Since coming to power, Trump’s used the presidency to line his pockets. His claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act that DOJ owes him $230 million for violating his rights while investigating his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia and prosecuting him for his theft of classified documents, is just his latest attempt to enrich himself—this time with taxpayer funds.

 Our MoCs must not let Trump get away with raiding the US Treasury for his own benefit—especially when his policies are causing millions of Americans to lose their health insurance and many more to struggle to make ends meet. Instead, they must demand immediate, ongoing House and Senate investigations and commit to relentlessly shame him and his MAGA allies for trying to extort money from US taxpayers with bogus reimbursement claims.

Last Tuesday Senator Merkley, took to the Senate floor, and, for nearly 23 hours, protested Trump’s grave threats to democracy—highlighting Trump’s “authoritarian takeover” of the government, attacks on free speech and the press, DOJ weaponization, National Guard deployments in our cities. Let’s call and thank him for using this procedure to draw national attention to this “authoritarian moment” in which America finds itself, where Trump believes he is the king and can control everything, regardless of what the Constitution and our laws require—and ask all our MoCs to regularly do likewise.

On July 16, 2025, America First Legal, a right-wing extremist group founded by Stephen Miller, petitioned the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), tasked with ensuring free and fair elections, to amend the federal voter registration form to require Americans, when registering to vote, to provide a passport or similar documentary proof of citizenship.—which could disenfranchise many millions of voters.

Citizens have until October 20 to get their comments to the EAC. If we promptly send our comments and convince our friends and neighbors to do likewise, there’s still time to convince the EAC that carrying out its duty to ensure free and fair elections requires it to reject this anti-democratic petition and protect everyone’s right to vote.

As constituents, it is our responsibility to push our elected officials to better protect our interests. And, when they work hard on our behalf, we should show our appreciation. Here, in Oregon, our MoCs are holding strong on two fronts—in standing up for our  healthcare needs, even if that means a government shutdown tonight, and in pushing back against Trump’s  illegal nationalization of the Oregon National Guard and its deployment to Portland with authorization to use “full force, if necessary.”

 We must thank them for what they’re doing, tell them to continue fighting, and urge them to both daily paint pictures of Trump’s cruelty and authoritarianism and remind us who’s to blame for our ongoing suffering.

Instead of a bell, gunfire is the mark of another school year in America. In Minneapolis, Catholic school students were shot while praying, several were injured, and the 23-year-old shooter then killed himself. Weeks later, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University while speaking at a political event. The same day, a student opened fire at a Colorado High School, injuring 2 students before turning the gun on himself.
Gun violence’s frightening heights is a reflection of our dark culture. Our leaders, willing only to offer “thoughts and prayers,” refuse to act. Implementing common-sense gun legislation is a simple first-step towards addressing this cancer. Rather than using these recent tragedies to attack Democrats and progressive organizations, let’s memorialize Charlie Kirk’s murder in legislation strengthening our national gun laws—creating a safer country for our kids.

At last Friday’s meeting in Alaska, Trump revealed himself as Putin’s fawning supplicant, rolling out the red carpet for this war criminal. On Monday, Zelensky, accompanied by the leaders of the EU, NATO, Germany, France, Britain, and Italy, tried, largely unsuccessfully, to get Trump to change his perspective.

Toward this end, our MoCs must immediately begin pressuring the Trump administration to: (1) support Ukraine with a ceasefire agreement that maintains Ukraine’s control over its territory, (2) continue to provide the necessary military and diplomatic assistance required to ensure Ukraine’s independence, and (3) respect Ukraine’s input and not bow to Putin’s agenda in any peace deal it brokers.