Thank you for emphasizing that making phone calls is just one piece of the pie. I live in a red state with reps who are mini Trumps so I’ve never thought my calls would do anything. I’ve also always thought the people of my red state who vote these people in are making the same but opposite calls which cancel out and outweigh what I’m asking for. And how would I know if that weren’t true? I have no way of holding the reps accountable because they could always just say “well other people asked for the opposite…”
But you’ve inspired me to do it anyway. So question, is calling your reps an every day thing or a Monday-Friday thing?
Thanks Emily! I used 5 calls this morning to find/save the info for my reps and also left voicemails for each of them.
I have been sending messages through the official website contact form for my reps. Does anyone know if it makes a difference whether I spend time articulating reasons/background for my position or is that just wasted time and I should stick with a simple yes/no message there?
For e-mails, some offices distinguish whether they think you are using a form email template or note, so just do what you need to make it look like you are real person. But it does not need to be a lot of stuff.
Thank you for sharing all this info! How helpful is it for people outside their districts to call? I’ve called/emailed other senators/reps who were likely to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation… do they care? My senators are Lindsay Graham and Tim Scott, my rep is William Timmons…. They do not care. I know they will just vote Pro-Trump.
In times like this, are congress people more likely to listen to everyone? Not just their own constituents?
At this point I’m willing to email/call every senator! Copy and paste works! I can leave messages. I want change and I want someone to listen.
I do not advise calling people other than your representatives. All it does is get them to ignore all messages, they don't care at all about non-constituents.
Thank you for the talking points. I am not a voting constituent, but I have a vacation home in West Virginia. I called the West Virginia reps and cited some of these concerns. Would someone still take my calls seriously? I try to cite how things will affect my particular area — for example, the 5-10% layoff among National Parks and National Forest will mean it impacts my local parks, which are state tourism drivers
Here's my question. I've dug and dug to no avail. I hope you can answer it!
Can the public, myself, ask for a tally of the phone calls for and against an issue? If I/we can, how would we know it is the truth? If they won't release that information, can I request it t via a FOIA?
Are there any actionable requests we can make of representatives right now? I know calling senators for opposing nominations but I would like to have some specific requests for my rep. Luckily I have Peters and Slotkin for senators but my rep is a republican. Thanks for all the hard work!
Our new Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA/CT) blew a lot of smoke in his response:
As I have said, President Trump has nominated a team of disrupters to deliver on his promise of change, and historically Presidents of both parties have tended to get their preferred teams in place. At the same time, as a United States Senator, I take seriously my constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on the President’s nominees.
I have had one-on-one meetings with most of the President’s Cabinet nominees to discuss their qualifications and to raise issues important to Pennsylvanians. I have also questioned the nominees who have appeared before the committees on which I serve and reviewed the hearings of others.
President Trump deserves to have a strong team in place to make America safer and more prosperous. Please know that I will keep your views in mind as the Senate works through the confirmation process for each of these nominees. Following these confirmations, I will continue to engage with members of the Cabinet on what is best for Pennsylvania.
That’s very similar (almost verbatim!) to what I got from my Republican senators. Makes me wonder if they have a caucus form letter they’re all using 😜
Hi Emily, thank you so much for all of this great info! I'm curious if constituents can request call log records from our MOCs. Is that something that can be requested under under FOIA?
I live in Atlanta, so all of my federal reps (Ossof, Warnock, and Nikema Williams) are democrats. This feels very divorced from the experience of actually living in Georgia, where Kemp and the republicans control state-level politics. Is there any benefit to calling the Governor or State AG in a red state to demand action? For the AG, I’m specifically thinking of the blue states that are filing lawsuits against the Trump administration. I doubt they’re receptive to that feedback in the same way, but just wanted to see if anyone had experience in state level advocacy that could chime in.
The Capitol switchboard did not answer twice yesterday (202-224-3121), and rather than play the automated referral message, made a sound that indicated the phone number was no longer in service. Has anyone else experienced this?
Thank you for this important and specific information! Like many others here I am in the minority in a very Red State (think Ted Cruz!!) and have felt it pointless to call thinking it would either just go to a voice mail and never listened to or, if listened to, just ignored and deleted. I also worried that if someone actually answered they’d ask me questions I couldn’t answer in an effort to make me feel intimidated and put down. Your article clarified and answered all of my concerns and so now I will call even though it feels pointless given who my senators and representative are. They fully support and encourage everything Trump/Musk are doing to demolish our democracy as we know it so my voice feels like just a tiny drop in the ocean. You have taken the abstract “call your representatives” and made it into something of a reality with concrete steps on the process of how to do it and what to expect. Thank you!!
GD, this is so good. Thank you, Emily!
Thank you for emphasizing that making phone calls is just one piece of the pie. I live in a red state with reps who are mini Trumps so I’ve never thought my calls would do anything. I’ve also always thought the people of my red state who vote these people in are making the same but opposite calls which cancel out and outweigh what I’m asking for. And how would I know if that weren’t true? I have no way of holding the reps accountable because they could always just say “well other people asked for the opposite…”
But you’ve inspired me to do it anyway. So question, is calling your reps an every day thing or a Monday-Friday thing?
M-F
Thanks Emily! I used 5 calls this morning to find/save the info for my reps and also left voicemails for each of them.
I have been sending messages through the official website contact form for my reps. Does anyone know if it makes a difference whether I spend time articulating reasons/background for my position or is that just wasted time and I should stick with a simple yes/no message there?
For e-mails, some offices distinguish whether they think you are using a form email template or note, so just do what you need to make it look like you are real person. But it does not need to be a lot of stuff.
Thank you for sharing all this info! How helpful is it for people outside their districts to call? I’ve called/emailed other senators/reps who were likely to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation… do they care? My senators are Lindsay Graham and Tim Scott, my rep is William Timmons…. They do not care. I know they will just vote Pro-Trump.
In times like this, are congress people more likely to listen to everyone? Not just their own constituents?
At this point I’m willing to email/call every senator! Copy and paste works! I can leave messages. I want change and I want someone to listen.
I do not advise calling people other than your representatives. All it does is get them to ignore all messages, they don't care at all about non-constituents.
Thank you!
Thank you. Very helpful
Thank you for the talking points. I am not a voting constituent, but I have a vacation home in West Virginia. I called the West Virginia reps and cited some of these concerns. Would someone still take my calls seriously? I try to cite how things will affect my particular area — for example, the 5-10% layoff among National Parks and National Forest will mean it impacts my local parks, which are state tourism drivers
Here's my question. I've dug and dug to no avail. I hope you can answer it!
Can the public, myself, ask for a tally of the phone calls for and against an issue? If I/we can, how would we know it is the truth? If they won't release that information, can I request it t via a FOIA?
This is not legal advice, but you could FOIA for email records.
Are there any actionable requests we can make of representatives right now? I know calling senators for opposing nominations but I would like to have some specific requests for my rep. Luckily I have Peters and Slotkin for senators but my rep is a republican. Thanks for all the hard work!
I send out updates on what I think people should be asking in my substacks!
Our new Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA/CT) blew a lot of smoke in his response:
As I have said, President Trump has nominated a team of disrupters to deliver on his promise of change, and historically Presidents of both parties have tended to get their preferred teams in place. At the same time, as a United States Senator, I take seriously my constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on the President’s nominees.
I have had one-on-one meetings with most of the President’s Cabinet nominees to discuss their qualifications and to raise issues important to Pennsylvanians. I have also questioned the nominees who have appeared before the committees on which I serve and reviewed the hearings of others.
President Trump deserves to have a strong team in place to make America safer and more prosperous. Please know that I will keep your views in mind as the Senate works through the confirmation process for each of these nominees. Following these confirmations, I will continue to engage with members of the Cabinet on what is best for Pennsylvania.
That’s very similar (almost verbatim!) to what I got from my Republican senators. Makes me wonder if they have a caucus form letter they’re all using 😜
all responses should go directly into circular filing cabinet, they don't matter.
Hi Emily, thank you so much for all of this great info! I'm curious if constituents can request call log records from our MOCs. Is that something that can be requested under under FOIA?
This is not legal advice, but I imagine you could FOIA for email records.
I live in Atlanta, so all of my federal reps (Ossof, Warnock, and Nikema Williams) are democrats. This feels very divorced from the experience of actually living in Georgia, where Kemp and the republicans control state-level politics. Is there any benefit to calling the Governor or State AG in a red state to demand action? For the AG, I’m specifically thinking of the blue states that are filing lawsuits against the Trump administration. I doubt they’re receptive to that feedback in the same way, but just wanted to see if anyone had experience in state level advocacy that could chime in.
GA is one of the states suing to overturn Section 504. You can absolutely call your State AG to demand that they drop the lawsuit!
The Capitol switchboard did not answer twice yesterday (202-224-3121), and rather than play the automated referral message, made a sound that indicated the phone number was no longer in service. Has anyone else experienced this?
Done. Called one rep, 2 senators, one ag. Thanks. Took about 5 mins. Thank you!
Thank you so much! Quick clarification: should we call our district office every day in addition to DC, or only if we can’t reach anyone in DC?
Only if you can't reach someone in DC
I just saved all 6 (DC/local) numbers to my phone and started my first day of calls.
I happen to work within walking distance of two the local offices in my town. Is stopping by in person allowed and/or effective?
I think it's effective to get a meeting wtih a constituent services representative to voice your concerns!
Thank you for this important and specific information! Like many others here I am in the minority in a very Red State (think Ted Cruz!!) and have felt it pointless to call thinking it would either just go to a voice mail and never listened to or, if listened to, just ignored and deleted. I also worried that if someone actually answered they’d ask me questions I couldn’t answer in an effort to make me feel intimidated and put down. Your article clarified and answered all of my concerns and so now I will call even though it feels pointless given who my senators and representative are. They fully support and encourage everything Trump/Musk are doing to demolish our democracy as we know it so my voice feels like just a tiny drop in the ocean. You have taken the abstract “call your representatives” and made it into something of a reality with concrete steps on the process of how to do it and what to expect. Thank you!!