On Saturday, Oregon families attending a “Labor’s Against ICE” protest got a taste of ICE’s gratuitous violence daily wracking cities and towns in Minnesota. While peacefully marching past the ICE building in South Waterfront, they were hit with tear-gas and pepper balls in the late afternoon and evening. 

Senate Dems vowed to rein in ICE. While, on Friday, they all voted to rescind the $75 billion contained in the reconciliation bill, later all but 23—including Merkley and Wyden—gave up their leverage by agreeing to basically fund the government until September, with the exception of DHS, which got a 2-week CR to allow for negotiations on reining in enforcement agents. Let’s thank our Senators for their good work, while reminding all MoCs that without really meaningful reforms—well beyond Schumer’s minimal proposal—these unconstrained assaults will get even worse.

When children are being kidnapped off the streets, U.S. citizens deported, and protesters murdered with impunity, it’s legislative malpractice and moral failure for congressional defenders of democracy not to use the funding deadline’s leverage to stop the lawlessness and terror Trump’s secret police have unleashed on our communities.

 Thank you for taking this first step. Now you must hold out for meaningful reforms. No money for ICE or CBP without enforceable protections against all ICE/CBP illegal behavior, mistreatment and murder of citizens and immigrants, and the deplorable conditions of detention facilities(see list in background section) and the immediate removal of all those promoting these atrocities—Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Todd Lyons, and Rodney Scott (CBD Commissioner.

(1) Repealing ICE’s $75 billion and CBP $65 billion slush funds; (2) Significant reductions in detention/removal funding; (3) Limiting use of guns/military equipment during civil actions and codifying clear use-of-force standard for all agents; (4) Restricting CBP activity to the border, not our cities; (5) Congressional investigations of every ICE /CBP who’s broken the law and every death in their custody; (6) Required federal cooperation with state/local investigations into ICE/CBP misconduct; Ending agents’ qualified immunity; (6) Allowing citizens to sue agents for civil rights violations; (7) Ending family detention; (8) Addressing detention facilities overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and lack of adequate food and medical care; (9) Banning masks and requiring they display clear identification; (10) Banning arrests or home searches without judicial warrants; (11) Banning enforcement at schools, day cares, hospitals, houses of worship, courthouses, and other sensitive locations; (12) Banning targeting based on race, language, accent, place of employment or location at time of apprehension; (13) Meaningful, enforceable penalties for violation of these bans and for obstructing congressional oversight of detention facilities; (14) Removal of Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, Todd Lyons and Rodney Scott (CBP Commissioner) from their jobs. 

On May 12, 2025, DHS issued a secret ICE policy memo permitting agents to ignore the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections. Since then, it’s been training recruits to forcibly enter people’s homes, ransack them, and terrify or arrest anyone they find there.

Last Thursday, the day after the memo’s publication, seven spineless Democrats from outside Oregon helped MAGA Republicans advance the legislation funding ICE with no restrictions on its behavior. Had they voted “no”, it wouldn’t have passed. The fight now moves to the Senate, where modest band-aids, which will neither fix ICE nor stop fascism, are being discussed. Because an agency kidnapping children, killing civilians, and ignoring constitutional limits and First Amendment rights cannot be reformed, Congress can only get these untrained, uncontrolled, non-transparent thugs out of our cities for good is by dismantling Trump’s Gestapo and starting over.

Let’s thank our Democratic representatives who voted against this legislation and daily remind our Senators that restoring America’s tranquility requires dismantling Trump’s Gestapo now.

After an ICE agent murdered Renee Good, rather than deescalating, the Trump administration deployed thousands more ICE and the Border Patrol to Minnesota to further brutalize and terrorize migrants, people of color, and those lawfully protesting their atrocities. Congress MUST use the tools they have to end this lawless violence by publicly pledging to withhold their votes from any DHS appropriation bill that increases ICE’s already massive budget and does not rein in their illegal Gestapo-like actions.

Early Saturday morning, without Congress’ knowledge or authorization, the US military attacked a sovereign nation, bombing civilian and military sites around the capital, killing at least 80 Venezuelans, and kidnapped its head of state and his wife by dragging them out of their bedroom and transported them in handcuffs to New York. Congress and the American people must loudly push back against this latest possibly endless war. Passing war powers resolutions to stop this illegal invasion must be Congress’ top priority. 

The ACA tax credits enacted during Covid will lapse on December 31, creating a massive healthcare crisis for over 90% of the 24 million enrolled in ACA plans who rely on these credits. Unless extended—which the vast majority in both parties support—out-of-pocket premium costs will jump, on average, by 114%.

At a time when affordability’s on everyone’s minds, we must demand that Congress stop this crisis before it hits. Democrats must remain united in continuing to fight for a 3-year extension of the credits. Whatever the outcome, Americans must be reminded daily between now and the mid-terms that, no matter Trump’s rhetoric, only Democrats will protect their interests. 

GOP Senators may possibly have again bamboozled enough spineless Democrats—getting them to vote for a short-term CR containing neither extension of the ACA tax subsidies nor a promise against future recission of its terms.  THE FIRST VOTE MAY COME AS EARLY AS THIS EVENING.

Reopening the government without these provisions would be, according to Senate and House leaders, “a policy and political disaster.” 

Have these spineless Democrats learned nothing about Trump’s and their untrustworthiness? If Democrats go along with this charade, they ‘ll lose all the ground they gained with the American people on Tuesday. DO NOT ALLOW YOUR TIMOROUS, SPINELESS COLLEAGUES TO LET  AMERICA DOWN.

On Tuesday, Americans came out in force in blue and red states to repudiate Trump’s cruel, degrading, and unpopular agenda. Nevertheless, Senate leaders will try for the 14th time on Friday to force Democrats to accept their cruel CR into January with the possibility of floor amendments on three full-year mini-spending bills. 

If Democrats go along with this charade, they ‘ll lose all the ground they gained with the American people on Tuesday. We cannot let this happen. Democrats must stay strong and keep fighting, while Republicans, facing reality, must work with Democrats to permanently extend ACA tax credits and legislate guardrails to prevent recissions.

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. 

August 6 is the Voting Rights Act (VRA)’s 60^th anniversary.  Despite its popularity, the Roberts Court has whittled away its protections. The result: a torrent of voter suppression schemes, systematically disenfranchising tens of thousands of American voters. And Trump’s baseless voter fraud claims, attempts to tighten voting restrictions, and requests for GOP-controlled states to engage in mid-decade gerrymandering have made things even worse.

 On July 29, just 8 days before the VRA’s anniversary, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act was officially reintroduced in both chambers. Let’s thank our MoCs for their strong support for voting rights and our Senators for their press conference. But they cannot stop here. Instead, they must use this anniversary to get as much publicity as possible, while simultaneously exposing Trump and his MAGA allies for the authoritarians they are—working to destroy rather than strengthen our democracy.