Want to stop Trump? Our 1st best chance is coming up fast.
Up till now, though Trump and Musk have been breaking the law every day and causing chaos throughout the Federal Government, it’s not been easy to stop them. That’s because Trump has moved quickly, issuing daily executive orders that go far beyond any authority he has; the recourse to challenge them is in the courts, and courts are slow.
Up till now, the best chance outside the courts was in the U.S. Senate, as Trump’s Cabinet picks required majority vote confirmation. But with so few Republican Senators willing to vote against even the most dangerous nominees, Trump has metasticized. We now have mini-Trumps Hegseth, Patel, Kennedy and Gabbard in positions to cause daily chaos on their own.
Let’s face it, this has been a discouraging beginning.
But this week—literally starting today—we have our best chance yet, because action is coming to the House of Representatives. This is where the Republican majority is thinnest, Republican divisions are greatest, and every American has the chance to engage. Voting could begin tonight and is very likely to conclude before March 14.
This is our moment. We can stop Trump if we act right away. Here’s what we can do.
First: understand what Trump is doing and why the vote in the House is make-or-break
Trump’s budget bill in the House gives huge tax breaks to billionaires and pays for them by taking away health and long-term care from older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. It also cuts off food stamps (SNAP) that keep 42 million families from going hungry.
Every poor or working-class family in America will feel these cuts right away if Congress passes Trump’s budget. Many middle-class families will find their lives upended as well.
Consider Medicaid. Chances are, you know a family that relies on Medicaid right now, or has in the past, or will in the future.
Maybe you were never quite sure what Medicaid is. It’s the federal program that, even if you don’t have money, helps you get basic medical care. Right now, for one in five of us—75 million Americans, half of them children or teenagers—Medicaid is the difference between whether you can see the doctor or have to go without; whether you can fill a prescription, or have to go without; and whether an aging parent can get long-term care.
Medicaid is the difference between whether someone goes to school ready to learn, or not; whether they go to work or not; whether they get well or stay sick longer.
Sometimes, it’s the difference between life and death: think about living life as a diabetic without insulin, or beating an infection without antibiotics.
And, when a budget bill attacks so many people, every church, synagogue or mosque is suddenly under attack as well. Members of every congregation will suddenly need much more help avoiding hunger and medical crises that never needed to happen. Food pantries and church programs will quickly become overwhelmed.
To stop Trump and help the people you love, read this brief, clear New York Times summary:
If the link isn’t available to you, go to your public library and get on their computers and read it. The story was just updated February 21, 2025.
Reading the story will make you mad.
It will make you well-informed.
And it will prepare you to act.
Then you have to act. Here’s one set of 9 practical actions you can take that, together, have an impact. I’ve broken them down step-by-step.
Today! Do the most simple, basic thing. Call both the D.C. office and district office of your Congressperson and tell them to vote No on Trump’s budget bill.
Not sure who is your current Member of Congress? Look them up here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Find their D.C. office phone number here: https://www.house.gov/representatives
Also, google your Congressperson’s website to find their phone number, email address and the street address(es) of their district offices. The district office or offices will be near where you live.
When you call and email, all you have to say is your name, your address, that you live in the Congressperson’s district, and you want them to vote against the budget bill and all of its cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Want to do more than the minimum? Amplify your voice by reaching out to people you know who care as much as you do about stopping Trump.
You can ask them to help, not only by doing what you just did, but also by working together with you to reach out to voters who don’t know this is happening.
Keep in mind: this budget bill will be wildly unpopular if voters know about it and tell their Member of Congress to vote against it. But neither of those things is automatic. The bill may be a big surprise to many who voted for Trump, and to people who didn’t vote, people who assumed life couldn’t get worse. When you tell someone how this budget bill affects their family, friends and neighbors, they will see that Trump can make life much worse, and that he’s about to do so.
To tell enough people so we stop the budget bill, we need a team.
You will be much more likely to start talking to people, and to keep talking with them, if you do this with a team, not just by yourself. Maybe you can join a team that already exists at your church, community group, union, or local political group such as Indivisible which also has this useful but lengthy document: https://indivisible.org/resource/guide.
What matters most, however, is who in your community has actually gotten started? It’s great if you can just join in to something smart that is already happening.
More likely, there isn’t an active group, at least not one you know of.
No problem. Pull together a group of your friends to follow the news and decide which elected officials you can effectively target.
Here are 7 quick, easy steps to build a small team
1. Take 30 minutes right now to make a list of people you know you want to ask to get involved with you. Jog your memory by scrolling through your phone. Focus first on people who live close enough to you that you can all get together in person.
2. Schedule 30 minutes to text at least 3 of them, 6 would be even better. The text you send should be super-short. Mine would say:
Hey ___, this is Dave, I am pulling together a small group of us disgusted by Trump who want to take practical action to stop the terrible budget bill he has coming. I’ll give you a call later today to tell you a little about it. It’s worse than you think. It’s also beatable. What’s the best time for me to give you a call? Thanks.
3. Then put aside 60 minutes tonight for calls. Call each of the people you texted at the time they requested; or if they didn’t reply, just call when it’s convenient for you. Keep each call to 5-10 minutes. Ask if they’ve been following what Trump is doing, and how they feel about it. Tell them just a little about the budget bill, 1 to 2 sentences that will surprise them. Then, directly ask them: are you willing to come over for coffee this coming weekend? Offer a specific time and place, such as “we’re meeting at my house Saturday at 12 noon for just one hour. Will you be there?
Before your team meets
4. Put together a draft agenda so you’ll help everyone stay focused and stay on time. Share it with the people coming, along with this Substack so they have a little more background. Encourage everyone to invite a friend of theirs to join in, too.
When you meet, the key part is making a plan to connect with your local Congressperson or at least their key staff people
5. Call each of your Congressperson’s district offices and their federal office in D.C., and ask who on the Congressperson’s staff is following the budget bill, and who is the point person on the budget bill; on health including; Medicaid and on SNAP. Get full names, email addresses and ideally phone extensions for the crucial staff people. If you talk to someone and they are sympathetic to what you are doing, get their name, too. If you have trouble getting through on the phone, try your Congressperson’s website or search elsewhere online; even better, drive over to the Congressperson’s district office and ask in person. The district office addresses are easy to find online.
6. Write a letter to your Congressperson—short, to the point, asking to meet in person—and email it also to all of the staff members you’ve identified as caring about the budget, Medicaid, SNAP and stopping the Trump cuts.
7. Then, crucially, within 1 day after you email them, one of your team must call and ask to talk with one of those staff members – not to have a lengthy discussion, but instead to find out how your team can interact with the Congressperson’s office face-to-face. Several good things could happen.
a) Maybe they have a Town Hall meeting coming up in the district before March 14 where you and your team can go, share your concerns, and ask questions.
b) Maybe they schedule a limited number of meetings with constituents and will give you one. It’s more likely you’ll get a meeting with the staff person rather than the Congressperson, but that’s a fine start.
c) If they try to avoid scheduling a meeting, explain that you are discovering great community interest in the upcoming vote on the budget bill and ask how many constituents would need to come together for a meeting to be scheduled? Learn everything you can about the scheduling process for both the Congressperson and the staff working on the budget bill or health care. That way, you can report back to your team and together you can plan next steps.
If you get stuck pursuing these 7 steps, here’s another way to have a real impact
Sometimes it’s very hard to get the attention of the people who work for your Congressperson.
If that’s true, persist; but also, here’s a next step:
With your team all together in person, all of you can look through your phone directories (and any other lists any of you keep of your friends and their contact info).
From those, each of you can start a list of people you know who feel the same about Trump as you do and they live in a Congressional district represented by a Republican.
If you are not sure if a friend lives in a district represented by a Republican, either look up their Congressperson with the same link I provided near the beginning of this post, https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative; or simply email your friend and ask.
Some of your friends are represented by Republicans. Getting at least a few Republicans to vote No on Trump’s budget is essential to stop the cuts.
Call your friends represented by a Republican in the House. Tell them what you’re doing and ask them to call their Congressperson today. Send them this Substack so they are knowledgeable when they make their own call. Members of Congress care much more about what their constituents think than what anyone else thinks. Your friend will have a particularly big impact on a Republican who doesn’t always hear from people who want checks and balances on Trump.
Whatever you do, start now!
The process of connecting with your Congressperson is a lot of work, and it’s hardest the first time, since they may not know you.
But if you start now, you’ll have more than one chance to make it happen. By trial and error, you’ll learn how your particular Congressperson runs their Congressional office. And by doing this together, as a team, you won’t get discouraged if you need three swings to hit a home run.
Summary: the principles of good organizing that will help you succeed
Change only happens when we start to act.
Action only happens when we connect. Don’t count on a mass communication to do the work for you. In person, you and your team can have a dialogue with someone in the Congressperson’s office that they will remember.
Connection only matters when we are getting close to the decision-maker. Be grateful that, in the case of the budget bill, Trump is not the decision-maker. Congress is.
Finally, good organizing happens when we understand the work before us. That’s why I’m offering this much detail. Essentially, I’m demystifying what it takes for democracy to work. I’m sick of reading pundits who say “act” but are vague about what to do and how to do it.
Please let me know if I am offering you enough specificity that you realize you can start and you want to start! That’s the test of whether I am writing something useful or wasting your time.
We can’t afford to waste time.