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Indivisibles,

This is a big week full of predictable drama. Part of Indivisible’s role
is to demystify complex congressional events, so I’m going to try to do
that as succinctly as possible in this intro before we get to this week’s
action items. Let’s see if I can cover the main parts in three short
bullets:

* If Congress doesn’t act by Friday, we go into a government shutdown.
* Republicans are pushing their own bill forward without negotiating
with Dems, hoping that Dems will simply cave.
* Democrats have leverage. In the Senate, you need 60 votes to pass a
funding bill -- that means at least 7 Dem votes. In the House, the
Republicans are such a clown show that they might not be able to get
every Republican onboard, in which case Dem votes would be needed
there as well.

That much is known. But both sides are posturing, so it can be hard to
tell who’s bluffing and who’s representing their real “best and final
offer.” Dems are saying no votes unless the bill includes safeguards
against Musk’s illegal and unconstitutional behavior. Republicans are
rejecting that, have kicked Dems out of the negotiations, and are aiming
to jam their own bill through the House tomorrow. 

Here are the two main questions we have: 

FIRST: Will Republicans force a shutdown? Republicans aren’t acting like
they want a deal. They’ve put out a funding bill with MAGA treats
included. This isn’t a “clean” funding bill -- it makes MAGA-friendly
adjustments to existing funding levels (e.g. more money for ICE) and gives
the administration more discretion over spending, rather than simply
continuing the current funding status quo. 

Republicans are implicitly threatening congressional Dems: give in to our
funding demands, or we will blame you for shutting down the government. 

Maybe this is bluster. Maybe Republicans in the House won’t be able to
muster votes for this bill. Or maybe they’ll find Democratic resistance in
the Senate, and then they’ll drop their additional demands. We don’t know.

A lot depends on how Dems respond. Which brings us to the next big
question...

SECOND: How much will Dems give in to avoid a shutdown? Congressional Dems
are currently opposing a “[ [link removed] ]blank check” without safeguards against Musk.
There are four potential ways this goes:

No concessions: Dems flat out refuse to give any votes without safeguards
against Musk. If a shutdown happens, they blame Republicans and Musk. This
is the current public position of many congressional Dems, including those
in the negotiations and in leadership.

Fall-back position: If Republicans refuse to rein in Musk, Dems agree to a
short-term funding bill of a couple weeks. The main advantage of this is
Dems don’t agree to a blank check, and they force Republicans to use up
additional time fighting for short-term funding rather than doing
additional damage. 

Cave: Dems drop the demand for safeguards against Musk and agree to a
full-year clean funding bill. This would require Republicans amending
their current proposal. But it would still give a blank check to Trump and
Musk, and it would relinquish the only real leverage congressional Dems
have this year. 

Unconditional Surrender: Dems drop any demands and agree to the GOP
funding bill with MAGA goodies. If House Republicans succeed in passing
their funding bill tomorrow, it only takes 7 Senate Dems to pass it
through the Senate. It’s possible they just surrender for fear of being
blamed for a shutdown.

What we’re communicating to Congress right now:

On last Thursday’s “What’s the Plan” chat with me and Leah, I previewed
for folks a survey on this question on what Democrats should do. We had 3
options:

* Should they press for protections against Musk, even if that would
entail a government shutdown? 
* Should they accept a short-term funding bill to maintain leverage? 
* Or should they accept a long-term clean funding bill? 

I didn't even ask about the unconditional surrender option, because my
guess was that no active Indivisible member would favor that approach. As
of this morning, here are the results of that survey:

* Accept a long-term clean funding bill: 3.9%
* Push for a short-term funding bill to maintain leverage: 29%
* Demand protections against Musk even if it entails a shutdown: 67% 

Essentially, what you're telling us is: You want Dems to play hardball.
We're passing that message on to congressional Democrats. But we need your
help to do it, which brings us to this week’s action items.

- Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

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Your weekly to-dos

 1. [ [link removed] ]Tell your Democratic representative to hold the line in the
government funding battle. The government will shut down on Friday
night unless Congress can pass a spending bill. Democrats came to the
table with a simple demand: Guardrails to ensure that the funding
allocated by Congress is actually spent -- and not frozen by Trump,
Musk and the DOGE kids. Instead, Republicans put forward a partisan
bill that actually gives Trump and Musk MORE discretion to use
taxpayer funds however they choose. No Democrat should vote for this
bill. If you’re in a blue district, call your representative today
(calls are best, but you can also [ [link removed] ]use this tool to send an email). 
 2. [ [link removed] ]Tell your Democratic senator(s) to hold the line, too. If this bill
makes it through the House, there will be a lot of pressure on Senate
Democrats to vote for it. But amidst this constitutional crisis, Dems
should be doing everything possible to STOP Trump and Musk’s assault
on our government -- not greenlighting legislation that gives them
more power to choose which programs to fund or starve of resources.
Tell your Democratic senator(s) that now is the time to take a stand. 
 3. [ [link removed] ]Tell your Republican representative to face their constituents this
recess. After all they’ve done to enable the Trump-Musk coup and
amidst their efforts to slash Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for
billionaires, we understand why Republican representatives are scared
to hold town halls. At this point, GOP leaders are outright
instructing their members to stay invisible. Let your Republican
representative know you’re watching -- and remind them they work for
you. 
 4. [ [link removed] ]Regardless of who represents you, get ready for the Musk or Us
recess. A shutdown could change the schedule slightly, but every
Member of Congress is currently expected to be returning to their
states and districts from March 15-23. This is an opportunity to hold
Republicans accountable for the lawless chaos we’re enduring, and to
demand Democrats fight back. Our toolkit, linked above, has all the
info you need to make the most of the recess and you can [ [link removed] ]sign up
here for updates on town halls and other events near you. 
 5. [ [link removed] ]Process the news with Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah
Greenberg this Thursday at 3pm ET/12pm PT: Every Thursday at 3pm, we
take a step back to absorb the news of the past week, draw inspiration
from the work Indivisibles and allies are doing all across the
country, and talk about how we fight back. With a government shutdown
looming, attacks on the Department of Education expectedly imminently,
and some big announcements coming from the Indivisible team, there’ll
be a lot to talk about. Join us.

P.S. -- With social media companies bending the knee to Trump, Project
2025 purging the government of dissenters, and corporate media companies
caving in the face of speech-chilling lawsuits, it’s never been more
important to invest in organizations you believe in that are willing to
speak out and defy autocracy. [ [link removed] ]Please consider chipping in with a
monthly or one-time donation to help us keep up the fight.

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Red state and rural Indivisibles: Join our March 26 caucus call

One of the most common questions we get is, “I’m in a deep red
district/I’m in a rural area with little party infrastructure -- what can
I do?” Our Rural and Red Caucus calls are a great place to find the
answers! 

Each month, grassroots leaders from rural areas and Republican-dominated
districts/states come together to strategize about messaging and tactics
that we employ to change hearts and minds in our communities and build
grassroots political power. 

[ [link removed] ]Join our next Red and Rural Caucus call on Wednesday, March 26, at 8pm
ET.

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Don’t let Elon buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court majority

With Trump and Musk staffing the federal government with far-right
sycophants, it’s vital that we preserve our xxxxxxs against tyranny, from
Democratic legislatures to liberal-majority courts. 

On April 1, control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is up for grabs. This
is one of the most important elections of 2025 -- and not just for
Wisconsinites. If conservatives win a majority, they will entrench the
state’s gerrymander and get the final say in voting rights cases in the
crucial swing state. That’s why Elon Musk is pouring millions of dollars
into the race. 

We don’t have Elon’s funds, but we’re better at this than he is -- e.g.,
[ [link removed] ]we actually know who the candidates are. We’re working with Wisconsin
Indivisibles to [ [link removed] ]get out every last vote for our endorsed candidate,
Judge Susan Crawford. But if you’re outside Wisconsin, we need your help,
too. 

[ [link removed] ]We’ve got six upcoming phonebanks to help boost turnout and keep our
liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Sign up for a shift
today!

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Help Combat disinformation with the Indivisible Truth Brigade

With social media companies dispensing with fact-checking and some
platform owners/acting US presidents intentionally amplifying
disinformation, we all have to step up to identify and combat propaganda
and divisive lies.

[ [link removed] ]Join us on Wednesday, March 12 at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT to learn about
the Truth Brigade -- Indivisible Civics’ grassroots
disinformation-countering project. This event will feature a new member
orientation, so it’s a perfect onramp into our work -- but we won’t stop
there. We’ll be launching a new messaging campaign and providing specific
actions you can take to defend truth online.

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IndivisiWin of the Week 

[ [link removed] ]Cartoon: Rep. Fischbach has garbage streaming out of her mouth and a
speech bubble reading: These protests against my support for dismantling
the federal government are just garbage. Two protesters look on holding
signs that say shame on Trump and I am a patriot. One says: Her words
speak for themselves.

After Indivisible Kandiyohi County and Red River United helped organize
[ [link removed] ]hundreds-strong demonstrations outside Representative Michelle
Fischbach’s (R-MN-7) offices, she denigrated her angry constituents’
protests as “garbage.” That led the local news site to publish the cartoon
above -- not a great look for Rep. Fischbach! (Source: Trygve Olson, The
Forum)

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