Daily Dems Doing the Work, Making Noise and Fighting Back Day 80
I have heard a lot of people say they hadn’t heard of Sen Chris Van Hollen (MD) till yesterday! This is why it is so important to amplifier our fighters. It shouldn’t take until they step foot in El Salvador to realize who they are.
Rep LaMonica McIver (NJ-10)
Posted on her personal IG account about the Newark school board elections, that took place last night.
This year, 16 and 17-year-olds became eligible to vote in these elections, which makes so much sense. They’re the ones affected by the decisions the board makes.
Its exciting and encouraging to see a sitting member of congress getting involved in elections this local. We’re starting to see some members campaigning for state legislative races, but school board is a whole other level, and it gives me hope to see that we’re really starting to take those levels seriously too.
And for the record, turnout wasn’t great, less than 10%, but the Moving Newark Schools Forward slate, the Dems, won against the MAGA slate by a landslide!
Rep Sydney Kamlager Dove (CA-37)
Posted a new episode of “Is This Sh*t Legal” today with pt 1 of a series with members of the Dem Women’s Caucus
She asked Chair, Rep Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03) about RFK Jr. putting a 15% cap for the NIH on women’s heath research (which I didn’t know about)
Caucus member Rep Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) about Jocelyn Samuels, a Dem who was fired from EEOC, her job was to enforce civil rights laws in the workplace. The good news is, she’s suing. (which I didn’t know about)
and Rep Sarah Elfreth (MD-07) about the closing of the USDA program that allowed schools and food banks to purchase from local farms and food suppliers. (which I DID know about!)
And, of course, this shit is absolutely not legal.
If this series is teaching me things, imagine what it could do if it actually went viral and could educate those who are less informed.
Rep Mike Levin (CA-49)
Added a new testimony to his “Constituent Stories” series.
Luca is a parent in San Juan Capistrano and she is so incredibly informed about what the destruction of the Department of Education means, not just in her life, but for many other parents around the country too. She details exactly who will be most effected as well as the statistics surrounding the cuts.
There have been a lot of electeds working this explain this exactly thing, but I think this might be the most successful video I’ve seen on it to date. Oftentimes, the constituents themselves have the most compelling arguments, all our electeds need to do is give them the platform to speak.
Rep Mark Pocan (WI-02)
Interviewed Wisconsin AG, Josh Kaul for his podcast “With Liberty and Justice for Some.” Kaul talks about how the AG choose which cases to bring and how they’re doing everything they can to fight for us and much more.
It’s a nice look behind the curtain of some of our best and most powerful Dem fighters.
Threads | Apple Pod | Spotify | Blue Sky
Sen Chuck Schumer (NY)
Yes I know, I’m surprised too, is refusing to allow a blue slip for several NY prosecutor positions. There is a tradition in the Senate that the Senators from a given state have to sign off on nominees that will be working within their states. These sign offs are called blue slips. Chuck Grassley has said he will continue to honor this tradition. That means that the nominations for the Southern and Eastern districts of NY are not getting confirmed at any point.
This is different than a hold. Those Senators who have put holds on nominees are just delaying the process. If the Senate wants to waste time confirming all of them by voice vote at a later date, they can, but Schumer has stopped these two nominees from ever getting a vote, voice or otherwise.
Welcome to the opposition, Chuck Shumer, we are so thrilled to finally have you.
Sen Jeff Merkley (OR)
And Rand Paul sent a letter to DT on April 1, reminding him that the strikes on Yemen aren’t legal because he didn’t get congressional approval.Today, he posted a video responding to Karoline Leavitt’s all out lie that DT would even need congressional approval.
I’m so glad he’s posting about this, because, it kind of got lost in SignalGate. One issue was that they were using Signal, another issue was that Waltz invited a journalist to the chat, but a third issue was that they didn’t have the authority to be bombing Yemen at all, and, since then, they are still doing so, pretty much every single day
I feel like this kind of got lost in the SignalGate conversation. The fact that it was on Signal wasn’t the only problem and neither was the fact that they included a journalist. The strike shouldn’t have happened at all, and they are still happening.
It’s understandably hard for our electeds to keep track of everything when certain things are more life or death in the moment, but I’m glad Merkley is keeping his eye on this and making sure we don’t forget either, or those that didn’t know, learn about it for the first time, and can get rightfully angry.
And finally…
Sen Chris Van Hollen (MD)
Went to El Salvador and gave a press conference where he explained that he was denied when he asked to see Abrego Garcia. He was denied when he asked to speak to Abrego Garcia, and he was denied when he asked for anyone else, like Abrego Garcia’s lawyer to be able to speak to him.
It is so important that these blockades be put on record. This helps the court cases, and it helps public sentiment. I expect this is the first trip of many for him, and that many other Dem electeds, and hopefully Republicans will follow suit.
The entire press conference is about 24 minutes, he goes back and forth with a translator, so, he’s only talking for about 12. He explains the situation from the beginning and then gives the updates.
This is not one to skip.
If you see ANYONE say that Van Hollen didn’t do enough? Don’t even interact with them, just block or restrict them. Seeing those posts effected my mood a lot today, and I want to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen for you.
So those are some of our fighters today. Don’t let anyone convince you that we don’t have them or that they are a small number of Dems.
If you made it to the end, comment with 💣 because we need to be talking more about Yemen
Our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!
While it’s frustrating how many Republicans are silent or how long it has taken for the ones who are speaking up to speak up, I do think it’s important to recognize those who are speaking out. I certainly did not have agreeing with Rand Paul on my bingo card. But I’m glad to see him pushing back on tariffs, Yemen. We need to keep up the pressure so more speak out and speak out about the lawlessness of this administration.
💣 I didn’t even know we are still striking Yemen. Glad my senator isn’t letting it go!