Dear Andra,
As one of MoveOn's dedicated donors, your support powers every aspect of our work to fight back against the chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration and push for a better, more equitable world. We want to personally thank you for believing in MoveOn and the power of grassroots organizing.
Just over one month into the second Trump administration, it is clear that our work is more important than ever—and that there is so much work still to come.
As we navigate through this difficult and scary time, we want to keep you updated on what MoveOn is doing to stop Trump and the MAGA agenda. We want to make sure you know that when you choose to donate to MoveOn, we will use every dollar you give in the most strategic and impactful way that we can.
Here are a few highlights from our work since Trump's inauguration on January 20.
BUILDING THE PRESSURE NEEDED TO STOP CUTS TO VITAL PROGRAMS
Within hours of Trump releasing a disastrous executive order freezing all federal grants—a move that could have shut down food assistance programs, Meals on Wheels, public school programs in underserved communities, and more—MoveOn sprang into action to push back.
We coordinated MoveOn members to make more than 10,000 calls to Congress in a single day—the most calls MoveOn members have made in a single day since 2019. And then we did it AGAIN! We flooded the phone lines of members of Congress from across the country and showed the immediate and overwhelming opposition to Trump's order. We also organized a rapid-response rally in front of the White House that same day, at which more than 200 people showed their opposition and helped to increase public pressure and media attention on the Trump administration.1
Within days, Trump's administration was forced to rescind the memo and back off of their plan, in part thanks to the overwhelming public pressure that MoveOn helped to create.
DRIVING A WEDGE BETWEEN TRUMP AND ELON MUSK
Since the inauguration, unelected billionaire Elon Musk has been operating as though he runs the government, creating chaos by haphazardly firing thousands of the critical government employees who oversee our nuclear missiles, ensure the safety of commercial air travel, are working to stop another pandemic, and much more—with utter disregard for how the lives of everyday people will be impacted by his efforts.
That's why MoveOn launched our no-holds-barred Nobody Elected Elon campaign, to both drive a wedge between Trump and Musk and force Congress to stop Musk's unconstitutional attempts to slash programs and fire essential workers.
In February, MoveOn launched two strategic billboard campaigns, one around Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and another in five left-leaning districts represented by Republican members of Congress.
Near Mar-a-Lago we placed these "Who's the Boss" billboards, in locations that Trump will be forced to see on his way to and from the airport.
And in the left-leaning districts, we put billboards like these, encouraging constituents to call their representative and demand they take action.
These billboards will be running for the next month, building a consistent drumbeat of pressure on persuadable House Republicans in a very closely divided House.
We also worked with our allies to coordinate two huge rallies with members of Congress to highlight Musk's efforts to shut down agencies and access the personal data of hundreds of millions of Americans.
Our first rally, just outside the Treasury Department building in Washington, D.C., called on Democrats to do everything in their power to stop Musk's efforts to infiltrate the database that handles tax refunds and Social Security payments for millions of Americans. More than 3,500 people came out, including more than a dozen members of Congress, to stand up to Musk's unconstitutional overreach.
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And the press couldn't get enough! The event was covered by dozens of outlets, including ABC News, "Good Morning America," Business Insider, the Associated Press, The New York Times, MSNBC, Axios, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
We also joined our partners in front of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency created by Senator Elizabeth Warren to prevent big corporations—like those owned by Musk—from robbing us. Representative Maxine Waters and Sen. Warren herself, along with a dozen other influential electeds, joined hundreds of MoveOn members and our allies to raise awareness of the obvious corruption of Musk attempting to shut down an agency that was investigating his own potential crimes.
And make no mistake, this pressure campaign is working!
Shortly after our rallies concluded and our billboards went up, Trump went from sitting silently in the Oval Office while Musk held a press conference to releasing statements saying that Musk is not actually a government official and canceling a $400 million contract for the State Department to purchase armored Tesla vehicles.11
HOLDING ELECTED OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE
While members of Congress were back home in their districts for the February recess, MoveOn members organized 60 Congress Works for Us, Not Elon events in front of congressional offices and at town halls and other events to make sure that these representatives knew that constituents would not stand for cuts to lifesaving programs they rely on like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
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Colleen Duffy-Smith, a MoveOn member who organized a rally in front of Republican Representative Ken Calvert's office in Palm Desert, CA, told a reporter who came to cover the event: "He needs to hear from us, we the people … I have to believe, given the heinous actions that are being signed with a Sharpie on the daily, abridging people's personal freedoms, their civil rights, our social service programs, our aid abroad, that somebody would have a conscience … And once you start tipping the iceberg, other right-minded people will follow."12
The iceberg is certainly being tipped. Throughout the recess period, town halls were packed with constituents demanding their representatives take action, and it's clear that some Republicans in moderate or left-leaning districts are feeling the heat.
The Washington Post wrote about our events and the increasing pressure on Congress, noting that because of the work MoveOn and our allies are leading, "the broader resistance to Trump is waking up."13
In the weeks and months to come, MoveOn will continue to push this work forward, prepare for the new fights that are sure to come, and be ready to respond when our fundamental freedoms are threatened by Trump's radical vision for our nation.
Thank you.
If you would like to make another generous donation to MoveOn, the most impactful way to support us is by becoming one of our dedicated monthly supporters.
You can click here to chip in $5 a month, $10 a month, or whatever you can afford now.
Thank for all you do.
–Rahna, Kelly, Seth, David, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Trump federal funding freeze temporarily blocked by federal judge," Fortune, January 29, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203102?t=3&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
2. "Democrats threaten to obstruct Trump's agenda over Musk's DOGE efforts," ABC News, February 4, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/202539?t=5&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
3. "Democrats slam Musk's influence at fiery rally outside Treasury Department," Good Morning America, February 4, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203103?t=7&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
4. "The Democratic resistance is reawakening — and Elon Musk is its new villain," Business Insider, February 5, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/202538?t=9&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
5. "Democrats confront limits of their power in bid to stop Trump and Musk," Associated Press, February 4, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203104?t=11&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
6. "Democrats Join Rally Against Musk's Access to Federal Payments System," The New York Times, February 4, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203105?t=13&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
7. "Musk wants to run the government like he runs X. That's bad news for Americans," MSNBC, February 5, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203106?t=15&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
8. "Scoop: Senate Dems plot USAID revenge on Trump," Axios, February 4, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203107?t=17&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
9. "Struggling Democrats Find a 'Good Villain' in DOGE Lord Elon Musk," The Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203121?t=19&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
10. "US Democrats fight back against Musk access to sensitive records," Reuters, February 4, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203109?t=21&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
11. "Trump administration says it has no plans to fulfill $400 million 'armored Tesla' contract," NPR, February 13, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/202810?t=23&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
12. "'Heinous actions': opposition to Trump, slow to energize, shakes off its slumber," The Guardian, February 23, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203110?t=25&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
13. "The anti-Trump resistance begins to wake in earnest," The Washington Post, February 26, 2025
https://act.moveon.org/go/203111?t=27&akid=427386%2E53570607%2EeXEB3r
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump and his MAGA allies expect us to give up. But we will not give them what they want. We will never stop working to defend our fundamental freedoms and protect our democracy. MoveOn has been leading the movement against right-wing extremism for 26 years, and we promise you that we will still be here every step of the way forward.
Will you donate to power MoveOn's work to protect our freedoms and democracy under Trump's administration?
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