Members of the local Indivisible Group are taking action every day to protest illegal and unconstitutional actions of Donald Trump and billionaire adviser, Elon Musk, who has fired workers at federal agencies that regulate parts of his $38 billion federal contracts.
Musk has closed offices across the country and fired nearly 10,000 workers, according to Reuters, including many who provide services to veterans.
USA Today reported March 11 that the VA will undergo a review of operations with the goal of cutting more than 80,000 jobs. The cuts are part of an initiative spearheaded by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.
“Some of us went to the VA Protest Saturday in Fayetteville,” a local Indivisible organizer said. “There were more than 500 people there showing support for our veterans. To find out about federal worker actions, go to Savepublicservices.com.”
Some local members of Indivisible also went to the NWA Indivisible (IndivisibleNWA.org) meeting March 15. That group is holding weekly protests outside the offices of Rep. Steve Womack and Sen. Tom Cotton, 3333 Pinnacle Hills Pkwy, Rogers. They meet at the roundabout at Pinnacle Hills and West Northgate and encourage interested parties to bring your own signs and flags. Be sure to read the info about how to legally protest and maps to their offices sites.google.com/view/indivisiblenwa/home/your-right-to-protest.
People are urged to call their senators and representatives every day. Five calls makes it easy to call your representatives, they give you all the facts and a script to help you at 5calls.org.
“Keep making your calls!” the local Indivisible organizer said. “They are making a difference. People are speaking up all over the country. We have the power of our voices. And keep talking to those who are starting to realize what is happening. Be kind and start conversations with empathy. They were lied to. Don’t shame people who may become allies. We are all in this fight. Keep up the fight and hang on to your peace of mind, both are important.”
Another local event, writing postcards to Congress, is on Wednesdays in March at 6 p.m. at Brews.
U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin is encouraging all U.S. citizens to join him this week in filing formal demands for access to their personal data obtained by DOGE and Elon Musk. Raskin said the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued an injunction commanding DOGE to comply with citizen requests under the Freedom of Information Act. This law encompasses the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, which entitles any citizen to access personal information held in any U.S. government records system. Please find a fillable Privacy Act request form at jamieraskin.com/doge-privacy-act-requests/.
The destruction of USAID is also a concern. Raskin said Musk’s action have blocked the shipment of millions of tons of already paid-for and critically needed food and humanitarian assistance to hungry and sick people all over the world.
“You’ve blocked the vast majority of U.S. foreign aid contract work and maligned the good people who do that work, the people who are helping bring water to communities in Syria, anti-malaria equipment to Africa, electrical infrastructure to Ukraine and honest development to the poorest communities in the world,” Raskin said. “This is obscene. As the richest man in the world, you could have contributed hundreds of billions to eliminate hunger and disease while still remaining a billionaire. You got that way with at least $38 billion of taxpayer money, in contracts, tax breaks and other subsidies to your own businesses. It is obscene that you now revel in the destruction of programs that serve the poorest people in the world. Is there something wrong with you?”
“…Have you received a conflict-of-interest waiver for your seizing control over federal departments and agencies (1) with which you already have $38 billion in government contracts, with an additional $11.8 billion coming in the next few years on 52 existing contracts with 7 federal agencies, (2) which had been actively investigating you for hundreds of consumer, labor, environmental and public safety complaints, and (3) which give you access to the private data of more than 300 million Americans while you have the power and motive to funnel it into your Artificial Intelligence program Grok and the power and motive to use it for the purposes of creating what you plan to be the world’s largest financial services company?”
Go to Mobilize.us for an extensive list of national actions. For more information on Indivisible, Indivisible.org/groups.