From Mark Schlosberg:
Dear colleague,
Thank you for signing on to the letter we circulated in August and September urging senators to take strong stand against partisan rescissions. I’m writing to provide an update.
Senate Democrats are under increasing pressure to cave to Trump and Congressional Republicans and pass the partisan continuing resolution without any meaningful protections for people, health, and the environment. This would be a major mistake and further bolster Trump’s power.
When the shutdown ends and who blinks first will largely come down to who the public is blaming for the shutdown and the significant impacts that come with it. Democratic leadership -for the most part – has not clearly and consistently communicated why this shutdown is Trump’s doing. It’s critical that we get messages out to our membership, volunteers, friends, and family about what’s at stake and why Trump and Congressional Republicans are to blame.
When the shutdown started, we released a piece outlining the reasons why this is the Trump shutdown. Please consider sharing this piece and/or using the arguments in it for your own messaging. Trump and Congressional Republicans are basically telling millions of Americans to starve so Trump can have the power to ignore congress on spending issues and unilaterally ignore and cut funding for popular programs he doesn’t like. This is wrong and must be stopped.
The No Kings protests showed overwhelming opposition to Trump’s authoritarian agenda. The fight over government funding and the ability of Trump to slash agreed to funding through the rescissions process is one of the key ways that Trump is attempting to act like a monarch. Please consider sharing this piece on No Kings or using arguments from it.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Trump has refused to use emergency funds to allow food assistance to continue as SNAP runs out and WIC runs out putting the health of millions of young children, families, elders and disabled people in jeopardy.
Finally, the No Kings Alliance is organizing a mutual aid emergency response call tomorrow at 11am eastern. You can register for it here.
Trump is threatening to starve millions of Americans in order to further consolidate his power. He and congressional Republicans (including the hundreds of Republican House members who have been on a paid vacation since September) are to blame. It’s so important that we get this message out clearly to as many people as possible – and continue to drive calls into Congress making these points.
Onward together,
Mark
Mark Schlosberg
Food & Water Watch
