The February congressional recess starts today, and we’ve got everything you need to take action on your home turf right here.

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Indivisibles,

On Friday, Trump launched a full-fledged attack on our democracy. After signing a government spending bill that contained increased funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) -- which will lead to even more detention, deportation, and family separations -- he declared a national emergency to build his wall.

Like we told you on Friday, this is an illegal, anti-democratic power grab rooted in hate. And, we are not going to let him get away with it.

Yesterday, you showed up at crisis response events to mobilize against Trump's fake crisis and racist deportation force to stand with immigrant, Muslim, black, and brown communities. There were more than 250 events across the nation -- and Indivisibles led the way with partners from MoveOn, Win Without War, CREDO, and more.

But it's going to take more than one day of action to stop this unconstitutional power grab. It's critical that we keep up the pressure.

What can Congress do to stop Trump's fake emergency? A lot.

Congress has an obligation to check Executive Branch abuses, and there is a clear path for them to do this. The National Emergencies Act expressly provides a procedure for Congress to terminate a state of emergency by passing a resolution. Congress has never used this procedure. But they should this time. Rep. Joaquin Castro is gathering support to introduce a resolution to do just this. Stay tuned.

Thanks to the big blue wave you built last November, Congress also has new oversight powers in the House. Democrats should immediately schedule hearings and investigations into Trump's illegal power grab.

Click here to tweet and help us spread the word on how folks can take action now.

February recess starts today. We repeat: February recess starts today. That means it would be a great time to show up on your home turf to demand action from your members of Congress (MoCs) at scheduled town halls, public events, and district offices. And, if there's no event scheduled near you, it's not too late to grab a few friends and fellow Indivisibles and plan your own. 

 Your 5 weekly (congressional recess) to-dos

 What to watch on the Hill after recess 

• The Green New Deal. Next week, Mitch McConnell continues his partisan games in the Senate. This time, he’s expected to call a vote on the Green New Deal resolution introduced by Senator Markey (and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez in the House) in an attempt to split the Democratic caucus. Read up on it here and urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor if they haven’t already.
• Medicare-for-All. Also next week, Congresswoman Jayapal plans to introduce her Medicare-for-All bill in the House. There are already several proposals to move our country closer to universal coverage, but this one stands out as a true single-payer proposal. When it’s introduced, it is expected to have over 100 co-sponsors. Urge your MoC to co-sponsor. We’ll have a resource on this coming soon.
• For the People Act. H.R. 1, the top priority for House Democrats, is expected to go to the floor of the House for a vote in early March. This bill will form the baseline consensus for Democrats pushing democracy reforms and establish a foundation that we can build upon with even bigger ideas. It’s crucial that H.R. 1, the For the People Act, pass with strong support as the most progressive package possible. Tell your MoC to co-sponsor it now.
• Other recently introduced legislation (if you haven’t gotten your MoCs on the record yet, now would be a great time to urge them to co-sponsor each of these bills):
• The Bipartisan Background Checks Act, to require background checks on all gun sales, including private sales and online. (This bill passed out of committee last week and is waiting for a vote on the House floor.)
• The Paycheck Fairness Act, to help finally close the persistent wage gap between men and women. (This bill will hopefully get a mark-up in committee soon, and move to the floor by early April.)
• The FAMILY Act, to provide 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to nearly every worker in America.
• A resolution to end U.S. support for the Yemen war. This just passed the House (a historic win!) and will next be considered in the Senate.

 Indivisible in your state 

Every day, we are blown away by the power of Indivisibles across the country taking their activism to their statehouse. Just last week:

• Arizona Indivisibles held a phone bank for democracy to fight back against the voter suppression bills moving through their state's legislature.
• California Indivisibles convened and made big plans for their upcoming state legislative session.
• Indivisible Nation BK met with Governor Cuomo's office about climate change, fair elections, bail reform, education, and housing.
• Maryland Indivisibles submitted testimony in favor of legislation that would make voting easier for incarcerated citizens.
• Minnesota Indivisibles educated fellow Minnesotans about what’s moving in their state legislature.
• Washington Indivisibles held their first lobby day at the capitol and met with legislators on topics ranging from healthcare to climate change to democracy reform.

Read our Indivisible States Guide to join the Indivisible movement in taking the fight to your state. And make sure to check out our brand-new Indivisible States video launch here!

 IndivisiWin of the week 

 In this section, we typically feature one of our favorite actions from an Indivisible group. Y'all did some incredible things last week, but this week, we want to do something a little different… because our favorite IndivisiWin of the week was from these 19 members of Congress.

If one of these 19 members of Congress is YOUR member of Congress, stop what you’re doing and call and say thank you for standing up against Trump’s deportation agenda. And don’t forget to thank those in the Senate: Elizabeth Warren (MA), Kamala Harris (CA), Cory Booker (NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Ed Markey (MA).

Last Thursday, these 19 House Members and 5 Senators voted against providing Trump any additional resources to expand his deportation machine. And while we’re relieved to avoid another government shutdown, these MoCs used their congressional power to reject Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and to say that it’s time for Congress to defund hate. If you have an MoC on this list, call them to thank them for their courage.

Help us spread the word to stop Trump's fake emergency 

We were blown away by just how many Indivisibles showed up for Monday’s day of action with partners. But stopping Trump’s national emergency in its tracks is going to take sustained constituent pressure -- and we need to get more people involved and drive additional pressure to our members of Congress.

Please give a $3 contribution to help mobilize people across the country against this attack on our democracy. We’re running digital ads right now to get more people to join this fight and demand their members of Congress act immediately.

The more people who join us to make calls to their members of Congress telling them to reject this fake emergency and who pressure Congress to investigate this illegal power grab, the more leverage we have to stop Trump’s racist, authoritarian agenda.

Thank you in advance for anything you are able to give. And, if you can’t, no worries. The most important thing you can do right now is to keep calling, keep organizing, and keep showing up to fight for our values.

We’ll be back with everything you need to know about what’s happening on Capitol Hill next week when Congress returns, but in the meantime, stay focused and let’s make this recess count.

In solidarity,
The Indivisible Team