What you can do

Revised and expanded

Friends,

In light of Trump II’s first 18 days of mayhem — including his and Musk’s coup against our system of government — many are asking: “What can I do now?” Here’s a revised and expanded list, in rough order of importance.

1. Protect vulnerable members of your communities who are undocumented or whose parents are undocumented.

This is an urgent moral call to action. As Trump’s ICE begins roundups and deportations, many good people and their families are endangered and understandably frightened.

One of Trump’s executive orders allows ICE to arrest undocumented immigrants at or near schools, places of worship, health care sites, shelters, and relief centers — thereby deterring families from sending their kids to school or getting help they need, and threatening the health and well-being of entire communities.

Urge your governor and state legislature, and your mayor or city manager, to block ICE. Get your local and state lawmakers to seek federal court injunctions. Check in with their offices to see what they are doing to protect vulnerable families in your community. Join others in voluntary efforts to keep ICE away from hospitals, schools, and shelters.

Meanwhile, you should order these red cards from Immigrant Legal Resources Center and make them available in and around your community: Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC. You might also find these of use: Immigration Preparedness Toolkit | Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC.

2. Protect LGBTQ+ members of your community.

Trump is trying to make life far more difficult for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other people through executive orders, changes in laws, alterations in civil rights laws, or changes in how such laws are enforced.

His election and his rhetoric might also unleash hatefulness by bigoted people in your community.

Work with others in being vigilant against prejudice and bigotry, wherever it might break out. When you see or hear it, call it out. Join with others to stop it. If you trust your local city officials, get them involved. If you trust your local police, alert them as well.

3. Help protect public officials whom Trump and his administration are targeting for vengeance.

Some may be low-level officials, such as election workers. If they do not have the means to defend themselves legally, you might help them or consider a GoFundMe campaign. If you hear of anyone who seeks to harm them, immediately alert local law-enforcement officials.

Other endangered people are Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on the January 6 and Mar-a-Lago classified papers cases. You can help protect them by making sure you know what Trump’s Justice Department is trying to do to them (here’s one good source), and spreading the word. Urge your senators and House members (assuming they’re with you on this) to intervene on their behalf, hold hearings, and spread the alarm.

4. Contact your Democratic senators and urge them to block all Trump nominations.

This week, several Senate Democrats helped confirm Trump’s energy secretary. Bad move.

There’s simply no excuse for Senate Democrats to confirm any of Trump’s nominees for any agency while Trump’s power grab continues. These nominees have repeatedly stated their loyalty to Trump and his agenda — it’s the No. 1 thing he looks for in a Cabinet official.

Democrats should place “blanket holds” on all Trump’s nominees until his power grab is ended. [The phone number of the Capitol switchboard operator is (202) 224-3121.]

5. Urge your Democratic senators to continuously demand quorum calls and object to unanimous consent, to deny Senate Republicans the ability to enact Trump initiatives.

The Senate may not conduct official business unless a majority of senators (51 if all seats are filled) are present. This is called a quorum, and it’s the foundation of Senate procedure. If a quorum isn’t present, the Senate grinds to a halt.

Senate Democrats should use their power in the minority to call for a quorum and constantly demand quorum calls on any and all Trump initiatives.

Blocking unanimous consent forces roll-call votes, debates, and delays on even the most basic motions, and it will consume hours (or days) of floor time. It would also kill Trump’s fast-track confirmations.

Many of Trump’s judicial nominees sailed through last time because Democrats didn’t force votes on each one. This must end. No more rubber-stamping. [Again, the phone number of the Capitol switchboard operator is (202) 224-3121.]

6. Urge Democratic House members to vote against all Republican initiatives.

Republicans maintain control over the House by the smallest margin in almost a century. If Elise Stefanik is confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as expected, Republicans’ House majority will drop from 218 to 217 (compared to 215 Democrats).

This tiny margin gives Democrats enormous power, if they stick together. Make sure your Democratic representatives know you’re counting on them to do so.

Another thing you can do: Push governors to delay special elections to fill seats of representatives Trump has picked for his regime. For example, lawmakers in New York are readying a bill to give Gov. Kathy Hochul until the summer to fill Stefanik’s seat.

7. Write to your senators and members of Congress about the constitutional crisis we are in, urging them to stop all confirmation votes, stop hearings, and reclaim their appropriations authority.

Senator or Congressman (or Congresswoman) [XXX]

Re: Constitutional Crisis

Dear Senator or Congressman (or Congresswoman) [XXX]:

We are in a constitutional crisis. The president has usurped Congress’s authority, including freezing the use of appropriated funds. It is time to act now.

Stop all confirmations. Put holds on every Trump nominee. No more hearings or confirmation votes.

Get back your appropriations authority, whether through litigation or investigations. Allowing Musk’s DOGE access to all payments information enables them to decide who gets money Congress appropriated and designated.

Sincerely,

xxx

8. Contact your state’s attorney general and urge them to file complaints, injunctions, and restraining orders against Elon Musk and his tech goons for committing identify theft, violating the Privacy Act, and riding roughshod over Congress’s spending power in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

You can find your state attorney general here.

9. Join with others in your community to take on other initiatives in your locale and state.

Local and state governments retain significant power. Join groups that are moving your city or state forward, in contrast to regressive moves at the federal level. Lobby, instigate, organize, and fundraise for progressive legislators. Support progressive leaders. You can find your nearest Indivisible group here.

10. Organize or participate in boycotts of companies that are enabling the Trump regime, starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla and any companies that advertise on X or Fox News.

Never underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts. Corporations invest heavily in their brand names and the goodwill associated with them. Loud, boisterous, attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names and reduce the prices of corporations’ shares of stock.

Here’s a place to begin.

11. To the extent you are able, fund groups that are litigating against Trump.

Much of the action over the next months and years will be in the federal courts. The groups initiating legislation that I know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, Public Citizen, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Common Cause.

You can track the federal cases against the Trump regime here.

12. Spread the truth.

Get news through reliable sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources.

Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the truth: Democracy Now, Business Insider, The New Yorker, The American Prospect, The Atlantic, Americans for Tax Fairness, Economic Policy Institute, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Guardian, ProPublica, Labor Notes, The Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson, and, of course, this Substack.

13. Urge friends, relatives, and acquaintances to avoid Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X, and, increasingly, Facebook and Instagram.

They are filled with hateful bigotry and toxic and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be addictive; help the people you know wean themselves off them.

14. Encourage worker action.

Most labor unions are on the right side — seeking to build worker power and resist repression. You can support them by joining picket lines and boycotts and encouraging employees to organize in places you patronize.

Encourage union pension funds to divest stock in Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla shares have been held by funds such as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which serve public employees and some unionized workers. As of June 2024, CalPERS owned nearly 9.2 million Tesla shares, valued at over $2 billion.

Private-sector union pension funds, such as those managed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters or the United Auto Workers (UAW) Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, may have Tesla stock through index funds or direct investments.

15. Take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Please do not become so obsessed by what Trump and Musk are doing that you neglect your own well-being. It’s important that you take time for yourself, read a good book or watch an absorbing TV series. See friends. Find something to laugh at every day. Get enough exercise.

And hold your loved ones tight.

We will get through this, and we will prevail. But it will require confidence, courage, and tenacity. We need to stay healthy for this fight. We need to be fortified by those we care about. And we need to be there for those we love.

16. Finally, and not the least, keep the faith.

Do not give up on America. Do not fall into the traps of cynicism and defeatism. Remember, Trump won the popular vote by only 1.5 points. By any historical measure, this was a squeaker. In the House, the Republicans’ lead is the smallest in almost a century. In the Senate, Republicans lost half of 2024’s competitive races, including in four states Trump won.

America has deep problems, to be sure. Which is why we can’t give up on it — or give up the fights for social justice, equal political rights, equal opportunity, democracy, and the rule of law.

The forces of Trumpian repression and neofascism would like nothing better than for us to give up. Then they’d win it all. We cannot allow them to.

We will never give up.

**

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