Hey folks,

This is a big week for the defiance. We’re going to find out if congressional Dems are ready to fight back as a unified force.

I hope the answer is yes, but I’d urge against treating this as just a political entertainment event. This isn’t a gameshow -- it’s a participatory sport. It will turn out better for all of us if more of us get off the sidelines and into the game. Let me give you the state of play.

The campaign to build a unified opposition in congress: For nearly 11 months, we’ve been advocating for a unified opposition party that aggressively, creatively, defiantly opposes Trump’s regime. I’m progressive, but this isn’t about progressives versus centrists or conservatives. It’s about fighting back versus rolling over and playing dead.

On that front, the Democratic Party in Congress has not exactly covered itself in glory. Yes, we’ve had real leadership moments from the likes of Maxwell Frost, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Jamie Raskin, AOC, Bernie, Ilhan Omar, and others. But these have been notable exceptions to congressional leadership that has, at best, engaged in performative opposition while repeatedly declining to use its leverage and power to constrain the regime.

What we can learn from the last surrender: Without demands, we lose. I won’t belabor the disappointing votes, tactical blunders, “strongly” worded letters, baffling calls for “bipartisanship,” and limp poll-tested speeches of this year. Instead, I’ll focus on one piece of recent history that’s relevant and instructive for this week: the Senate Dems surrender to the Republican funding bill in March.

Back then, Republicans were daring Democrats to oppose their funding bill. House Dems refused to surrender their leverage, but Schumer failed to ever state his demands. Then, he surprised the House Dems, members of his own caucus, and much of the broader pro-democracy ecosystem with an 11th hour unilateral surrender.

Trump and the congressional GOP celebrated. Schumer received massive blowback, including 92% of Indivisible leaders voting in favor of a call for him to step down from leadership. Democratic Party approval hit a 30-year low -- far lower than Trump or congressional GOP implementing an historically unpopular and fascist agenda.

This time could be different because we’ve got our demands. Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional power-grabbing is even more brazen now. The regime is occupying American cities, bullying media institutions and universities into submission, shutting down congressionally-mandated agencies, terrorizing immigrant communities with a secret police force, cracking down on political opponents, and flagrantly violating international law while burning bridges globally.

And now we have a new Republican funding bill. Again, House Democrats have voted almost unanimously against it. Again, it passed the House with Republican votes. And again, it falls to Senate Democrats to hold the line and force Republicans to the table.

But this time, after we spent weeks urging Dem leadership to actually state their demands… they actually stated their demands!

1. Restore Medicaid and protect the Affordable Care Act.
2. Close the budget loopholes Trump is using to fund authoritarian terror-tactics at the expense of schools, healthcare, public media, and other vital services that families need.

Is this everything I’d want? Not at all. But are these substantial demands that Trump and congressional Republicans hate? Yes! And would this represent a serious use of leverage by the congressional Democrats against the regime? Also yes!

Politics is the art of the possible. It is possible -- not guaranteed, but possible -- to unify congressional Democrats around these demands in this moment. We should have a different set of demands for a different moment. But for now, these are the demands of the opposition, and we should back up these demands.

Dems are showing a little backbone. Our job is to stiffen it. Our goal is not a shutdown -- it’s building an opposition party that uses its leverage to reduce human harm and slow the march toward authoritarianism. Whether Republicans drive us into a shutdown or not, our success depends on Democrats holding strong rather than simply surrendering again.

Republicans will not change course if they think they can just roll over Dems again. And Dems will not stay strong unless they feel like they have the support to do so. This is a week when your calls, your visits to congressional offices, and your level of vocal support really matter.

Dems need to know we have their back -- and they need to know that millions of people will be out in the streets for No Kings on October 18 to cheer them on or hold them accountable.

We can win this fight, and if we do, it will be a team effort. That victory depends in part on strong leadership of Schumer and Jeffries, in part on the intestinal fortitude of individual Dem Members of Congress, and in part on our own work to stiffen the spines they have recently discovered exist.

So please check out our shutdown toolkit, read on to the weekly action items below, and join Indivisible and our partners for an all-hands call on responding to the Trump Shutdown.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Join our rapid response call this Wednesday at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT to prepare for a potential Trump Shutdown. If Republicans force a shutdown, we’ll need to act fast to hold them accountable, so we plan to convene with national partners to lay out a strong grassroots response. Join us, and read more on the funding fight below.
2. Call your GOP senators to demand a bipartisan spending deal -- and remind them they’ll own a TRUMP SHUTDOWN!  Republicans refuse to even consider funding bills that don’t include MAGA healthcare cuts. Let’s get loud to show our resolve and remind the GOP it’s on them to keep the government open.
3. Volunteer for a virtual phonebank to help Dems win big in Virginia this fall. We’re making 1,000,000 calls to voters to help VA Democrats build a vital defense against Trump’s authoritarian overreach -- a Democratic trifecta in his own backyard! All you need is your phone and a computer. Join a live phonebank training here.
4. Find a No Kings protest near you on October 18. With nearly 2,000 events already on the map, we’re on pace to make October 18 our biggest day of action yet -- and it couldn’t come at a more important moment. Pick a protest to join, and help us make No Kings historic!
5. Sign up for a powerful discussion about how teachers defend truth, combat disinformation, and protect democracy. Be part of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten’s virtual chat on the importance of educators in the fight for democracy at her talk Frontline in the Fight: Why Fascists Fear Teachers.
6. Join a special shutdown showdown edition of “What’s the Plan?” this Thursday. As they do each week, our co-founders Leah and Ezra will go live at 3pm ET this Thursday to break down the news and answer your questions directly! This week, they plan to hone in on the federal funding fight.

P.S. When elected leaders, corporations, or other institutions yield to fascism without a fight, Indivisible is there to demand courage and hold them accountable. Our events, organizing, and historic days of action are vital to this movement, and your support makes it all possible. If you can, please chip in to help hold the line against Trump authoritarianism.

Gear up for a potential Trump Shutdown

With just over one day until government funding runs dry, Donald Trump is actively hampering efforts to avoid a federal shutdown on his watch:

• Last Tuesday, Trump backed out of a meeting with Democratic leaders, instead choosing to attack and demonize them before flip-flopping to an 11th hour meeting today.
• Last Friday, Trump carelessly downplayed the harm his federal shutdown would cause, saying “If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down.”
• Finally, Trump officials followed up with a crude retort to the Democrats working to save people’s healthcare: “go f%#% yourself!”

Here’s what is clear: If a federal shutdown starts tomorrow night, Donald Trump and Republicans are squarely to blame. They're holding healthcare hostage and destroying congressional norms -- all to jack up healthcare prices and hand Trump even more unchecked power.

Our goals in response are twofold: Ensuring Republicans pay a political price if they shut the government down, and pushing Senate Democrats to hold the line!

Check out our funding fight toolkit to find all the ways we can hold Republicans accountable and keep Democrats fighting as we near a crucial shutdown deadline.

Spread contagious courage with One Million Rising

Indivisible launched the One Million Rising initiative this summer to train a million people in the practice of peaceful non-cooperation. That program concludes next Wednesday, October 8, with the fourth and final installment* of our training series -- leading directly into a NEW stage of our fight!

For previous One Million Rising participants, this call offers key updates on the work we’re doing together through Signs of Solidarity and the Ground Avelo campaign before diving into new ways to plug in. And for first-time attendees, it's an opportunity to join our efforts at an exciting turning point!

Register now to join One Million Rising on Wednesday, October 8, for exciting updates and new opportunities to defy the Trump takeover in your community.

IndivisiWIN of the week

Even after ABC/Disney felt the power of our boycott and reinstated Jimmy Kimmel, Indivisibles remained focused and strong in the fight for free speech! Indivisible TX24 organized a “Signs of Fascism” silent protest at Nexstar HQ, demanding that the broadcast giant air Kimmel’s show on the ABC affiliates still preempting him.

Sinclair and Nexstar have since announced that Kimmel is being put back on ABC stations nationwide.

Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to our text messaging program, where we send rapid response actions a few times a month.