Indivisibles,

It’s July 4th recess this week (also known as the congressional district work period where your members of Congress head home to your turf)! And in honor of the holiday, where the United States became an independent nation, Indivisibles are calling on their members of Congress (MoCs) to declare independence from Trump and support an impeachment inquiry now in the House Judiciary Committee!

Opening an impeachment inquiry would give House Democrats the ability to conduct more effective oversight of Trump and his administration, since he has so far refused to cooperate with any of the investigations the House has launched this year (shoutout to Rep. Joe Kennedy who became the 80th Democrat in Congress to support opening such an inquiry). It’s well past time for the House to hold Trump accountable and uncover the truth about his crimes and corruption. You can get everything you need to tell your MoC to step up, including our July 4 impeachment toolkit, here.

But while we wait on Congress to do its job, we got our first taste of what the race to replace Trump will bring, as 20 Democratic candidates participated in the first set of debates last week. 

These debates made history, with more women and people of color on stage than in any other presidential primary ever. In fact, women and candidates of color were the clear standouts among the candidates on both nights. In a series of flash polls we sent to Indivisibles after each night, there was a clear trend: Senators Warren and Harris impressed our movement the most, and Secretary Julián Castro surprised many with his unapologetically progressive stances on immigration and abortion. Check out some of the other info from those polls below and keep an eye out tomorrow for the results from our complete post-debate survey (that more than 18,000 of you participated in 😱).

Indivisible groups across the country also deserve a big round of applause for holding more than 165 debate watch parties and using it as an incredible opportunity for recruitment and talking about the issues that matter most with their members. We cannot wait to see what you do for the next debates on July 30 and 31.

Now, before we get into this week’s to-dos a word on immigration. As you may have noticed, we were pretty pissed off on Twitter last week. We want to tell you why: Democrats caved to Mitch McConnell by handing Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) billions in extra funding to expand their concentration camps and ramp up deportation activities. 

Let’s be clear: Giving more money to the agencies that caused the problem in the first place is not the solution — and House Democrats need to hear from you this recess. Many of them are home, and a few of them are even holding town halls (check out this thread!). Make sure you hold them accountable. Also, check out this great article from the Intercept about how the Problem Solvers Caucus, led by Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), led the way to the House caving and giving Trump and ICE exactly what they wanted.

Now, let’s get to it.

 Your 5 weekly to-dos 

1. The results of our flash poll are in! Of the nearly 8,000 Indivisibles polled after each debate, we have clear winners! On night one, Elizabeth Warren rose above the pack with 56% of respondents choosing her as the most impressive candidate (click here to see the article from NBC News). And on night two, Kamala Harris set herself apart, with 65% of respondents marking her as most impressive (check out the article here)! Stay tuned for the announcement of our full web survey on Tuesday, July 2.
2. Impeachment is patriotic, and it’s time for your MoC to support getting started. Donald Trump has committed crimes and abused his power while in office, and the only way to hold him accountable is by opening an impeachment inquiry. Use the resources at impeach.indivisible.org to tell your MoC to get on board.
3. Hold House Democrats accountable for their vote to give millions of additional dollars to Trump’s deportation and detention machine. Use our call script to tell your MoC to Defund Hate in the DHS appropriations bill this year by cutting funding for ICE and CBP, including getting rid of the slush fund for ICE.
4. Demand that your MoC take on Big Pharma and support H.R. 1046. Prescription drug prices are exorbitantly high, and it is killing patients. Rep. Lloyd Doggett has introduced a bill that will give Medicare the power to negotiate fair prices with drug companies while guaranteeing that people will always have access to the medicine they need. Tell your MoC that they need to support H.R. 1046 to lower prescription drug prices now.
5. RSVP for our next monthly activist call on July 11. We’ll be discussing updates on immigration, impeachment, the 2020 race and more. Join us for the call on Thursday, July 11 at 8pm Eastern Time / 5pm Pacific Time.

 IndivisWin of the Week 

Portland Indivisible models how town halls should be across Oregon and across the nation.

Indivisibles have always shined during recess, and with all the momentum you built from watching the debates last week this time won’t be any different. Stay engaged, make calls, visit district offices, crash parades, and make sure to enjoy the time you can spend this holiday with the people you care about!

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

P.S. We just got word that our National Political Director María Urbina will be on the Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell tonight at 10pm to talk all things 2020. Tune in tonight!