Daily Dems Doing the Work, Making Noise, and Fighting Back Day 34
Today I attended the most incredible Zoom with Reps Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Melanie Stansbury (NM-01). You can find my notes about it below!
So on top of everything we are seeing, from public posts to press releases, there is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes to protect and fight for us.
On that note, here’s some of today’s public fighters
Sen Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee Dems
Three days ago, the Dems on the Senate Banking Committee held a round table (unofficial hearing) on the elimination of the CFPB. They invited EM to speak with them (they can’t subpoena him as the minority), but naturally he didn’t show, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t ask the questions anyway.
I’m only telling you about this today, because I only learned about it today, thanks to Sen Elizabeth Warren (MA) posting short clips from it on social media.
And here is the full round table. It’s long, but if you put it in 2x speed, then, it’s half the length. Based on the quotes Warren pulled for her video, I suspect it’s well worth a watch.
Rep Emilia Sykes (OH-13)
Does a series called the WTFShow, her weekly IG live dealing with updates she has on the federal government. It’s called the WTFShow cause it takes place on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. And I suspect that most people don’t even know she does this.
Today she posted a clip from yesterday’s live. Unfortunately, I don’t know who the guest is, but he was on to discuss the Dept of Education and how eliminating it will effect students with disabilities and their teachers.
Sen Andy Kim (NJ)
Andy Kim toured the Parker Family Health Clinic in Red Bank NJ to learn exactly how the proposed budget bill would affect them.
Director Sucy Dyer told him:
It wouldn’t be a game changer, it would be game over.
These kinds of visits are part of the job of reps and senators, if your electeds aren’t doing things like this, they’re not doing their job.
But I do appreciate that he posted a video of the visit, and also implies in the video that he’s visiting clinics like this across the state, not just a couple.
Rep Grace Meng (NY-06)
Some of our Dem electeds are not going to the SOTU. Some are probably planning to walk out. And still others, like Grace Meng, are making a statement against DT with the person they’re inviting.
If you didn’t know, each elected gets to invite guests, someone from their district who deserves recognition.
Today she announced, she will be bringing her constituent Luke Graziani, a vet who was fired from the local VA hospital in Queens.
I want to be really clear. No matter how they are choosing to protest, each and every protest, whether in the chamber, or not is valid. I don’t want to see anyone calling out an elected for not protesting the SOTU the exact way they demanded.
Rep Sara Jacobs (CA-50)
Last time, DT was in office, the trans military ban was about recruiting. This time, he’s kicking trans service members out, some who have been there for decades and with responsibilities that can’t just be taught to a random replacement. Some of these service members are so specialized we won’t be able to replace them for 20+ years.
During recess, Sara Jacobs met with many trans service members, some of whom still had their job at the time. She explained all this and more on Alex Witt today.
Rep Mike Levin (CA-49)
Shared a really fucked up story. A career social security office employee was put on leave when he started stealing our data. Naturally, this is exactly the kind of person DT and EM want around, so, he was recently promoted.
I hate sharing stories like this. I’m very lucky that my brand is talking about good news, but, I love that Mike Levin is. I find a lot of social media posts from electeds are summarizing articles, and since they made the news, chances are, we already know about them. But I love that Mike told us about something we probably don’t know.
Sen Adam Schiff (CA)
Uploaded this week’s “In Case You Missed It” a weekly series where he talks about one story we probably didn’t hear, not to dissimilar a concept from what Mike Levin did above.
I really hope you subscribe to his YouTube and turn on notifications. This is a series you don’t want to miss. It is engaging and always explains something we didn’t know, or we didn’t know in detail, clearly and simply.
This episode is about DT’s appointee for deputy FBI Director and why he is so bad.
And finally,
Rep Robert Garcia (CA-42)
Went on Fox News to explain why the mass layoffs at the FAA are so dangerous, and how none of these layoffs are about getting rid of waste.
It is so important for us to be in Republican spaces. We can’t talk to them if we’re only in our own bubble, though that certainly has a place too.
I hope to see more Dem electeds being interviewed on Fox News. At least two of our people should be on their shows every single day.
If they’re willing to air it, we need to be there.
So I hope you knew some of these stories already, and maybe even discovered a new favorite elected.
Never let anyone convince you the Dems aren’t doing the work.
Our voices are superpower, but only when we use them