Jan 20, 2018
Dear Fellow Member,
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration, and we’re just hours away from a government shutdown. That tells you all you need to know about how dangerous and destructive this presidency has been.
Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Any government shutdown falls 100% on them. In fact, there has never been a government shutdown when one party has controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress.
This Republican recklessness is hurting our military and veterans, children who need health care, and Dreamers who deserve compassion and the chance to stay in the only country they’ve ever called home. It’s hurting retirees and community health centers, people in need of opioid addiction treatment and communities in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and California that are still recovering from disasters.
This is Trump’s Republican Party: Chaos, incompetence, and moral failure.Democrats want a deal. We are at the table. We have put forward bipartisan agreements but Trump and Republicans refuse to work towards a deal. They are bringing us to the brink.
But Democrats will continue to fight for the values of the American people. On Monday, I was honored to speak about those values, Dr. King’s legacy, and the need for moral leadership at the National Action Network’s MLK Day Breakfast.
The question of moral leadership is front and center in the battle to protect Dreamers. Instead of leading on this issue, Donald Trump has decided to betray every promise he made to Dreamers and their families. Trump said he loved Dreamers and would “show great heart” on DACA. Those were lies. Ending DACA like he did was nothing but heartless and hateful.
Dreamers are our neighbors and friends, our classmates and co-workers. The clock is ticking, and their futures hang in the balance. I wrote an op-ed in the Seattle Times about the importance of passing the DREAM Act and protecting these young people. You can read a Spanish-language version of the op-ed in Univision.
I also sat down with Soledad O’Brien this week to talk about how Democrats are putting our values into action every day through our #DemsforYou program, and how we’ve been hard at work rebuilding the New DNC to win elections up and down the ballot across the country. You can watch that interview here.
As we hit the one-year mark of Trump’s presidency tomorrow, it cannot be overstated how harmful this administration has been to our economy. From breaking his promises to workers to passing a tax bill that rewards only the wealthiest, Trump has made it clear that he is president of the 1%, for the 1%, and by the 1%. I wrote a memorandum about the president’s first year of destructive economic policies on our Medium account this week.
The best way to combat Trump and the GOP’s radical policy agenda is to elect Democrats across the country. That’s what we did in 2017, and we’re not showing any signs of slowing down. On Tuesday, we won two more elections in Wisconsin, including a state Senate seat that hasn’t been occupied by a Democrat in nearly 20 years, in a district that Trump won by 17 points in 2016.
We have now flipped 34 state legislative seats in the last year. The message is clear: voters are rejecting Trump. And if Democrats continue to organize and lead with our values, we can win anywhere.
As we continue to win elections, we’re also focused on making sure that our presidential primary process in 2020 will be the most fair and transparent in our party’s history. The Unity Reform Commission’s work is critical to moving us forward and restoring voters’ trust in our party, and I spoke today to our Rules and Bylaws Committee about why it’s important for them to adopt these recommendations.
Finally, I want to leave you with a few words about a special member of our Democratic family who we lost this week. Paul Booth was an organizing icon, a titan of the labor movement, and a lifelong champion for working families. We are deeply saddened by his passing, and the thoughts and prayers of everyone at the DNC are with Paul’s colleagues at AFSCME, his wife Heather, and the entire Booth family at this difficult time.
When Paul was just nine years old, he starting handing out leaflets during the 1952 presidential campaign. Once he got a taste of activism and organizing, he never looked back. From his days standing up to apartheid in South Africa and fighting for factory workers in Chicago to his decades of leadership at AFSCME, Paul devoted the rest of his life to organizing for the civil, social, and economic rights of all people. And in 2016, we were honored to have Paul serve on the DNC committee that drafted the most ambitious and progressive platform in our party’s history.
Throughout his life, Paul preached the principle of solidarity and urged everyone around him to be “missionaries” for the labor movement. Over the course of more than five decades, he and Heather have inspired generations of activists to continue organizing for social and economic justice.
When he spoke about the battles ahead – for better wages and retirement security, for the right to organize and bargain collectively, for the justice, equality, and economic opportunity that everyone deserves – he liked to say, “We are in this together. We will fight it together. And we will win it together.” With Paul’s legacy as our guide, we will carry on the fight for a better future together.
Best,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
Dec 10, 2017
Week 40: Paid Internships
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Thinking of all of those affected by the devastating wildfire in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, including the brave first responders. Stay safe and take care of each other.
At nearly 2 a.m. on Saturday, Senate Republicans passed their tax plan without a single Democratic vote. This tax scam is an absolute betrayal of America’s working families. While Senate Republicans allowed virtually no debate or time to even read the hundreds of pages of hastily-drafted, handwritten bill text, they did manage to add dozens of new giveaways to special interest lobbyists. Republicans are unilaterally taking billions of dollars away from the middle class and handing it over to their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations while destroying the future of our economy.
This is the price of Republican leadership: a tax plan built on lies and written for the rich, by the rich. Voters won’t forget this betrayal on Election Day. And as Republicans continue to turn their backs on the people they’re supposed to represent, Democrats will keep fighting to build an economy that works for everyone.
On Monday, President Trump visited Utah to sell his plan to drastically shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument. His decision to shrink these national monuments and open them up to oil, gas and mining companies is an appalling overreach of his authority. Trump would rather sell off our public lands to the highest bidder than preserve our greatest natural resources. Even worse, opening up these lands to corporate exploitation will desecrate some of the most important cultural sites considered sacred by many Native American tribes in the region, betraying our government’s commitments to those Native communities.
Democrats are committed to standing up against the Trump administration’s efforts to auction off our public lands to special interests and corporate polluters. And we’ll fight tooth and nail to protect our most sacred natural parks, lands, and monuments for future generations.
On Tuesday, Keisha Lance Bottoms made sure the mayor’s office in Atlanta remained under Democratic leadership. For nearly eight years, Keisha has represented her community in Southwest Atlanta as a dedicated city council member, fighting tirelessly to strengthen and grow the city she loves. With her talent and vision, Mayor-elect Bottoms is going to continue expanding opportunity and build a brighter future for all of Atlanta’s hardworking families. We can’t wait to see everything she accomplishes.
On Democrats Live, DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison hosted Rep. Luis Gutierrez, United We Dream's Adrian Reyna, and Artie Blanco for a discussion on what Democrats across the country can do to demand a clean DREAM Act for the nearly 800,000 DREAMers who call America home. They also talked about the GOP's tax scam and how the Republican agenda is putting the American dream out of reach for more and more people each day. Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.
On Thursday, I spoke to conferences of the DLCC and DAGA about how critical their partnerships with the DNC are to ensuring that we organize in every ZIP code and elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Thanks to their hard work, we’ve already made incredible gains in state legislatures and attorneys general offices across the country.
This weekend, the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission is holding its final meeting in Washington, D.C. Over the course of the two-day event, which began this morning, Unity Reform Commission Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Vice Chair Larry Cohen will lead discussions on the final recommendations of the commission. Keith and I published a piece on CNN.com outlining our hopes for the commission’s recommendations, which you can check out here. The commission, which is made up of 21 members selected by me, Sec. Hillary Clinton, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, will recommend improvements to ensure the presidential nomination process is accessible, transparent, and inclusive.
Finally, one of the campaign promises I made when I ran for chair was to create a paid internship program to ensure there are no financial barriers to the participation of younger voters in our party. I’m proud to announce that we’ve just announced the start of our new paid internship program and we’re accepting applications now here.
When I was elected DNC chair nearly 10 months ago, I said that a united Democratic Party would be our best hope and Donald Trump’s worst nightmare. That’s as true today as it’s ever been. And as long as we stay united and keep organizing together, we’ll be unstoppable.
Best,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
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Week 37: Every Zip Code Counts
Dear DNC Member,
Throughout this past year, the Democratic National Committee has been focused on rebuilding and electing Democrats up and down the ticket. Through the “Every ZIP Code Counts” program, the new DNC is investing in state parties and races all across the country. The result? Democrats have flipped 33 seats from red to blue, including in deep red districts that Trump swept in 2016.
It has been another great week to be a Democrat. Congratulations to Tim Keller and Cynthia Borrego on their election as the next mayor and city councilor of Albuquerque, New Mexico, flipping both seats from red to blue. Voters are sick and tired of Donald Trump’s Republican Party, and they’re sending Democrats like Tim and Cynthia to City Hall to fight for working families. The DNC invested in the Democratic Party of New Mexico to support the important work being done by the state party and to organize and mobilize Democratic voters behind our shared values.
I also want to congratulate Allison Ikley-Freeman on her Oklahoma State Senate victory, which flipped yet another seat from red to blue in a district that Trump carried last year. At 26, Ikley-Freeman is the third openly gay person to be elected to the Oklahoma legislature.
As we saw earlier this year, Oklahomans are voting for Democrats in these deep-red districts because they know our candidates will work to resolve the budget crisis facing Oklahomans and help build an economy that works for every working family, not just a wealthy few. The DNC is proud to have invested in this race and we will continue working with the Oklahoma Democratic Party to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
On Thursday, House Republicans passed their version of the GOP tax scam. Republicans are slashing education funding, making it more expensive to buy a home, blowing a $2 trillion hole in the deficit, and gutting Medicare funding for seniors – all so they can fund another giant tax giveaway to wealthy corporations and the top 1%. Even the author of the bill said that people most excited about it are ‘big CEOs.’ What’s more, Senate Republicans have shamelessly turned this tax bill into another health care repeal attempt.
This bill was clearly written for Donald Trump and his wealthy friends on Wall Street, not for hardworking American families. You can read a piece I wrote for NBC about how this plan is disastrous here, about how this bill affects Latino families here.
Democrats believe that we should reform our tax system to work better for the middle class. And we will fight tooth-and-nail to make sure this bill never makes it to Donald Trump’s desk. We’re urging Americans everywhere to call their Republican senators right now at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose this bill.
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Week 31: Hurricane Relief: Find Out How You Can Help
My thoughts are with all those affected by the devastating wildfires sweeping across California. Please take care of one another and be safe.
Dear Fellow DNC Member,
Donald Trump continued to gamble with American lives and sabotage our health care system this week. First, he issued an executive order on Thursdaythat will undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and raise premiums for those who need affordable health care the most. To make matters worse, Trump is also refusing to pay cost-sharing reduction subsidies. This heartless decision will cause millions of Americans to face skyrocketing premiums, and a million people will lose their insurance entirely in the next year.
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Week 30 - Hurricane Relief: Find Out How You Can Help
Dear DNC Member,
Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida, and Texas are still reeling from the natural disasters of the past few weeks. Click the link above to find out how you can help those affected.
On Monday, America woke to news of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Our hearts are with the people of Las Vegas and all those affected by this despicable act of terror.
Throughout the week, we’ve heard story after story of the heroism displayed by ordinary Americans and selfless first responders who risked their lives to save others. We’ve been reminded that the courage of the American people will always outlast the cruelty of cowards. As Americans, we cannot give in to fear or hatred. We must be united against all those who perpetrate such terror, and do everything we can to ensure that vicious attacks like this become a thing of the past. You can find more information about what you can do to help here.
This week, I visited Puerto Rico with a delegation of Florida Democrats to bring supplies to those in need and survey the destruction.
The island I know is gone, washed away by one of the most vicious hurricanes in American history. But one of the few things that wasn't washed away is Puerto Rico's American identity. The 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico are American citizens. They deserve fair and equal treatment as Americans. Unfortunately, we have a president who has shown a disturbing disregard for their well-being.
Please read my piece in U.S. News on what I saw in Puerto Rico and how the Trump administration isn’t doing nearly enough to help the people recover.
Thursday marked the arbitrary deadline set by the Trump administration for certain DREAMers to renew their status. Donald Trump said he would “show great heart” on DACA. That was a lie. Ending DACA is nothing but heartless, and every day the GOP refuses to find a solution, they put DREAMers in danger. Democrats will continue fighting to give DREAMers the opportunity they deserve to keep making contributions to the only country they know as home. We must pass the DREAM Act.
Republicans were also hard at work this week undermining the fundamental rights of women and LGBTQ Americans across the country. First, House Republicans passed a bill that would impose a nationwide ban on abortion at 20 weeks. Days later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions stripped protections against discrimination in the workplace for transgender persons under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. And today, the Trump administration rolled back the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for employers to offer health insurance covering contraception at no additional cost. And to cap things off, Sessions released a memo on ‘religious freedom’ that has been labeled a ‘license to discriminate’ against LGBTQ people, women, and others.
Democrats will not stand for these attacks. We will continue to fight for women’s constitutional rights and combat discrimination against LGBTQ Americans across the country.
On this week’s episode of Democrats Live, Keith Ellison and I hosted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to talk about how Democrats are fighting back against Trump and Republicans’ new tax plan and offering a better deal for the American people.
Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.
As always, we’re laser-focused on organizing and winning across the country. After taking over the Nevada legislature last year, we’re fighting back against the GOP’s outrageous attempts to subvert democracy through multiple recalls. You can read about our investments in Nevada here.
The DNC is also actively phone banking and canvassing to make sure Ralph Northam will be the next governor of Virginia. And early next week, I’ll be heading to New Jersey to rally support for Phil Murphy, Sheila Oliver, Vin Gopal, and Democrats across the Garden State.
With just over a month until Election Day, we don’t have any time to waste. But as long as we organize and lead with our values, I know we’ll be unstoppable.
Best,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
September 23, 2017
Week 28: Donate to Hurricane Relief
Dear DNC Member,
The past few days have been devastating for our friends in Puerto Rico and all those in the path of the hurricane Maria. Please consider donating to the Red Cross to help those affected if you can.
Democrats have been united against the latest GOP health care repeal effort. And Senator John McCain’s dramatic announcement today that he will not vote for Graham-Cassidy has carried the bill one step closer to defeat. But the fight isn’t over yet. We need to make sure Trumpcare ends up in the dustbin of history where it belongs once and for all. While Senate Democrats held countless hearings, accepted more than 180 Republican amendments, and debated the Affordable Care Act for over 160 hours on the floor, Republicans will vote on a bill with little if any debate and without a CBO score or basic knowledge of how many millions of Americans will be hurt.
If doctors made health care decisions for patients without knowing the consequences, they would be sued. But that’s exactly what Republicans are doing right now. This is not regular order – it’s malpractice. And any member of Congress who supports this sham deserves to be voted out of office. Millions of Americans would be at risk, so we need as many voices as possible to defeat this life-threatening bill.
One of the most troubling aspects of this bill is its lack of funding for opioid addiction treatment. Opioid addiction is taking lives and tearing apart families. Instead of fighting to address the problem, Republicans in Congress want to ram through this partisan bill to take away people’s health care and slash billions in funding for addiction treatment. More than six weeks after calling the opioid epidemic a national emergency, President Trump has done nothing to help those affected. Now he’s leading the Republican charge to strip protections and resources from the working families who need them most.
This issue knows no party. From New Hampshire to Nevada, the opioid crisis has ravaged communities across the country. We cannot sit idly by while Republicans choose cruelty over compassion and destroy the lives of millions. We must elect more Democrats to fight this urgent crisis with the urgent action it demands.
We’ll have the chance soon with Election Day 2017 is less than 50 days away. Things are heating up in Virginia, where our candidate for governor, Ralph Northam, had a tremendous debate performance against his opponent on Tuesday night. Northam has spent his life as a public servant, while Republican nominee Ed Gillespie has made a career serving big corporations, special interests, and himself. Hard-working Virginians need a candidate that will support them and their families. Ralph Northam is that candidate.
But the Virginia governor’s race is just one election where voters are flocking to Democrats. Our CEO Jess O’Connell and DLCC Executive Director Jessica Post published a piece on TIME.com about the recent string of Democratic victories in special elections across the country, including in some deep-red districts where Trump won handily in November. From New Hampshire to Oklahoma, the American people are sending a loud and clear message: Democratic values are American values.
So much is at stake in these elections. Working families deserve a better deal from their representatives. They deserve a better deal on health care and housing, on wages and workers’ rights, on education and retirement security. And as our incredible National Political and Organizing Director and new mother, Amanda Brown Lierman, wrote in a Medium post this week, working families deserve a better deal on child care. Democrats are offering that better deal, and the American people are responding at the ballot box.
This week also marked the start of the Jewish New Year as communities in America, Israel, and around the world began to observe the Jewish High Holy Days. From the beginning of Rosh Hashanah to the final sealing on Yom Kippur, the Days of Awe are a time for reflection, repentance, and renewal.
Over the past year, we’ve seen how fear and hatred can divide our country. But while each new year brings new challenges, the DNC will always be a steadfast partner to Jewish communities as we combat anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, and as we continue the work of tikkun olam.
Yours,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
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Week 27: Donate to Hurricane Relief
Dear DNC Member,
Democrats are continuing to notch victories at the ballot box. This week, we flipped two seats in Oklahoma and New Hampshire – both in deep-red districts that Trump carried in November. These victories are just the latest example of how voters have lost faith in the Republican Party and are hungry for Democratic leadership.
Our candidates have now flipped six state legislature seats since Trump took office, and as long as we continue organizing and mobilizing across the country we’ll be unstoppable. When Democrats lead with our values, we can win in any zip code from the school board to the Oval Office.
As Democrats continue to pick up seats at the ballot box, DNC CEO Jess O’Connell has spent her first 100 days working hard to help us build a lasting party infrastructure. Check out her tweet thread this week explaining the exciting changes we’re undergoing at the New DNC.
On Tuesday, as Kris Kobach convened Trump’s voter suppression commission in New Hampshire, the DNC’s Commission to Protect American Democracy held a press call about Trump and Republicans’ attempts to restrict voting rights and how Democrats are fighting back.
Make no mistake: this isn’t a war on voter fraud, it’s a war on voters. As Democrats, our goal is to engage every eligible American voter as an active participant in our democracy. That’s why we’ve set up a DNC commission to combat Trump’s lies about voting and help expand access to the ballot.
This week also marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions the Hispanic community has made to this great nation. As the first Latino chair and the son of two immigrants, I was proud to join the Latino Victory Fund to kick off the celebration at the DNC’s FuturoFest.
On Wednesday, Democrats Live was packed full of special guests. DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison and I hosted Rep. Nanette Barragán, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Ellie Perez, a DACA recipient, who joined us via Skype. We discussed Trump’s heartless decision to end DACA, what next steps Congress must take to pass the DREAM Act, and how communities across the nation can organize to protect DREAMers.
Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.
We’ve also spent this week pushing back against the latest effort by Republicans in Congress to take health care away from millions. Like each of their previous attempts, the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill would have devastating impacts on Americans across the country.
Democrats believe health care is a right, not a privilege. That’s why Senate and House Democrats are working together to expand coverage for all Americans. It’s time for Republicans to listen to the people they represent and join Democrats in our efforts to improve our health care system for the American people.
Finally, I want to take a moment to remember a great civil rights hero we lost this week. Edie Windsor was a fearless pioneer for progress. When our laws betrayed the promise of equality enshrined in our Constitution, she stood up. When our lawmakers were too slow to act, she spoke out. And when a generation of LGBTQ Americans hoped for a path forward, she took the fight for marriage equality to our highest court.
Before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Windsor v. United States, Edie said, ‘I think justice will prevail. Is that crazy?’ Because of her indomitable spirit, justice did prevail. Love is love. And America is better for it.
It’s up to us to honor Edie’s legacy by picking up where she left off and continue fighting for the full equality LGBTQ Americans deserve.
Yours,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
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Week 26: Donate to Hurricane Relief
Dear DNC Member,
Team DNC is working tirelessly to rebuild, organize, modernize and win. As part of that effort, we were thrilled to announce today that President Obama will hold his first fundraising event for a Democratic committee since leaving office to support the DNC later this month. We couldn’t be prouder to have President Obama on our team as we grow the Democratic Party and get back to the business of winning elections from the school board to the Senate.
While millions of Americans continue to brave two vicious storms, Donald Trump secured his legacy as a champion for cruelty on Tuesday when he rescinded DACA. This is just the latest tactic in the Republican playbook to promote hate and discrimination.
Because of the Republican Party, DREAMers will lose their ability to go to work and contribute to their communities. Deportations will tear families apart and drive immigrants back into the shadows. And our economy will face a devastating blow, costing our country billions in GDP over a decade.
I was proud to join grassroots activists outside of the White House to protest this disgraceful decision and show our party’s support for the 800,000 DREAMers who contribute to our nation every day.
DREAMers share our values and strengthen our nation. Their courage is American to its core, and they deserve far better from the president of the only country they’ve ever called home.
Democrats believe that compassion and diversity are our nation’s greatest strengths. We believe in fixing our immigration system, not uprooting lives and shattering families. That’s why we’ve been working with our partners to protect DREAMers, share their stories, and put pressure on Republicans in Congress to make sure they can stay in the country they call home.
This past Labor Day weekend, the Democratic National Committee and state parties across the country celebrated the close of Resistance Summer with a final Weekend of Action for working families. As Congress returns to work and Donald Trump doubles-down on an extreme agenda that puts the wealthiest Americans first, organizers across the country participated in more than 120 events in three dozen states.
Democrats came together and showed they were ready to Rise and Organize by knocking doors, making phone calls, and registering people to vote, all in order to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.
Over the summer, we held a nationwide training with over 40 states participating; placed Resistance Summer organizers on the ground in states that saw special election wins, like Oklahoma and New Hampshire; facilitated more than 9,000 volunteer shifts across the country; implemented four nationwide days of actions with 555 events in all 50 states; and launched Knock 10, an app that allows people to go through their neighborhoods and knock on 10 doors at a time.
This week, we also announced an new investment in the Washington Democratic Party to support their efforts in electing Democrats up and down the ballot. The investment includes funding for staff to aid the state party in organizing and technology efforts. Washington has a critical special election coming up this November in Manka Dhingra’s bid for the Washington State Senate’s 45th Legislative District and other competitive races in the 2018 election cycle.
On Democrats Live this week, we sat down with AFSCME President Lee Saunders to celebrate Labor Day and the profound contributions of the American labor movement to our shared prosperity. While Republicans chip away at protections for American workers, Democrats are focused every day on creating better opportunities for the middle class and building an economy that works for everyone.
Tune in to Democrats live on Facebook or at Live.Democrats.org.
Finally, if you’re in the path of Hurricane Irma, please be careful, take care of your neighbors and stay safe.
Yours,
Democratic National Committee
Chair
Tom Perez
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom
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Week 20: We Held the Line on Health Care
Dear DNC Member,
After trying to pass a secret bill in the dead of night, Republicans failed once again to take health care away from millions of Americans. This bill was a moral abomination and its defeat comes as a relief to every family whose health care was put in jeopardy by Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Republicans in Congress.
Throughout the whole process, the DNC was firing on all cylinders. We placed stories, organized rallies, engaged activists on social media, and made call tools for voters to pressure vulnerable senators. We worked with our progressive allies to tell the stories of the millions of Americans who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act. And every single department at the DNC was integral to these efforts.
But our fight far from finished. Republicans remain committed to an agenda that prioritizes the wealthy over middle class and working families, and it's long past time they listen to the message voters have been sending them: Health care is a right. This bill was wrong. And they will be held accountable on Election Day.
On Monday, I spoke to more than 150 members of the DC Young Democrats at our DNC headquarters. Investing in Young Democrats is critical to rebuilding our party’s infrastructure. The GOP has done that, but we’ve fallen behind.
About half of Millennials didn’t vote in 2016. In the 2014 midterms, only 20 percent went to the ballot box. We can do better, we must do better, and we will do better.
In advance of the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I joined activists at a rally hosted by the National Council on Independent Living to celebrate the passage of one of the our most important civil rights laws in our nation’s history. Nearly three decades ago, protesters with disabilities converged on the nation’s capital to fight for equality for the disability community. With the ADA’s passage stalled in Congress, these activists ascended up the 83 steps of the United States Capitol -- some even crawling to get to the top -- so they could send a message to their representatives: no American should ever face discrimination based on their disability status. Their activism pushed the bill over the finish line and opened new doors of opportunity for the 57 million Americans who live with disabilities.
But our work is not finished. In the face of Trump’s attacks on the disability community, the Democratic Party must continue to be unwavering in our commitment to protect and expand their rights.
On this week’s episode of Democrats Live, we hosted host former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin anddisability rights advocate Keri Gray. We discussed the significance of the Americans with Disabilities Act, how the Republican health care repeal would devastate those with disabilities, and how younger advocates are supporting the disability rights movement.
In electoral news, we had a special election on Tuesday for a state senate seat in New Hampshire. There were 8,560 votes cast and in the end, our candidate, Kevin Cavanaugh, won the contest by a margin of just 932 votes.
His victory makes him the first Democrat to win a New Hampshire state senate special election since 1984.
This week ended on a high note. But while we should enjoy this moment, let’s not forget that our work continues. Trump and Republicans in Congress won’t rest in their attacks on people’s health care. So we can’t rest, either. We’ve got to fight twice as hard. As long as they threaten the security of working families, we must be there to stop them.
Like my mentor Ted Kennedy once said: The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.
Best,
Yours,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
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July 21, 2017
Week 19: Six Months
Dear Fellow Member,
This week, we hit the six-month mark in Donald Trump’s Presidency. While Democrats have been standing up for working families, Trump has used his office to enrich himself and his businesses at the expense of American taxpayers. On the international stage, he has disgraced our nation's standing, compromised our core values, and ceded leadership to countries like China and Russia. But thanks to the millions of Americans who have organized, protested and resisted, we’ve successfully stopped this president and his allies in Congress from passing any significant pieces of their backwards agenda.
Just this week, activists and organizers dealt another major blow to the GOP by holding the line on health care, calling their representatives, and forcing Senate Republicans to retreat once more on from their disastrous repeal bill. Our staff here at the DNC has worked around clock to organize the grassroots, pressure vulnerable senators, and encourage voters to make calls. But Senator McConnell still wants to bring a repeal bill to a vote, so we can’t let up for a second. We need to keep fighting.
On Tuesday, I traveled to Texas and joined Democrats outside the State House in Austin to protest Gov. Greg Abbott’s extreme agenda.
Abbott recently called for a special legislative session for no other reason than to take rights away from Texans and ram through policies that families in his state have overwhelmingly rejected. From rolling back reproductive rights to attacking unions and pushing a discriminatory bathroom bill, Texas Republicans are dead-set on dragging their state backwards. But as long as we keep organizing, working to grow our grassroots and leading with our values, I believe we’ll eventually be able to turn the tide—even in deep-red states like Texas.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump’s new voter-suppression commission met for the first time. But before they did, our own voting rights commission, led by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, held a press conference to call out Republicans for their lies about voter fraud. The livestream of the press conference drew nearly 40,000 viewers and included remarks by Kander, Rep. Terri Sewell, Rep. Joaquin Castro, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, and DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake. You can watch the full press conference here:
I also wrote an op-ed with our DNC Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation, Karen Carter Peterson detailing our plans to combat Trump’s voter suppression and expand voting rights. You can read the piece on TIME magazine’s website here.
On Wednesday’s episode of Democrats Live, Rep. Cheri Bustos and Bill Press talked to Keith about the future of the Democratic Party and how we can energize voters. Also dropping in via Skype was Doug House, President of the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen's Association, who talked about organizing local parties from the ground up and how we can work to bring moderate Democrats and progressives together for 2018.
You can watch the episode here.
Finally, this week is National Disability Voter Registration Week, and the American Association of People with Disabilities is working to make sure every polling place is accessible. Help organize in your state here.
As always, I want to thank you for all the work you do to make our party stronger. There are big challenges ahead of us, and millions of American families are counting on us to protect them from this administration’s harmful agenda. But as long as we keep organizing, cultivating our grassroots, and making meaningful investments where it matters most, I think we’ll be unstoppable.
Best,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
...
Dear Fellow DNC Member,
As many of you know, the DNC announced some exciting news this week: we’ll be making new investments that will dramatically boost the DNC’s existing State Partnership Program (SPP). Beginning this October, all state parties will receive a monthly $10,000 investment from the DNC through 2018, which is a 33 percent increase over the base funding levels from 2016 and a 100 percent increase over 2015. This commitment will help energize the party at the grassroots level and will be accompanied by both an individual SWOT assessment in each state and a mutually agreed upon strategic plan to build core competencies across the country.
We’ve also created a State Party Innovation Fund (SPIF) grant program. This grant investment in our state parties is the first major step in our effort to get back to basics, rebuild the Democratic Party from the ground up, and focus on helping Democrats win elections from the school board to the Senate. Both programs require state parties to sign a joint fundraising agreement that will continue to push resources back into states as it boosts the DNC’s own fundraising efforts.
We are changing the culture of the DNC because we can’t just focus on a presidency every four years. Since the election, I’ve asked my team to focus on building a culture of collaboration and service to Democrats in the states. We’re ushering in a New Day at the DNC.
These new investments weren’t the only good news this week. Democrats also flipped two deep-red districts in Oklahoma, both of which were targeted by our Resistance Summer Program.
Here in Washington, Senate Republicans have put forth yet another version of their disastrous health care repeal bill. Every time the GOP takes their cruel bill back to the drawing board, they just come back with a different way to harm millions of hardworking families. The fact remains: Kicking people off their insurance and telling older, sicker and low-income Americans they can pay more for less isn’t a health care plan, it’s a moral abomination. And now, instead of facing their own constituents over August recess, Republicans plan to stay in Washington until they can ram their disastrous plan through the Senate.
Democrats believe health care is a right, not a privilege. This week we released a new video with the Louisiana Democratic Party called “Krista’s Fight for Medicaid,” which highlights the story of Krista – a single mother from Louisiana who would personally face the damaging effects of the Republican health care repeal bill. We’re working to get the message out to Louisianans that under Governor Edwards, thousands of families in their state have benefited from the expansion of Medicaid.
We will not rest in our fight to hold Republicans accountable for this assault on the American people. That’s why our staff here at the DNC has been working around clock to organize the grassroots, pressure vulnerable senators, and encourage voters to call their representatives and tell them where the American people stand on this terrible legislation. Senator McConnell has already made clear his plans to bring the GOP health care repeal bill to a vote. So we can’t let up for a second. We need to keep fighting.
While Senate Republicans try to take away people’s health care, the White House is once again reeling from a bombshell revelation about the Trump campaign’s attempts to collude with the Russian government. On Monday, we learned that Donald Trump Jr. was willing to accept help from a hostile foreign power to sway an election. In fact, he was downright enthusiastic about it. When approached with the information, he didn’t go to the FBI as any patriotic American should in that situation. Instead, he replied, “I love it.”
On Tuesday’s episode of Democrats Live, I joined DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison and Senator Al Franken to discuss these latest developments in the Russia investigation, as well as our Resistance Summer efforts and the fight to save the Affordable Care Act. Later in the program, Jessica González, Deputy Director and Senior Counsel at Free Press, joined Deputy Chair Ellison and Senator Franken to talk about net neutrality. You can watch both discussions here.
On Wednesday, we celebrated the Net Neutrality Day of Action. Democrats believe that an open Internet is fundamental to free speech, innovation, and a competitive economy. The Internet needs to remain a level playing field where the reach of one’s voice is determined by quality of their ideas and not the whims of a handful of CEO’s. The DNC Digital Team put together a video with Senator Franken explaining the importance of the issue and encouraging people to get involved by going to battleforthenet.com and telling the FCC to protect net neutrality. You can watch our video with Senator Franken here. Our new Chief Technology Officer, Raffi Krikorian, also published a piece on Medium about the importance of a free and open internet, which you can read here.
Folks from across the country are submitting tens of thousands of questions and hundreds of thousands are viewing the DNC’s live broadcasts. Follow Democrats Live on Facebook and YouTube, or at live.democrats.org.
Also on Wednesday, I spoke at the IBEW 4th District’s Annual Progress Meeting in Ohio about the importance of the labor movement and our party’s unwavering support for union workers. When unions succeed, America succeeds, and Democrats will continue to fight back against Republican policies that gut collective bargaining rights and allow big corporations to misclassify their workers.
On Thursday, I had the privilege of keynoting the Labor Breakfast at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund’s 46th Annual International Convention. I was proud to join Rev. Jackson and other civil rights leaders to discuss the Democratic Party’s efforts to rebuild the organization from the grassroots up, the importance of organizing in every single ZIP Code every single year, and our party’s positive message of inclusion and economic opportunity. You can watch my remarks here.
On Friday, I met with Democratic governors during their summer meeting of the National Governors Association. Maintaining and winning back governorships are critical to our party’s future. And the DNC is committed to winning in New Jersey and Virginia--victories that fuel our momentum heading into 2018.
Gubernatorial races have a ripple effect down the ballot, as governors play a critical role in congressional and state-legislative redistricting, especially next year in advance of the 2020 Census and 2021 redistricting.
The DNC is also helping candidates by making new investments in our technological capabilities. We recently released a new field app in the App Store called “Knock 10.” The app allows people to go through their neighborhoods and knock on 10 doors at a time. The app provides a resistance script and pinpoints the user’s GPS location to give them 10 nearby doors to knock on. Anyone can use the app but only Democratic state parties get the data back. We’re excited about this new tool, and we hope Democrats across the country will take advantage of its power to get more people involved in their communities.
Finally, this Saturday, Democrats across the country are lacing up their shoes and knocking on doors in their community. People can find a Resistance Summer day of action event near them at resistsummer.com.
As always, I want to thank you for all the work you do to make our party stronger. There are big challenges ahead of us, and millions of American families are counting on us to protect them from this administration’s harmful agenda. But as long as we keep organizing, cultivating our grassroots, and making meaningful investments where it matters most, I think we’ll be unstoppable.
Best,
Tom
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Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
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Special Edition: The Urgency of Now in GA’s 6th
Dear DNC Member,
Early voting in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District is officially underway today, so I wanted to send this special message to let you know what we’re doing to support our Democratic candidate, Jon Ossoff. Earlier this month, we announced a major investment in the state party’s field program to hire 10 new field organizers and boost Jon Ossoff’s strong field program.
Photo: Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff (center) with DNC canvassers
We’re also deploying a voter-mobilization staffer from our digital team at DNC headquarters in Washington to drive voter turnout and share Jon’s vision for Georgia with as many voters as possible.
Voters want a bold vision of inclusion and economic opportunity for every Georgia family, and that’s why Jon is in a strong position to become the first Democrat to represent the Georgia 6th in nearly 40 years. Jon is running an impressive grassroots campaign with a powerful economic message. But in April, over 48,000 African American voters, nearly 18,000 AAPI voters, and nearly 12,000 Latino voters were registered to vote in GA-06 but did not cast ballots. We’ve got to drive turnout if we want a shot at taking Newt Gingrich’s old seat. We can’t let up now. We’re at 1st and Goal and we have to keep our eyes on the endzone.
This will be the first test for Democrats since last week’s hard fought congressional race in Montana. President Trump won Montana by more than 20 points in November, but our candidate, Rob Quist, still managed to close that gap to just six points. For such a deeply red state, that result was a tremendously promising sign of things to come for Democratic candidates across the country.
Last week, we got even more good news as Democrats marched to victory in two down-ballot races in New York and New Hampshire in districts that President Trump won comfortably just months ago. And in election after election around the country, we’re seeing a dramatic swing in our favor. It’s clear that the resistance is growing by the day against this president, his scandal-plagued administration, and his cowardly enablers in the Republican Party.
This isn’t a moment—this is a movement. If we keep organizing at the grassroots and investing in state parties, and if we keep giving our candidates the support they need, we’ll be unstoppable. We will not back down, we will hold them accountable, and we will never stop fighting for hardworking American families.
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Week 12: 23 Million
Dear DNC Member,
This week’s report from the Congressional Budget Office confirmed what we already knew about Trumpcare: It’s a cruel betrayal of the people Republicans were elected to serve.
Remember when Donald Trump and House Republicans threw themselves a party for passing Trumpcare earlier this month? Now we know exactly what they were celebrating: 23 million Americans potentially losing their care—including 14 million who would lose it thanks to their more than $800 billion cut to Medicaid. They were celebrating higher costs for older Americans and people with serious illnesses. They were celebrating higher profits for corporations and health plans without critical benefits like maternity care and life-saving opioid addiction treatment. But most of all, they were celebrating a big fat tax cut for millionaires and billionaires like Trump.
As if taking people’s health care away wasn’t enough, Trump also released his budget this week. But instead of offering up a blueprint that will lift up middle class and working families, Trump’s budget would devastate the very Americans he promised to help during his campaign. Trump’s plan makes massive cuts to Medicaid, college loans, public schools, middle and working class tax credits, and other programs that help working parents and families – all to fund his massive tax giveaway to the wealthy. As someone who used to work on a trash truck, I know garbage when I see it. And this budget is nothing short of dumpster fire.
Our team at the DNC has been pushing back hard against these Republican assaults on working families. Last week, Deputy Chair Keith Ellison and Vice Chair Michael Blake hosted our Resistance Summer partners at the DNC to discuss our new organizing efforts. It was a great turnout of progressive allies, including: #AllofUs, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, America Votes, American Family Voices, Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), Bold Progressives, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), Brady Campaign, Center for American Progress - Generation Progress Action, Center for American Progress (CAP), Civic Engagement and Leadership Institute for Everyone (CELIE), Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, DCCC, Democracy for America, Democracy Partners, Democratic GAIN, Democratic Municipal Officials, DLCC, Emerge America, EMILY'S List, Equality Federation, Flippable, For Our Future, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Grassroots Campaigns Inc (GCI), Hub Action, Human Rights Campaign, Indivisible - North Side Action & Resistance, Jamie Raskin for Congress / Democracy Summer, League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Make It Work, Mi Familia Vota, Moms Demand Action, National Action Network, National Democratic County Officials, National Education Association (NEA), National People's Action (NPA), New Leaders Council, NIAC, NOBEL Women, Patriotic Millionaires, People Demanding Action (PDA), Planned Parenthood, Population Connection Action Fund, Progressive Congress / Progressive Congress Action Fund, Progressive Global Strategy Project, Run For Something, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Sierra Club, Sister District, Social Security Works, Spread The Vote, State innovation exchange, Stronger US, Sunrise, The Collective, Public Interest Network, Truman National Security Project, UltraViolet, United State of Women, Voices for Progress, Voto Latino, WNDC, and Young Democrats of America.
On Tuesday, Deputy Chair Keith Ellison, Vice Chair Grace Meng, and I met with the House Democratic Caucus to discuss the Resistance Summer program and how we’re working to restructure the DNC to get more Democrats elected up and down the ballot.
On Wednesday afternoon, I spoke to NowThis about Trump’s unconscionable train wreck of a budget, and how his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is threatening to dismantle our public school system and make it harder for students to achieve the American Dream. My parents always taught me that education is the great equalizer, and Secretary DeVos might want to learn a thing or two about our education system before she tries to cut more than $9 billion from education funding. You can watch the videos here and here.
That evening, I went on Late Night with Seth Meyers to discuss the GOP’s disastrous health care bill and how Democrats are fighting back. You can watch my interview here.
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Week 11: Announcing Resistance Summer
Dear DNC Member,
When I ran for Chair, I promised an “every-zip-code strategy” for the Democratic Party. This week, we took a major step toward putting those words into action when we officially announcedour Resistance Summer program. Please click here for an overview of the Resistance Summer program.
We’re partnering with state parties and external allies to invest in local organizing projects over the summer, and we’ll be giving our candidates more of the tools and resources they need to succeed up-and-down the ballot in 2017, 2018, and beyond.
In Georgia, for example, we announced yesterday a major investment in the Democratic Party of Georgia's field program that will allow the state party to hire 10 new field organizers to supplement Democrat John Ossoff'. In April, over 48,000 African American voters, nearly 18,000 AAPI voters, and nearly 12,000 Latino voters were registered to vote in GA-06 but did not cast ballots. Ossoff is running an impressive grassroots campaign with a powerful economic message. He'll bring fresh, accountable leadership to Washington to fight for the best interests of Georgia families.
Back in Washington, Donald Trump's crumbling, chaotic administration is deteriorating faster than ever before. So as we work to boost out own candidates, we've also been ramping up the pressure to hold Trump and the Republican Party accountable, especially when it comes to the growing Russia scandal.
This week, we launched a new website mapping out Trump’s sprawling web of ties to Russia alongside a petition calling for an independent investigation that’s already garnered more than 700,000 signatures.
On Tuesday morning, Trump confirmed reports that he shared highly-classified intelligence with a hostile foreign actor, gravely jeopardizing our relationship with Israel and hurting our efforts to combat ISIS. We also found out this week that Michael Flynn and other advisers to Trump had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russian officials during the campaign. And although the appointment of Robert Mueller to serve as a special prosecutor was a step in the right direction, it’s not enough.
It's no wonder Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans didn't want a special prosecutor. Trump's first priority has been to protect himself at the expense of the American People's security. no matter how hard Trump tries to tear down the institutions of our democracy, he can't avoid the pressure of the American people.
When I worked as a prosecutor at the Justice Department, our currency was independence; our loyalty was to the law; our mission was to find the truth. Right now, Donald Trump is waging war on that independence -- with no regard for the law or the truth. And as long as Republicans continue putting party over country, justice will never be served. Their complacency is complicity, and history will remember them as cowards.
We’ve been keeping track of the GOP’s worst and weakest Profiles in Cowardice here.
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I am excited to inform you that after an extensive search and interview process, Jess O’Connell has accepted the position of CEO of the Democratic National Committee. Jess joins the DNC from EMILY’s List, the largest political organization dedicated to women running for office in the United States, where she served as Executive Director. She has an impressive progressive track record and I am honored that she will lend her talents to rebuilding and strengthening our Party.
We interviewed more than 20 candidates for CEO, working closely with all of our officers to ensure that we identified the most qualified, effective, and energized candidate for the role. I am confident that Jess’ experience as a grassroots organizer and as a leader who has helped hundreds of Democratic candidates win up and down the ballot will be invaluable as we gear up for critical elections in 2017, 2018, and beyond.
Under her tenure, EMILY’s List provided some of the biggest electoral victories for Democrats in recent years, including helping to elect the most diverse Congress in history. She’s managed campaigns and large organizations, from the Center of American Progress to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and she’s driven culture change while translating movements into votes. She will also be the first openly LGBT person to serve in the CEO role.
Jess understands our current political landscape, and I am thrilled that she will be joining our leadership team and working with all of us to jump-start Democratic victories in every territory and state. This includes overseeing the innovative restructuring efforts we discussed earlier this week, including:
- Making grassroots organizing part of the fabric of the DNC by standing up a new Mobilization Department, staffed by full-time organizers whose mission is to engage directly with grassroots movements across the nation.
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Dear Fellow DNC Member,
This week I rallied with Democrats in front of the U.S. Capitol just before House Republicans cast their shameful votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ultimately, our efforts to stop them fell short, but our fight is far from finished.
The 24 million who could lose access to health care is not just a number—it represents fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers and even newborn babies with heart diseases or cancers that are too costly to treat without affordable insurance. Worse still, the GOP plan would also decimate women’s health care in particular and defund Planned Parenthood. As the bill heads to the Senate, the DNC is firing on all cylinders, organizing Democrats and our allied groups to fight back. Regardless of whether or not Trump and the GOP succeed in repealing the ACA, they will face the consequences for their assault on our health care on Election Day.
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Dear Fellow DNC Member,
This week we officially announced the details of our Come Together and Fight Back tour. Senator Bernie Sanders will be our special guest along with DNC officers and local elected officials in key states around the country where we’ll connect with diverse groups of voters, energize the growing grassroots resistance against the Trump Administration, and share the Democratic Party’s vision and values. We’ll be rallying support for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, pay equity for women, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, combating climate change, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, criminal justice reform, comprehensive immigration reform, and tax reform and expanding access to affordable health care. For more details about the Come Together Fight Back tour, please visit https://fightbacktour.com.
On Monday night, I was honored to share the stage with Rev. Dr. William Barber and USW President Leo Gerard to speak to our brothers and sisters at the United Steelworkers’ annual constitutional convention in Las Vegas. The theme of the convention was “The Power of Unity” – something our country deeply craves right now. As we work toward earn back the trust of working families, labor unions will be among our most important partners. You can watch my remarks to the steelworkers here.
I also had the honor this week of delivering the Democratic Party’s weekly video address. I highlighted President Trump’s assault on working families in his first three months in office, his administration’s efforts to roll back protections for student borrowers, and a preview of our upcoming tour. You can watch the address here.
On Democrats Live Wednesday night, I hosted Rep. Jamie Raskin who represents Maryland’s 8thdistrict – my home district – in Congress, and Heather McGhee, president of Demos. We talked about the failures and broken promises of the Trump Administration as we approach the milestone of his first 100 days. We discussed the dangers of having Judge Neil Gorsuch, someone who has gone out of his way to side with big money over ordinary citizens, on the Supreme Court. And we talked about what Democrats can do to stand up, fight back and make government work again for working families.
Follow Democrats Live on Facebook, or at live.democrats.org.
It’s almost Tax Day, so in Washington and cities everywhere this Saturday, voters will be out in full force participating in Tax Marches. We’re demanding that Trump come clean about what he’s hiding in his tax returns, and calling on Congress to reform the tax code to make wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share. We’ve been encouraging our state and local parties to get involved to help keep up the pressure, and I hope you will find a way to participate as well. You can find more information about participating here.
This past Monday was the day that one of the important retirement security reforms we wrote at the Department of Labor under President Obama was supposed to take effect. The rule simply states that financial advisers must put the interests of their customers first when it comes to investment advice. Unfortunately, Donald Trump sided with the big banks, took steps to halt the rule, and hopes to roll it back entirely. But progressives aren’t backing down. Some of the good public servants that I used to call my colleagues at the Department of Labor are resisting and refusing to turn their backs on Americans saving for the dignity of a secure retirement. You can read about their resistance here. You can also read a recent op-ed I wrote with my former DOL Chief of Staff Matthew Colangelo about the GOP’s broader assault on retirement savings here.
Our resistance is working and our unified movement against the Republican Party is growing. We’re in the middle of Congress’ recess, and in states across the country, Republicans are running scared from their own town halls and their constituents’ demands for answers. We’re on offense for the first time in a long time. We’ve got Republicans’ on their heels. Now we need to knock them on their ass! I look forward to keeping up the pressure and marching forward with you shoulder to shoulder.
We all succeed only if we all succeed.
I hope you have a safe and happy Easter weekend,
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee
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Week 6: Transition and Travels
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