[NOTE: This post updated on 1/10/17 with some schedule changes.]
It’s going to be a busy week, so let’s break it down day by day.
MONDAY: Call your Senators to express your disgust that Trump’s cabinet nominees are being rushed through the process without time for the Office of Government Ethics, much less the senate itself, to properly vet them. More background on the ethics issue here.
If you can’t call, writing a personalized email is also effective. See my posts here and here for more advice on how to call/write your reps.
Get phone numbers and other contact info for your senators here.
And here’s some advice on calling politicians if you have social anxiety.
TUESDAY: Confirmation hearings begin for Jeff Sessions, Trump’s terrible pick for Attorney General. Call your Senators to protest this racist POS. (I’ll be posting more about him and the other Trump picks in advance of their hearings. Go here for a quick rundown.)
WEDNESDAY: The big day. Hearings begin for Rex Tillerson, the man from Exxon-Mobil, as Secretary of State.
EDIT: Hearings for school-privatization-pusher Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick for Education Secretary have been rescheduled for next Tuesday.
Hearings also start for Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary. Hearings for Mike Pompeo, the Benghazi enthusiast Trump has picked for CIA director, were originally scheduled to start on Wednesday, but have been moved to Thursday. As Trump picks go, they are relatively less terrible, but probably still worth registering your concerns with.
THURSDAY: It’s Ben Carson’s turn! This sleepy weirdo with a penchant for bizarre theories (e.g. the pyramids were designed to store grain) is completely unqualified to take the position of Housing and Urban Development secretary. Call!
Hearings for Mike Pompeo also begin after being delayed a day.
Also on Thursday, probably: Andy Puzder, the Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr CEO Trump has picked for Labor secretary. Not what you’d call a friend of labor; has also been accused of domestic violence.
Hearings also start for Wilbur Ross, Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary.
FRIDAY: Finish up calls about Carson and Puzder, possibly also Ross.
For more on all the nominees, here’s a brief and handy guide from the Washington Post.
I’ll post more info on all the nominees, and the ethics questions generally, this week.
See more Resist Trump Today posts here.
What should I say my concerns are regarding Tillerson, DeVos, Pompeo, and Chao?
It’s a cavalcade of shit.
Thanks for this handy guide, David! It’s really good to have it all laid out, step by step.
I hope that you’re feeling better.
@gijoel
Your image is compelling.
I think of it as a merry-go-round of doo-doo. The players go round and round, flinging shit at us as they pass by.
Whee!
D Mitchell, there’s some basic info about all the picks in the WaPo article I linked to. Tillerson is a friend of Putin, which is a bit concerning, and as head of Exxon has basically conducted his own foreign policy around the globe, in ways that have often been in conflict with the US and with basic humanitarian concerns. I’ll be putting up more info, links about all of them.
Kat, yeah, I’m feeling a bit better. Hope to be back full-steam very soon.
I hope you’re doing a piece about the salt Meryl Streep’s Speech at the Globes is getting her. It was beautiful and I adore her for it.
Important reminder from the guide to resisting Drumpf; do not call representatives that do not represent you specifically. They do not care about your opinion. Only people that can for sure elect them out of office are going to get their attention.
P.S. David, as someone with social anxiety especially, the comic you tweeted was amazing and I love you for finding that.
Hello.
Uh ho, someone has played Civilization too much…
Have a nice day.
You lucky, lucky people, your president-elect is in the middle of a tweet storm. You get to read the rant as it develops, but I have to go to bed. Sad!
ETA: Ooh, DJT uses the tell-tale manospherian ellipses.
Mister President-to-Be, use only three ellipses!
It’s lucky you guys can do something about it.
Because I can’t…
for obvious reasons
I trust my senators and congressperson to do the right thing. Should I still contact them?
@ MrsObedMarsh
Why not call and thank them for doing the right thing? From what I’ve heard, those kind of calls are rare. Positive reinforcement matters, too.
Countdown to someone coming in all urgent to question the validity of the Washington Post because they once had to *gasp!* publish a correction ….
Both of my senators are probably going to vote to confirm on all of these, but I will be calling anyway.
My folks have got Mitch McConnell, who is the Republican Party in the Senate, and Rand Paul, who’s going to oppose at least some of these because they’re not nasty the way he wants them to be.
From the WaPo article:
Argh. Every single word inside of quotation marks in that paragraph is WRONG.
They are political appointees?! It is an inherently political process??!?
I missed something that happened a couple of days ago–Trump ordered all ambassadors that were appointed by Obama to leave their posts by Inauguration Day. The only possible reason for that is just to punish them for being connected to Obama.
@LindsayIrene: Them and their families. Their kids are going to have to leave school and get registered here state side.
Meanwhile, Melania is going to stay in New York because Barron can’t possibly be expected to switch schools before the end of the school year.
I live in CA and Sen. Feinstein is one of the senators raising a stink about the rushing of the confirmation hearings. Sen. Harris will be on board with her. I plan to shoot them emails in support, though.
For those USians fantasizing about leaving the country, California may be the better bet; Gov. Brown has pledged to oppose the Orange Julius Caesar and state lege has retained the services of one Eric Holder to help the CA attorney general to do just that!
CA is also a sanctuary state (with cities also declaring as sanctuaries) and will not cooperate with ICE to turn over undocumented immigrants.
Won’t you be my neighbor? Seriously, I live in a “red” area and would love to have politically like-minded friends closer than an hour away!
Victorious Parasol
Thanks! That’s a good idea.
And here my ass moved to a predominately red state. Four for you, Cali!
Paradoxy – You did what you had to do and I’m so glad you’re doing better where you are now. I was a bit disappointed, though; I have a friend in Lassen County I’ve been working on getting up to visit and had thoughts of maybe meeting up with another Mammother on my way! Alas, it wasn’t to be; I still haven’t made it up there, incidentally.
Are you going to put any new games up on your YT channel? I really enjoy those!
Definitely call even if you are sure that your Congresscritters will be side-eying all of this, because:
1. you can’t actually be 100% sure until you call and ask their positions
2. they need to hear your opinion ESPECIALLY if your opinion is that they are doing a great job
Remember that you have 2 Senators and Senators from even the most blue states sometimes act in political horse-trading ways. Don’t let them horse trade with Trump, ever.
Trump Son-in-Law Jared Kushner to Be Named Senior White House Adviser
Also, in the same article:
As the president-elect attacked Ms. Streep in a phone call with The New York Times, he took a moment to say his inaugural celebrations are such a hot ticket that “dress shops” in the area are selling out.
“We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars,” Mr. Trump said. “All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.”
To which Washington-area stylists replied, “Huh.”
“All of the stores in the area are set up with huge inaugural shops,” Lauren A. Rothman, a Washington-based stylist and author who is focusing on dressing around 30 clients for two inaugural balls. “When you walk in, you don’t even have to work hard to find the dress section.”
Women who need dresses and accessories can find what they need at those oh-so-hard-to-find department stores Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom, she said. Two-strap styles and matte satin gowns in lengths that skim the floor are plentiful.
Linda Giordano, an assistant manager of sales for Nordstrom at Tysons Corner Center in McClean, Va., said that there were no inventory issues and that women could reliably find dresses between $200 and $10,000 in the “happy colors,” including jewel-toned blues and bright pinks, that have been popular with inaugural ball shoppers.
“If they’re looking for stylists we still have availability,” she said.
Jan Batch, a stylist for Neiman Marcus at the nearby Tysons Galleria, put in her plug: “If you get a ticket today, call me.”
There is no point in satirizing Trump. He satirizes himself.
I called my senators! Thank you Parasol and Policy, it was the right decision (and not that hard for me)!