVos' January 17 confirmation hearing at which she revealed how grossly unqualified she is to serve as Education Secretary.
CALL TO ACTION: Call your Senators and tell them to vote “No” on Betsy DeVos’ nomination.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to be Secretary of Energy. Perry called for abolition of the department—then famously forgot which department it was—when he ran for President in 2012.
CALL TO ACTION: Call your Senators and tell them to vote “No” on Gov. Perry’s nomination.
Wednesday, February 1: The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee is scheduled to vote on Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA. Pruitt is an arch-enemy of the EPA, having sued it on 14 separate occasions. He’s spent his career taking the side of polluting private industries over the public’s health and our planet’s well-being.
CALL TO ACTION: Call your Senators and tell them to vote “No” on Scott Pruitt’s nomination.Add to your calendars that Senate and House members are scheduled to work in their own states/districts from February 18-26. While calling is great, showing up at their scheduled events is even better. Do what you can to find out where and when your reps will be having face time with their constituents and show up if you can. Hold that space for now.
Oh...and check out today's Google Doodle. (Just go to www.google.com to see how they display their logo.) It honors Fred Korematsu. In fairness, it is his birthday, but I'm pretty confident the folks at Google chose him instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt (also his birthday) for a darn good reason.
Yours in Solidarity!
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