Worried about national and state events? Concerned about the chaos of executive actions and a silent legislature? Want to do something but can’t figure out how?
The League of Women Voters of Alachua County is preparing a series of action plans. They are intended to encourage you to respond to the daily breach of the rule of law and the separation of powers. That separation has nourished and guarded this nation since its inception. We are calling this the What You Can Do (WYCD) campaign.
These WYCD Action Items will appear regularly. They will be designed to provide concrete actions to give you a mechanism for doing something. Daily assaults on personal freedoms and institutions meant to serve American citizens can be
overwhelming. Ignoring the worst and retreating inward can seem like the only response. Fear is
understandable. But fear contributes to the dismantling. Action, because it is the right thing to do, helps us sleep at night. Action, regardless of outcome, makes a pillow softer.
The League suggests that you post each message in your kitchen. Grab your morning beverage, grab your phone, and take action.
To receive the What You Can Do actions directly, please email info [at] lwv-alachua.org (subject: What%20You%20Can%20Do) with "What You Can Do" in the subject line. Request to be added to the email list. Messages come out about once a week.
CURRENT ACTION TOPICS:
1) ) Federal troops in Chicago 2) Shutdown 3) Epstein files
Action Items:
NATIONAL
Senator Rick Scott: (202) 224-5274; https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/contact/contact
Senator Ashley Moody: (202) 224-3041; https://www.moody.senate.gov/contact-us/
Representative Kat Cammack: (202) 225-5744;
https://cammack.house.gov/zip_authentication?form=/contact/email-me
Action Items:
1. Federal troops have arrived near Chicago per presidential orders. Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois’s governor, JB Pritzker, don’t want the troops there. The president has said they should be in jail. A lawsuit is pending. A judge has blocked the use of the National Guard in Portland and Mayor Tina Kotek is demobilizing the troops that are present. The deployments follow the 9/30/25 gathering of hundreds of generals and admirals at the Marine Corps Base Quantico at which the commander in chief told them that American cities should serve as “training grounds” for US troops. Miliary.com pointed out that the president has targeted
Democratic-led cities. At the meeting, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said that troops would take on a “warrior ethos”. The legal barrier is the Posse Comitatus Act that bars federal troops from enforcing domestic law without congressional approval, which was sited by a federal judge that ruled that the use of federal troops in Los Angeles was unlawful. Per military.com, “armed forces face a serious dilemma, caught between a Commander in Chief pressing for a larger domestic role and laws designed to keep the military off of America’s streets”.
References: military.com, 9/30/25, “Trump’s plan to use US cities as military training grounds…”;
Associated Press, 10/8/25, What we know about National Guard deployments in Chicago and Portland”;
NBC, 10/8/25, National Guard troops arrive in Chicago”
Actions:
a. Call your legislators. Sample phrasing: (Name of legislator) The American people are not an
enemy and should not be treated as the enemy. It is inaccurate to call Chicago a “war zone”. It is
an abuse of power to say that American cities should be used as training grounds for the
military. It is an abuse of power to say that the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Illinois
should be put in jail. Most Americans object to the federal government’s use of the military in
our cities. I agree with most Americans. What are you doing to check the wanton disregard by
our nation’s commander in chief of lawful use of our military? What are you doing to protect
Americans from being treated as an enemy in our country? Get the military out of American
cities.
b. Sample phrasing: According to the news publication military.com, our troops are facing a
serious dilemma. They wonder how to respond to a commander in chief who calls them to
action in a domestic role that is in opposition to laws designed to keep the military out of
American cities. American troops are called to spend time away from their families, are required
to face uncertainty with where they will serve and often do not get the medical care they have
been promised. What are you doing to ensure that they do not have to choose whether to
follow an order from the commander in chief, or follow the law? As your constituent, I ask you
to object to the use of troops in American cities against Americans.
2) Our country is in week two of a shutdown. In 2019, President Trump signed a law that required back pay for furloughed workers. Now his Management of Budget director says there is a
loophole that requires funding to be written into the budget for backpay. 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed. Others are working without pay. If a budget isn't passed by October 15, workers will miss paychecks.
Reference: Fox5, D.C.
Action: Public outcry is the key tool for calling out bad governance. Call/email multiple times/day. Item c. is phrasing for Rep Cammack, although any of this will do for her too.
a. Call and email your legislators. Sample phrasing: (Name of legislator), it is wrong to blame the government shutdown on Democrats. Congress failed to pass appropriations bills, leaving the budget to a continuing resolution. The president ordered his party not to negotiate with Democrats, so no meaningful bipartisan negotiations took place. The majority of Americans hold your party responsible for the shutdown. Now air traffic controllers are calling in sick, some air control towers have shut down completely and others are limiting air traffic because of staff shortages. Meanwhile, the president is threatening that those workers will not receive backpay. Americans want health care. We want a budget that does not take away the supplements that make health care affordable and we want Medicaid funded. Figure out a way to fund health care now, before passing the budget.
b. Sample phrasing: (Name of legislator), why is your party more beholden to the wealthy than to the majority of Americans who are non-wealthy? With the Big Beautiful Bill, your party took away things that we need and depend on, like money for roads, health care research, sustainable energy, safe drinking water and air that is not toxic. Your party allowed DOGE to fire many of us. Now your party has failed to propose a budget that allows us to have affordable health care. Why? The wealthy were given a permanent tax break while we were given an end to supplements that allow us to have health care. The budget must include supplements for health care and funding for Medicaid. Your non-wealthy constituents depend on it. Your wealthy constituents already have it.
c. Rep. Kat Cammack sample phrasing: It is irresponsible for Speaker Mike Johnson to send representatives home while the government is shut down and millions of Americans are wondering how they will pay their rent or mortgage and put food on the table for their families. This is a Republican shutdown. Your party failed to pass appropriations bills, failed to include the other party in negotiations on a continuing resolution and has failed to show up to work in DC, where there is work to be done. The majority of Americans blame your party for the shutdown. Your president told you not to negotiate. We want medical insurance included in the bill, not empty promises for including it later. Your work is in DC. We expect you to be there now.
d. Call Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (202) 225-5936 (D.C.) or (718) 237-2211 (Brooklyn) and Senator
Chuck Schumer Phone: (202) 224-6542
a. Sample phrasing: I support your position that funding for health care must be included in the budget, not delayed with empty promises to address it in the future. This is a Republican shutdown. The president told his party not to negotiate and they continue to bow to his every whim. I support bilateral negotiations that address health care now, not later, so that Americans can enjoy affordable health care just as the legislators do. Thank you for your work for non-wealthy Americans.
3) On October 7, Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
She refused to answer many questions, including one about Jeffrey Epstein.
Reference: Heather Cox Richardson, 10/7/25.
Action:
a. Call your legislators. Sample phrasing: (Name of legislator), On October 7, Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asked about reporting that Jeffrey Epstein showed other people photos of President Trump with unclothed young women. Senator Sheldon asked if Attorney General Bondi knew if the FBI found those photographs when they searched Mr. Epstein’s safe or premises. Ms. Bondi did not answer the question. Instead, she said Senator Whitehouse was trying to slander President Trump. Why is the Attorney General of this country failing to provide all information about the sexual exploitation of girls and women by Mr. Epstein and others? What are you doing right now, to get all the information released?
