Weekly Check In February 5

[tanaqui]

Every day I wake up, check the news -- and come across at least one thing that has me asking myself, "How can this be the world we're living in now?!" While it can be exhausting at times (and it's important for us to take care of ourselves and still have joy in our lives), I think it's a good thing that none of this has become "normalized" yet, and that we still have a sense of outrage at what's happening to keep us fighting back.

So what has been happening?

Muslim Ban

A temporary restraining order suspending the Executive Order has been issued. The Department of Homeland Security and State Department have officially confirmed they'll obey the TRO, honoring visas and resuming refugee programmes. The White House appealed the TRO on Saturday and lost.

To the surprise of nobody, Trump threw a tantrum on Twitter, attacking the judge and failing civics 101.

So let's all take a moment to celebrate the (judicial branch of the) U.S. government working as it should!

I'm sure there will be plenty of new actions relating to the ban to be taken during the next week, but here are some we've already posted that are still relevant -- especially as there are still ongoing legal cases for some of the people affected by the ban, and we can't be sure all the front-line staff at airports will respect the TRO:

Resources for those harrassed/detained (check the comments)
Checking how your representatives responded to the Muslim Ban
Donate to organisations working with those affected by the ban (Last week's check-in post -- scroll down for the list)

Get involved

URGENT -- Confirmation Hearings -- Call your senators about Betsy DeVos
The nomination of Betsy DeVos will be considered again by the full senate tomorrow (Monday). Some Republican senators have said they will vote against her confirmation, or are considering doing so. Please call your senators, whether they're Democrats or Republicans. We need make sure all the Democrats DO vote against DeVos, so that if some Republican senators vote against her, she won't be approved because of Democrat votes.

Other Confirmation Hearings
So far, the only business meeting in committee to vote on a nominee scheduled for next week is that of David Shulkin, to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs. You can check out how your Senators voted on the nominations that have been confirmed -- and whether they deserve praise or a rocket -- through the links in this post. You can keep up-to-date with what's going on with the other hearings through our confirmation hearings tag.

Other Actions
Let the Army know what you think about the Dakota Access Pipeline (Deadline: 20 Feb)
Upcomimg Flippable Elections
From the latest Re:Act
Get Bannon off the National Security Council (From one of snickfic's link roundups)

Get educated
Curriculum with links for 15-week political science course
Congressional Tracker
Background on Lyft vs Uber

Last but not least, don't forget to check out snickfic's terrific link roundup posts. Remember that you can use the comments of those posts to add more links, especially if they're for information and background reading rather that a call to action.

Poll #17964 The Week

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 25

View Respondents

This week, I...

View Answers

called my one senator
11 (44.0%)

called my other senator
10 (40.0%)

called my representative
10 (40.0%)

got on a resistance call
2 (8.0%)

signed up for daily or weekly action alerts
6 (24.0%)

called my state senator
2 (8.0%)

called my state representative
3 (12.0%)

called my governor
5 (20.0%)

went to a protest
5 (20.0%)

got involved with a local group
3 (12.0%)

donated money
13 (52.0%)

took care of myself
15 (60.0%)

committed to action in the coming week
10 (40.0%)

did something else
10 (40.0%)

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I sent postcards to both my US senators and my US and state representatives. :)

[tanaqui]

That's great - well done!