STOP THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN

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https://indivisible.org/campaign/stop-trump-shutdown

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Republicans are shutting down the federal government because they insist on taking away healthcare and giving Trump another blank check to fuel his dangerous and illegal power grab. This toolkit has everything you need to know about our next steps, including how to hold Republicans accountable, how to help Democrats hold the line, and how to mobilize locally against blank checks for a wannabe king.

IN A NUTSHELL

WHAT HAPPENED:

Republicans in Congress are about to shut down the federal government rather than address Trump’s devastating healthcare cuts or put checks on his lawless power-grabs. Funding will run out at midnight on October 1 (Tuesday night, Wednesday morning), and the government will remain in a Trump Shutdown until a bipartisan agreement that can clear the 60-vote filibuster is reached.

WHY THIS HAPPENED:

Almost every Democrat opposed Republicans’ plan and used their leverage to defend Americans from Trump authoritarianism. All year, we’ve been banging on Dems’ doors to get them to fight, and they’re finally listening! Now, we need them to hold their ground. Dems must continue opposing any budget deal that lets
Trump’s healthcare cuts take effect or hands him a blank check to keep terrorizing our communities.

OUR TOP PRIORITY NOW: We need to hold Republicans accountable for threatening to shut down the government and throwing the country into chaos to appease their wanna-be king. We do that by:

Ramping up pressure on Republicans to negotiate a bipartisan budget deal that protects healthcare and denies Trump slush funds for his authoritarian wishlist.

Document and publicize the local impacts of the Trump Shutdown and his authoritarian agenda to make sure our communities know Republicans are responsible for raising costs and economic chaos, ripping away healthcare, and militarizing our communities.

Urge Democrats to stand strong and get loud in calling out Republicans’ attacks on working families, our economy, and our democracy.

Republicans could end this Trump Shutdown TODAY by passing a deal that protects healthcare and takes away Trump’s blank checks. Learn more about this fight below—and demand that your Members of Congress FIGHT LIKE HELL to stop Trump’s authoritarian attacks on our healthcare, communities, and democracy.


TAKE ACTION

HOLD REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE

Republicans are throwing the country into total chaos because that’s how committed they are to ripping away healthcare and making Trump our king. But we don’t do kings here.

Here’s what you can do if you have a Republican Senator:

Use this tool to call them now and demand they negotiate! Then, send them an email as well.
Tell them Republicans are responsible for ending the shutdown and own all the devastating impacts caused by it.

Demand they stay in DC and do their jobs - negotiating a bipartisan budget deal that protects healthcare and stops Trump from stealing from our communities.

Publicize their cruelty and cowardice

Make sure your community knows Republicans are threatening to shut down the government and must be held accountable for rubberstamping Trump’s rising authoritarianism.

Hold an in-person action like an event calling on your GOP MoC to negotiate, protest outside their office, or hold a town hall educating the community.

Spread the word by writing an op-ed or LTE (here’s a how-to guide) and posting on social media (here’s a toolkit).

Demand accountability for the harms to your community

See the Resources & Links section below for tools and data you can use to document the impact of the shutdown locally.

Highlight and share stories from constituents who are being harmed by your GOP MoC’s refusal to pass a budget that protects healthcare and takes away Trump’s blank check for lawlessness.

DEMOCRATS MUST HOLD THEIR GROUND

Democratic leaders have refused to support any government funding deal that continues Trump’s healthcare cuts and allows his lawlessness to go unchecked. They must hold their ground and unify all Dems to stand united on that!

Here’s what you can do if you have a Democratic Senator:

Urge them to hold their ground and only support a funding deal if it protects healthcare and prevents Trump from stealing from our communities.

If they’re not being vocal about holding their ground and calling on Republicans to end the shutdown, demand they speak out and use their platform. Make sure your community knows who is fighting for them and who is not.

Document the impact of the shutdown locally and hold Republicans accountable for the harms - see the Resources & Links section below for resources and data you can use.

Democrats need to hear from their constituents that we want them to fight like hell. Push your Dem MoCs to be bold, and then show them strong public support when they listen – or hold them accountable if they don’t.


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Simply put, Republicans shut down the government because they’d rather take healthcare away from working families and greenlight Trump’s authoritarianism than pass a federal budget that protects our health, security, economy, and democracy.

Since January, Republicans have been driving up healthcare costs, slashing coverage for millions of families, forcing the closures of rural hospitals, and shutting down biomedical research at a breakneck pace. Their Big Ugly Bill included the biggest cut to Medicaid in the program’s history, and triggered over $500 billion in cuts to Medicare to start in January. Now, they’re refusing to act on the expiring ACA tax credits that millions of families rely on to afford their health insurance. Trump’s budget chief Russ Vought is also illegally freezing hundreds of billions of dollars of bipartisan funding meant for our communities but which Trump personally doesn’t like.

Republicans control the White House and majorities in Congress, but any funding bill must clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate, so Democrats have real leverage in funding negotiations - and they’re using it to stop Republicans from ripping away healthcare and handing Trump another blank check for his power grab.

Republicans have put forward a proposal known as a continuing resolution (“CR”) to temporarily fund the government through November 21 without doing anything to address healthcare affordability or the cuts from their Big Ugly Bill. House Republicans passed this CR (with the support of two Democrats, Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez) and then skipped town, going into recess. They even changed their schedule to avoid coming back to work until after the shutdown deadline, all in an attempt to force Senate Democrats to accept the CR.

Democrats are eager to keep the government open and have put forward their own proposal that would reverse the Medicaid cuts made by Republicans in their Big Ugly Bill, permanently extend the ACA tax credits that make coverage affordable for millions of families, and prevent Trump from stealing from our communities. Dems have demonstrated they’re willing to negotiate, but oppose any deal that fails to meet the needs of the American people.

How did Republicans respond to Dems’ proposal? House Republicans refused to allow a vote on it, and Senate Republicans shot it down on a procedural vote. Every one of them voted against affordable healthcare, and against ensuring Trump follows our budget laws.

Democrats need to stand united in demanding Republicans stop their shutdown scheme, and start to negotiate a bipartisan funding deal that saves healthcare and reins in Trump.


WHAT HAPPENS DURING A SHUTDOWN?

If Congress doesn’t fund the federal government by 11:59pm on September 30th, the government shuts down. That means agencies must identify which workers and operations are “essential” vs “nonessential;” essential workers continue their jobs without pay for the duration of the shutdown, while nonessential workers are sent home. Both groups receive automatic backpay when the government reopens, though federal contractors do not.

The president has discretion over what is deemed essential, but it’s important to know that a shutdown does not give the president any additional legal authority to fire federal workers or prevent the courts from considering cases challenging administration actions or policies. There is a lot that is unknown and hard to predict, and of course we expect Trump and his cronies to test the boundaries or blow past them - that’s why we need all hands on deck.


HOW WILL THIS END?

Republicans control a federal trifecta and are responsible for ending the shutdown. They must negotiate with Democrats on a bipartisan deal that delivers relief from the healthcare crisis they’ve escalated, and stop Trump from stealing from our communities.

Democrats must stay focused on realistic, achievable goals for using their leverage; we can’t end fascism in one fell swoop, but we can start to rein in the lawlessness, save healthcare for millions of Americans, and force Republicans to be held accountable for putting billionaires over families.


WHY THIS MATTERS

Let’s be clear: Trump and Republicans have basically been slow-walking a government shutdown ever since Trump’s inauguration in January. From moving to dismantle entire agencies (like the Department of Education, FEMA, and USAID) and firing huge swaths of the federal workforce that deliver crucial public services, to illegally freezing hundreds of billions in funding enacted by Congress and defying court rulings left and right, Donald Trump will continue to pull every legal and illegal lever to consolidate his power. He’s hell bent on transforming the federal government into his own loyal regime serving his corrupt whims even if it brings us to the brink of a devastating government shutdown.

This is a rare moment of leverage for Democrats, and they must use it to protect the American people. Trump and Republicans are hoping that Democrats, like some cowardly universities or corporate executives, will be too afraid of the threats and chaos of a shutdown, and they’ll surrender in advance. But that only hands Trump more power. Democrats must remain courageous, and demonstrate that we can not just stand up to Trump – we can win.

We know that showing up works. Some Republicans, even those who serve on the Appropriations Committee like Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), are publicly acknowledging that it’s valid for Democrats not to trust them in negotiations. They’ve openly warned that the bills will need to win Democrats’ votes to proceed. Democrats should be seizing on this to drive a wedge among Republicans, not helping them pass their agenda.

We need to be mobilizing every sector of society - from our faith communities to alumni associations to trade groups - to take concrete action against Trump’s race to consolidate authoritarian power, and this shutdown fight is just the latest battleground.