Musk or Us March Recess Toolkit

Members of the House of Representatives AND the Senate will be back on your home turf beginning Saturday, March 15 through Sunday, March 23. Below is everything you need to know about why recess matters, our demands, and the top actions we’re recommending to get their attention. If you’re ready to join the fight, sign up for updates and ways to take action against the Trump-Musk coup and the Republican tax scam.

  • WHAT IS RECESS?

    • WHY THIS RECESS MATTERS

    Recess weeks (officially called a District Work Period for the House of Representatives and a State Work Period for the Senate) are periods throughout the year where Members of Congress (MoCs) return home to meet with their constituents. They’re supposed to be periods for public events, but increasingly, MoCs are going out of their way to avoid the public spotlight. 

    Indivisibles and allies put Republicans on notice during the first recess of the year by organizing nearly 200 events across the country and directly challenging them for supporting billionaires like Elon Musk over their own constituents. Even in solidly red districts, constituents refused to buy their Republican MoC’s attempts to sell Trump and Musks’ mass firings and spending freezes. Our actions changed the national conversation and forced Republicans to defend slashing funding for programs that their constituents count on.  

    For the March recess, we need to go even bigger. This moment is about more than just funding cuts or extremist policies: It’s about the growing influence of Elon Musk, who is using his unchecked power to drive his own agenda, dismantle our democracy, and rig the system to benefit himself and other billionaires. Acting President Musk is rapidly consolidating power to secure massive handouts for himself, and the Republican Party – including Trump – is falling in line behind him.   

    Republicans must be held publicly accountable for their allegiance to Musk over their own constituents. GOP leadership is directing their members to avoid any town halls after facing significant blowback this past recess. That is simply unacceptable. If Republicans refuse to face the people they were elected to represent, we must organize our own accountability events to expose their corruption and force them to choose: either stand with working families, or pay a price for your betrayal. 

    Democrats need to hold town halls, too. They need to show how they’re leveraging their power to fight back and be responsive to their constituents’ concerns, unlike Republicans who cower from public accountability. This is an opportunity for Democrats to draw contrast with the profoundly undemocratic Republican Party and lift up first-hand stories of how their constituents are being impacted by MAGA policies and the Trump-Musk coup.

    Starting Saturday, March 15 and continuing through Sunday, March 23, this recess is our opportunity to remind the country that we don’t do kings in America, and we won’t bow down to unelected billionaires. Every Republican must answer for their complicity in Musk’s hostile takeover. Every Democrat must find the courage to respond with the urgency this crisis demands. And it’s up to us to force their hands through strategic, creative actions. The future of our democracy hinges on this moment -- join us in fighting back. 

  • STATE OF PLAY

    • STATE OF PLAY: WHY WE’RE TAKING ACTION

    If you’re having trouble keeping track of all the different ways that Trump, Musk, and Republicans in Congress are trying to hurt everyday Americans, that’s by design. They’re waging three different fights in hopes that the confusion and chaos of it all will force us to give up. 

    But we aren’t going anywhere. Instead, we’re going to fight back on all three fronts. 

    THE CONTINUING FIGHT: THE LATEST ON THE TRUMP-MUSK COUP

    Trump and Musk are waging a full-scale power grab. Musk illegally fired tens of thousands of federal workers, throwing families into economic chaos, and is now harassing the employees who are left to justify their work or face termination. They’re gutting entire agencies, from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to USAID, with the end goal of breaking the institutions that serve and protect our country. 

    At the same time, Musk has gotten access to the US Treasury payment system and is pushing for unrestricted access to our most sensitive information, from taxpayer data at the IRS to recipient funding information from the Social Security Administration — with zero oversight and zero accountability. 

    And while we’re counting on the courts to be our backstop against authoritarianism and put a stop to these attacks, the administration has suggested that they would defy court orders and even impeach judges for ruling against them. Trump and Musk are threatening to upend our entire system of government and disregard any attempt to check their outrageous overreach — all in order to fund their massive tax cuts for billionaires. 

    IN LIMBO: THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN GAMBIT

    While Trump and Musk are leading the assault on our democracy, it’s the outright refusal of Republicans in Congress to intercede in any way that is the real crisis.  

    If Congress does not pass a new spending bill by March 14, the government will shut down. And even though Republicans need Democratic votes to get one passed, they’re pushing for a MAGA spending bill that makes extreme funding cuts, attacks basic rights, and hands unchecked power over federal spending to Trump, Musk and their billionaire allies. 

    Democrats have leverage and must use it. They should hold the line and insist on a responsible funding bill that rejects cuts to essential programs and poison pill riders and includes ironclad safeguards to stop Trump and Musk from hijacking federal spending. And until Republicans agree to those reasonable terms, Democrats should not support anything more than a clean, two-week continuing resolution to keep the government open without enabling the Trump-Musk coup. 

    The timeline on this government funding fight is unclear: if Republicans continue to refuse to come to the table and negotiate in good faith, it could drag on for weeks or even months. 

    THE EMERGING THREAT: THE TRUMP TAX SCAM

    But despite not having passed a funding bill to avoid an imminent shutdown, Republicans have turned their attention to other avenues for their funding cuts. They’re trying to ram through the Trump Tax Scam that rips food off tables and puts education and healthcare out of reach — just to line the pockets of their billionaire allies. 

    • They want to give $4.5 trillion in tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy and are planning to pay for those handouts by slashing other essential programs that working families rely on. 
    • How bad will these cuts be? They’re putting $880 billion in funding to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and $230 billion in funding to food assistance programs, like SNAP, on the chopping block.
    • One of Trump’s central campaign promises was lowering costs for everyday Americans, but his tax scam will raise health care and food costs for almost 100 million Americans. Just so billionaires, like Musk, can buy their next private jet or mega-yacht. 

    Republicans want to make the richest even richer by risking the lives of millions of kids, seniors, and anyone who isn’t part of the billionaire class. But the Trump Tax Scam is not a done deal, and we refuse to allow them to gut these programs without a fight. They think they can get away with it because people won’t notice. That’s where we come in. 

    OUR RECESS DEMANDS

    This recess is about making Republicans feel the backlash, and making sure Democrats stand firm. We are showing up, speaking out, and refusing to let anyone dodge responsibility. They work for us, and they will hear from us. Here’s how to think about your goals depending on if you have a Republican or Democratic Member of Congress.

    GOALS FOR HOLDING REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE

    This recess, we’re making sure every single Republican feels the heat for their complicity and pays a price for selling out their constituents. Seniors, families, and even children will lose healthcare and go hungry under their extremist budget, and we need to make supporting it so politically toxic that they’re forced to rework their plans. 

    GOALS:

    • Make Republicans hold a town hall. Every Republican owes their constituents answers for why they’re willing to risk a government shutdown to enable Trump and Musk’s power grab, and why they support ripping away Medicaid and other essential programs. If they truly believe that their MAGA agenda will benefit our country, they should be eager to face the people they claim to fight for at a public town hall.  
    • If they won’t hold a town hall, turn their silence into a story. Even if Republican MoCs go out of their way to avoid public confrontation during this recess, we’ll be organizing hard-hitting events in their district, with or without them.
    • Expose their government funding deal for what it truly is: a tax break on the backs of their own constituents. They’re planning to slash funding to Medicaid, SNAP, early education, housing assistance, and countless other programs that working families rely on in order to give the wealthiest massive handouts. It’s up to us to tell their constituents the truth about this outrageous betrayal so Republicans are forced to own the public backlash. 
    • Call out their corrupt alliance with Musk. Republicans are enabling Musk to make decisions and push policies that directly hurt working families while enriching billionaires like himself. We cannot allow Republicans to abandon their responsibility to uphold our constitution and serve their constituents in order to curry favor with Musk.

    GOALS FOR PUSHING DEMOCRATS TO USE THEIR LEVERAGE

    At the same time, Democrats have power — if they use it. But they need to be reminded. We need to show up for the ones fighting, celebrate their courage, and remind them to hold the line. We’ll push them to publicly insist on a clean government funding agreement that does not have extremist cuts or MAGA policy riders and does not give Musk and Trump control over our government’s spending as well as to speak out against the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the Trump Tax Scam. And we’ll make sure they know that when they fight, we fight with them.

    GOALS:

    • Call on Democrats to hold a town hall. We need Democrats to demonstrate to their constituents that they’re doing everything they can to block, obstruct and disrupt Republicans’ plans to ram through the Trump Tax Scam.
    • Call out any missing-in-action Democrats who refuse to host a town hall. Democrats who aren’t boldly speaking out and engaging their communities this recess must be put on notice.
    • Ensure that Democrats publicly hold the line on government funding. Democrats must not support anything beyond a clean, two-week continuing resolution — keeping the government open without giving Trump and Musk a blank check — until Republicans agree to their terms:
      • Reject extreme funding cuts and MAGA poison pills attacking abortion rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and immigrant communities.
      • Include real, ironclad protections to stop Trump and Musk from hijacking federal spending.
    Protesters hold signs criticizing Elon Musk. One reads 'NO ONE VOTED FOR ELON MUSK,' another features his portrait with 'I AM STEALING FROM YOU,' and a neon green sign says 'DOGE SCAMS THE MILITARY.' More signs are visible in the background.
  • DEMAND A TOWN HALL

    • RECESS TACTICS TARGETING YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

    This recess, our main ask for every single Member of Congress to host an in-district town hall (preferably multiple!). These are events open to the public that allow constituents to take their stories and concerns directly to their elected officials and demand a real-time response. Town halls allow for maximum visibility and accountability, and if you plan ahead, you’ll be able to turn even a quick interaction into a major headline. But if your MoC refuses to hold a real town hall, Indivisibles will be organizing empty chair town halls to spotlight their absence.

    For Republicans:

    We cannot let Republicans escape the fury of their constituents while they're home for recess. We’re calling on every Republican to host a public town hall and face the constituents whose benefits they’re pushing to eliminate. Even if they're receiving marching orders to avoid public events at all costs, it's up to us to demand them — and if they refuse, we'll be ready to organize impactful events that spotlight their absence.

    For Democrats:

    Republicans must pay a political price for backing billionaires over working families, but we need Democrats to mobilize during the congressional recess in order to sound the alarm with their constituents. We’re asking every Democratic MoC to commit to the following:

    • Host a public town hall: Every single Democratic Member of Congress must hold a town hall in order to educate the public on what's really at stake in this fight, and show they are the party committed to fighting for working people over billionaires. 
    • Attend empty chair town halls being organized in red districts: If Republicans are dodging their constituents, Democrats must fill the void by participating in empty chair town halls, to rally opposition and make the Trump Tax Scam politically toxic on Republican's home turf. We encourage them to adopt a neighboring GOP district with an absentee MoC and take part in an empty chair town hall.
      • Note: House ethics guidelines and other guardrails prevent House members from using their official office, staff, or resources to host a town hall or similar event in a district other than their own. However, they are free to attend events in other districts either in their personal capacity or in a political capacity. So, while their office cannot host and staff an Adopt-A-District Town Hall, the member can receive an invite from a local group (like an Indivisible group!) and attend as a guest speaker in their personal capacity.

    Here's how to get organized for your MoC's town hall — and if they're too cowardly to host one, check out our alternative tactic below. 

    HOW TO FIND OUT IF YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS IS PLANNING A TOWN HALL

    Attending public events is one of the most effective ways to hold your Member of Congress accountable – which is why they’re increasingly trying to avoid them, and making it harder for constituents to find their event schedule. Follow the tips below to check on your MoC’s plans, and then share your information through this form so we can add it to our tracker!

    ✅ Check Their Website – Most MoCs list upcoming town halls, office hours, and public events on their official House or Senate websites. Here’s a search engine pro-tip: you can use the boolean operators in Google, searching site:house.gov "town hall" or site:senate.gov "town hall" and then setting your time range to the past week, to find recent posts about upcoming town halls. You can also remove terms with things like "-telephone" so you’re only finding in-person events. 

    📧 Sign Up for Email Alerts – Many MoCs send newsletters with event announcements. Subscribe to their email list via their website to receive updates directly in your inbox.

    📱 Follow Their Social Media – Lawmakers often post event details on their Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter (X), and Instagram pages. Be sure to check their official accounts regularly.

    💻 Check Mobilize for Existing Events – Go through our national map on Mobilize to see if there's already a town hall registered. 

    📞 Call Their Office – If no public events are listed, call your MoC’s district office and ask when they’ll be available to meet with constituents. The office staff should be able to provide event details or take note of your request. 

    🚨 If They Aren't Holding Public Events, Demand One – If your MoC is dodging town halls or refusing to meet with constituents, make noise. Call their office, tag them on social media, and organize an Empty Chair Town Hall to highlight their absence. 

    PREPARE FOR YOUR TOWN HALL

    Getting Organized: 

    • Once you have confirmation of the event and date, register the town hall on Mobilize and tell everyone you can about the event, including like-minded activists, groups, neighbors, and community members. Ask folks in your network to share widely on social media, and encourage registrants to bring a friend. Please note that you can, if needed, set an event to have a limit on signups, or you can set the information to be private.
    • Practice your personal story, and review our list of questions (below) so you’re prepped to speak. 
    • Make sure to confirm the venue and any limits on attendance or on materials you can bring (for example, you may not be able to bring large signs or backpacks).  

    Be Strategic During the Event:

    • Get there early and have your group spread out through the audience. Make sure everyone is prepared with a question if they’re called on, and that others are ready to record them. 
    • Ask sharp questions about their strategy -- not gotcha questions.
    • If they refuse to answer, don’t let them off the hook. Be polite yet persistent. 
    • Social media coverage is crucial for shaping the narrative, especially with so many people watching what happens during recess. Share your MoC’s answers across social media, and tag Indivisible so we can uplift on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and TikTok. 

    Don’t Stop After the Town Hall Ends:

    • Send your videos and stories to local press and to our press team for support: press@indivisible.org  
    • Call your MoC’s office the next day to thank them for hosting the event — and let them know you’ll be expecting another during the next recess. 

    A Note on Event Safety: 

    Please make sure everyone attending the town hall with you exercises best judgement on safety and security while participating. For more information, please check out our full resource.

    QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR REPUBLICAN MOC 

    These questions are designed to corner them, force them to answer for their complicity and make them squirm. You can use this website created by House Democrats to pull district-specific data on how Republicans’ economic plans would impact constituents.

    Key Questions for Republicans:

    • “Do you think those making over 50 million dollars a year should receive a tax break? How about 100 million?” Keep raising the number to force them to either compromise on an amount, or acknowledge that, when it comes to helping their billionaire donors, the limit does not exist. 
    • “Your plan slashes Medicaid and food assistance but gives Elon Musk a tax break. Why?”
    • “How do you justify cutting meals for kids while cutting taxes for billionaires?”
    • “Republicans claim to be fiscally responsible, so why are you increasing the deficit for the benefit of billionaires?” 
    • “Why is the Trump Tax Scam funding attacks on immigrants instead of holding billionaires accountable?”
    • “Do you support using the budget reconciliation process to force Project 2025 on the country?”

    QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DEMOCRATIC MOC 

    Democrats have power — if they use it. Republicans control both chambers of Congress. They can and should pass a funding bill on their own. But if their incompetence and disarray mean they can't keep the lights on, Democrats must not bail them out without critical safeguards. We need every Democrat to commit to voting NO on any funding deal with extremist cuts, or that lacks ironclad protections against the Musk coup.

     Key Questions for Democrats:

    • “Will you hold the line and insist on a government funding bill that has safeguards to prevent Trump and Musk from overriding Congress?”
    • “Can you commit to only supporting a clean spending bill that does not have extreme funding cuts or poison pill riders attacking abortion rights, LGBTQ+ protections, or immigrant communities?”
    • “If Republicans won’t negotiate on safeguards to rein in Trump and Musk, can you commit to only voting for clean, two-week continuing resolutions that keep the government open without handing the administration a blank check?” 
    • “How are you using your leverage to protect programs working families rely on?”
    • “Will you commit to doing everything in your power to stop or obstruct the Trump Tax Scam?” 
    • “What specific actions are you taking to stop Republican sabotage and fight back against the Trump-Musk coup?”
    • “How will you push other members of your party who have yet to speak out against Musk’s power grab to unequivocally condemn it?”
    • [For Senators only:] “Will you commit to voting no on nominations and using every procedural tool to slow down or block confirmations while the Trump-Musk coup continues?”
  • HOST AN EMPTY CHAIR TOWN HALL

    • MOC IN HIDING? ORGANIZE AN EMPTY CHAIR TOWN HALL

    After catching so much heat during the last recess, we expect most Republicans (and possibly some Democrats) to avoid any public event while they’re back home. But that makes it even more important that we mobilize this recess – they KNOW how unpopular the Trump-Musk agenda is with their constituents, and they’re attempting to avoid any accountability.

    We cannot let them off the hook. If your MoC refuses to hold a real town hall, hold one without them. 

    Indivisibles have organized empty chair town halls for years as a tactic to humiliate electeds who are dodging their constituents. You control the list of speakers, the questions asked, and the story told throughout the event. And there are tons of options on how to make your event as creative and attention-grabbing as possible:

    🐔 One of the first “missing members” actions Indivisibles organized back in the early days is still a favorite: Indivisibles in Michigan set up an empty chair town hall with a literal chicken when Rep. Trott refused to face them.

    🔍 In 2017, activists organized a “search party” for Rep. Comstock, and Indivisibles in South Dakota packed a room to face empty chairs for missing Senators Thune and Rounds and Rep. Noem.

    🙋 In 2020, Colorado Indivisibles turned their missing Rep. Gardner into a cardboard cutout, and brought Cardboard Cory to events across the state — leveraging their MoC’s absence into an opportunity for constituents to tell their own stories.  

    🪑 In 2023, Indivisibles in Oregon organized an entire series of empty chair town halls focused on missing Rep. Chavez-DeRemer, including showing up at her district offices when she continued to dodge public events. 

    💪 This past recess, New Jersey Indivisibles put their MIA Rep. Kean on a milk carton as a powerful visual during their local rally. Arizona Indivisibles launched their "Where's Abe?" campaign to demand accountability from their missing member Rep. Abe Hamadeh. And Colorado Indivisibles brought out a new cardboard stand-in, this time for absent Rep. Hurd, explaining that, “If he’s proud of his service in the congress, he should be able to look us in the eyes and tell us he’s proud.” 

    ORGANIZE YOUR EMPTY CHAIR TOWN HALL

    First, make sure that your MoC is not planning a town hall or public event during recess. Check their official website, social media accounts and call their office to confirm their schedule while back in the district. Make it clear that their constituents will be organizing an event for constituents to discuss the MoC’s enabling of the Trump-Musk agenda and their support for gutting programs like Medicaid to line Musk’s pockets – and that the event will happen with or without them attending.

    Reach out to other local Indivisible groups or community organizations in your area to coordinate on planning a joint event, and be sure to register it on Mobilize. Please note that you can, if needed, set an event to have a limit on signups, or you can set the information to be private. Book a location that’s open to the public, such as at a community center or library — or take the event directly to your missing MoC and gather outside of their district office. Promote it far and wide to like-minded activists, groups, neighbors and community members, and begin assigning different roles to participants (ex: event emcee, press lead, speaker coordinator, social media lead, etc) 

    Connect with Democratic Members of Congress from neighboring districts to take part in an “adopt a district” town hall. Invite them to stand in for your missing Republican to talk about how the Trump-Musk agenda poses an existential threat on the health and lives of children, seniors, and working families. Their participation is an opportunity to prove how profoundly out of touch Republicans are with the people they’re meant to represent.  

    Invite local media. If you have a Republican MoC, make sure the story is “Representative/Senator [X] is hiding from their constituents.” If you have a Democrat MoC, make the story “Representative/Senator [X] is missing in action - why won’t they answer constituent questions in a public forum?”

    Set up an empty chair labeled with their name or a cardboard cutout of them.

    Plan your speakers. Ask attendees to come prepared to speak out on specific policies that they care about, or that have personally affected them. In addition to inviting nearby Democratic Members of Congress, you should also make asks to community leaders, including:

    • Advocacy groups that work on behalf of those threatened by the Trump administration, such as your local immigrant rights group.
    • Local public officials, such as state senators or representatives or city council members, who might be interested in speaking to a crowd of engaged constituents. This is a great way to start a discussion with your own local leaders about ways local action can be part of pushing back against the Trump agenda.

    Share across social media  – capture the personal stories of those impacted and tag your missing MoC to shame them for refusing to face their own neighbors, and tag Indivisible so we can uplift on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and TikTok. 

    Follow up with press – Send your videos and stories to local media and to our press team for support: press@indivisible.org    

     

    Protesters gather at night holding signs. One reads 'BLOCK, DELAY, OBSTRUCT – NO EXCUSES,' and another says 'NO ONE VOTED FOR ELON MUSK,' both with 'Indivisible' branding. A crowd fills the street in front of illuminated buildings.
  • REGISTERING & PROMOTING YOUR EVENT

    • REGISTERING & PROMOTING YOUR EVENT

    📌 Register your event on Mobilize so others in your area can join. You can also check if there’s already an event planned near you—more people means more power.

    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

    📝 Do I need to register an event, or can I just go?
    Yes—please register your event! It helps us track how many actions are happening and ensures every MoC feels the pressure. If you want to keep it private, you can mark your event as “invite-only” when creating it.

    📢 Will you help me recruit?
    We encourage you to take the lead on bringing people together, but posting a public event will allow Indivisible to help spread the word and recruit more attendees.

    📞 Do I need to register in advance with the MoC's office if I’m going to a town hall?
    It depends on the event and the location. Check the details on your MoC’s website, or call their office directly, to confirm if you and your fellow attendees need to sign up in advance. Try to sign up as early as possible in case there’s a limit on total attendance.  

    💻 Can I do a virtual event?
    This week, we need in-person actions. However, if you can’t go in person, flood their offices with phone calls. A personal visit is harder to ignore, but calls can still make a huge impact.

    👥 There’s already a visit listed for my MoC—should I join that one or start another?
    In order to make our recess events as big and newsworthy as possible, we encourage people to join forces and organize events together. If you see a scheduled event that fits your availability, sign up and reach out to the host via Mobilize to help recruit even more people to join in. If you can’t make it, flood their offices with phone calls instead.

    📄 Do I need a permit for my event?
    We recommend checking local laws and ordinances based on your location, but generally you don't need a permit to demonstrate in public areas as long as you are not obstructing people's right of way and any roads, entrances, etc.

    If you have any other questions, feel free to send us an email at supportteam@indivisible.org. 

  • RESOURCES & LINKS

    • Resources & Links

    • Event Reimbursement Form

      Indivisible Project can reimburse groups for eligible expenses associated with your Musk or Us actions, up to $200 per group, per congressional recess!

      GET THE FORM

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