Daily Dems Doing the Work, Making Noise and Fighting Back Day 35
House Dems Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group
Have filed an amicus brief in DC District Court in support of the CFPB. Just to remind everyone, this was the task force announced by Jeffries on Feb 10 that a lot of people staunchly ignored.
You can believe Jeffries isn’t the right spokesperson for the moment, but, he is proving daily that he is the right minority leader when it comes to actually getting things done.
Here is a quote from the brief:
Defendants’ stop-work order will have severe consequences for the American people. The CFPB has been a resounding success. It has delivered more than $21 billion back to consumers who have been defrauded by entities like large banks, loan servicers, debt collectors, and payday lenders, some of which were previously not subject to federal supervision. ... Defendants have now stopped these congressionally mandated activities in their tracks.”
The brief was filed by reps Maxine Waters, Hakeem Jeffries, Joe Neguse and Jamie Raskin. So far 175 Dems have signed on as well.
On the Women Forward call yesterday, Raskin mentioned that House Dems are starting to get directly involved in litigation themselves and that we’d see that ramp up in public very soon. This seems like the beginning of that.
Rep Brittany Pettersen (CO-07)
Gave this week’s “Weekly Democratic Address.” I think this is brilliant. After coming to the capitol when she’s supposed to be at home on maternity leave, just so she could vote against the budget bill blueprint, because House rules do not allow voting by proxy for any reason (unless you are Byron Donalds). The only other option to give this address could have been Kevin Mullin, who showed up, despite being on medical leave.
And doing the address while holding her one-month-old Sam, as a reminder of the situation she was put in could not have been more perfect. This video should absolutely go viral.
And what she says is incredibly important too. We only need 3 Republicans to kill the bill, so keep calling! Every call makes a difference!
Rep Adam Smith (WA-09)
Posted a video amplifying Sen Chris Murphy’s message from CNN this morning that we have to flood the zone and we can’t let up, we must be protesting, finding solutions and calling out their actions 24/7.
It’s also worth remembering that for us to flood the zone successfully, we all have to be involved. We can’t just rely on our electeds to spread their own messages, we have to spread them as well, and not shit on every idea they come up with either.
It matters to see colleagues support each other.
I also love that he called out James Carville.
Rep Becca Balint (VT)
Joined by 88 other Democrats, sent a letter to the administration demanding they reverse their attempt to end gender-affirming care for minors.
This dangerous ban is an astonishing attempt to interfere in private health care decisions. Trans young people, their parents and their doctors should be the ones making their health care decisions. No one should need to ask the President’s permission to access life-saving, evidence-based health care
I know a lot of you don’t understand how, but these letters do make a difference. Rep Melanie Stansbury said on yesterday’s Women Forward Zoom that in front of the camera, Republicans are very supportive of everything the Admin does, but in private, they have fought in support of many of these letters and as a result, some things have gotten reversed.
So please don’t automatically decide this isn’t doing anything. These letters have much more of an impact than we realize.
Rep Hank Johnson (GA-04)
Posted this incredibly powerful video with clips from the “Hands Off Social Security” protest at the Social Security admin building in his district that he organized.
Our electeds in Congress are in the minority, but we, the people, are in the majority. We have the power. We are able to put together protests at a moments notice, we are able to raise our voices and get local media attention and make a statement. And we are using that power every single day and we will continue to do so.
Even when the mainstream media tries to convince you that nothing is being done, remember this.
Rep Nikki Budzinski (IL-13)
Will be attending the SOTU. At least one part of her protest is bringing Lisa Quandt, a special ed teacher who will likely lose her job if the Dept of Education is dismantled.
I want to be very clear. Every form of protest matters. Some electeds are choosing not to attend at all, but that is not the only form of protest. Bringing a guest who is directly affected by DT’s plans and Executive Orders is an incredibly powerful statement.
Not to mention, as someone commented on my Threads post, these guests will be going back home and talking about exactly what he said that angered them. This protest reverberates throughout an entire community.
And this last one is a little unconventional
Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep Don Byer (VA-08), Aaron Fritschner
Posted the most incredible take down of Politico. If you’re not following him on Blue Sky, that has to change immediately. Politico did a hit piece on Dems today, like Axios did a few weeks ago, and Aaron was having absolutely none of it.
Behind every elected is a hard-working and dedicated staff who do incredible things and are how our electeds have the research they need and meet with the right people and everything else that happens in a political office.
Aaron is one of the best.
These stories excite me cause so many of these electeds have never been included before, so maybe you just learned about your new favorite fighter!
I love thinking about that happening.
Either way, I hope this was the daily reminder you need that Dems ARE doing the work, (and Politico can go to hell.)
Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
Thank you!!