Blue 812 News Issue 20
“The power of the people is always greater than the people in power.” – Wael Ghonim
NATIONAL NUTCASERY
stop! in the name of law
A federal judge in San Francisco has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's currently unfolding plans to overhaul the federal government. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee, came after a hearing Friday in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and local governments, who argue that President Trump's efforts to "radically restructure and dismantle the federal government" without any authorization from Congress violate the Constitution.
Judge Illston issued a temporary restraining order pausing further implementation of Trump's Feb. 11 executive order directing agencies to begin major reorganizations, as well as subsequent memos instructing agencies on how to comply. The judge’s order applies to 20 federal agencies, including Departments of State, Treasury and Veterans Affairs, and DOGE.
Her order explicitly pauses the implementation of any existing reduction-in-force (RIF) notices, and pauses the issuance of any future RIF notices and the placement of additional employees on administrative leave. The order is in effect for 14 days, through May 23. Read more at NPR.
LOL & Order
Since our President is a Florida grandpa, he spends most of his time golfing and watching Fox News, so it’s no surprise that yet another Fox News host is his latest nominee for an administration post. This time, Trump has announced he is nominating Jeanine Pirro to be the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. His previous nominee was Ed Martin, who had threatened to prosecute Chuck Schumer. That was too extreme a threat for North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who came out against his nomination. It only takes one. Instead of being a Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney, Martin will now hold three significant roles at Main Justice that don’t require Senate confirmation, which feels even more yikes:
associate deputy attorney general;
U.S. pardon attorney (the previous U.S. pardon attorney was fired after refusing to go along with restoring Mel Gibson’s gun rights following a domestic violence conviction); and
director of the Weaponization Working Group.
Jeanine Pirro has been a host at Fox News since 2006, where she has pushed a whole bunch of conspiracy theories, especially about Trump's 2020 election loss. Her name is included in the lawsuits filed by Dominion Voting Systems, and Fox News tried to redact what one of Pirro's producers thought about one of her post-2020 election monologues: “This is completely crazy.” Pirro was actually a former district attorney of Westchester County, New York, and an elected judge, which kinda makes her one of the most qualified people Trump has appointed, but the bar couldn’t be lower! Recently on MSNBC, Chris Hayes aired a montage of some of the wildest things Pirro has said, including the time when she said she would absolutely accept opposition research from Satan. More at NPR.
STATEWIDE SHENANIGANS
from sunbucks to un-bucks
This week, reporting from the Indiana Capital Chronicle uncovered that Governor Braun decided not to renew Indiana’s participation in the SUN Bucks program, which provides $120 to families to feed over 600,000 Hoosier children.
The State wouldn’t say how much it costs to administer the program, but the funding to families is covered by the federal program. The program has provided low-income families $120 per child to purchase food while schools are closed in the summer.
Now, families will be forced to go to a free meal site to get meals in the summer. Unfortunately, that raises a problem for those families whose kids are home alone during lunch and can’t get a ride to the meal site.
Indiana is one of just 13 states this year to deny funding for the program. Read more at WTHI.
bad ad
Secretary of State Diego Morales' new campaign ad (he’s up for re-election in 2026) raised alarm bells with an Indianapolis voting officer, Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell. Sweeney Bell says there's footage in Morales' campaign ad from official visits Morales made to Indianapolis' Election Service Center and from the City-County Building. That's a violation of state law, which explicitly restricts government employees from co-mingling government and campaign activity during working hours.
Morales' campaign didn't respond to questions about how the video footage ended up in his campaign video, and the video still appears on his social media feed as of Thursday afternoon. Read more at IndyStar.
BILLWATCH 2025 - following the fallout
Earlier this week, Gov. Mike Braun signed the remaining bills from the 2025 legislative session. He did not veto a single bill in his inaugural session. How are these new laws likely to impact you?
In the state budget, funding for public health was cut dramatically, by 70%. Vaccination clinics and community health initiatives like tobacco cessation, opioid relief, and more may be impacted. The budget also reduced eligibility for On My Way PreK and CCDF (childcare waivers). If you were at the upper end of eligibility (around $45,000-$49,000 household income/family of 4), you may no longer qualify. For cigarette smokers, taxes are increasing by $2/pack, bringing the total tax to nearly $3.
The property tax bill has no fans. Homeowners will be able to take a property tax credit worth 10% of the assessed value of their home, up to $300. Because of a secret math trick the Republicans used, in order to offset the revenue loss to local governments, your county and municipality get to choose between raising their local income tax rate up to 2.9%, or dealing with a loss of up to $756 million. The local school corporation will likely face challenges with this new law, as it forces public schools to share property tax revenue with charter schools. Almost all of those tax dollars will be flowing OUT of the area, since 87% of Vigo County students attend public schools. Hoosier schools will lose $744 million as a result of this new law, and VCSC stands to lose more than $2 million per year.
Another new law with a large impact - if you use or a loved one uses Medicaid, SEA 2 will require you to work and undergo increased eligibility checks as a condition of receiving your healthcare. Increased administrative tasks always equal efficiency.
Next time school boards are on the ballot in your area, they may be partisan due to SEA 287, which allows for school board races to declare a political party.
Finally, if you know a college student who typically uses their college ID at the polls, they need to know that they will no longer be permitted to use them due to SEA 10. The new law is currently the subject of a lawsuit from Women for Change and Count Us In.
LOCAL FOCUS
A potential redevelopment project along the historic Ohio Boulevard in Terre Haute has led to an outcry from residents in the area. Brickyard Estates and Paddock at the Park is a proposed $70 million project by Gibson Development to include single-family homes and multi-family units between Ohio Boulevard and Edgewood Grove. The homes are slated to be part of a 93-home subdivision of 1600 square feet and priced between $350,000 and $400,000 (that…seems like a lot for 1600 sq. ft.?). There will also be 11 three-story apartment complexes, a dog park, a pool, and walking trails.
Many area residents are organizing against the redevelopment proposal. They have already posted yard signs, and have created a petition. The proposal was discussed at length at the most recent City Council meetings (watch here), and has been tabled until June 12th. The City of Terre Haute and Redevelopment Commission will meet to discuss public concerns. The next public meeting is set for June 18th, 4pm at the Hub. Read more at the Tribune Star on MSN.
GOOD TROUBLE
Our representative, Mark Messmer, is on a key committee that decides how many billions of dollars the GOP reconciliation plan steals from SNAP. Indivisible is asking constituents to call Rep. Messmer and ask: How many kids and seniors will you let go hungry so that men like Elon Musk can get even richer?
If you can’t get through on the phone during business hours (or even after you make the call), you can also send Rep. Messmer an email in just a few clicks.
RESOURCE CENTER
We may now have partisan school board races, but leaving your affiliation blank is also an option. Moms for Oregon recently posted a good guide to reading between the lines of candidate statements to see which side they’re really on. All of these examples are authentic from candidate statements in voter guides.
(Don’t worry, there’s a Moms For Indiana (on Instagram & Facebook) that also posts great guide)
UPCOMING EVENTS
***don’t forget to check out the Nasty Women events calendar!***
Indivisible Wabash Valley has launched a calendar for the Southern Indiana/Wabash Valley area
Tuesday, May 13th at 3pm: Mingle with the Mayor at Grand Traverse Pie Co. At this informal and relaxed gathering, various topics will be covered each month with opportunities to ask questions and voice concerns. Free pie and coffee will be served courtesy of Clinton Gardens.
Monday, May 19th at 6pm: The Monroe County Republican Party asked Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith to hold a Town Hall in Bloomington. It didn’t work the first time, so now they're planning it at the (much smaller) Ellettsville Town Hall.
Tuesday, May 20th at 5pm: Nasty Women Meeting at the Vigo County Public Library main branch
Saturday, May 17th at 10am: Get Groovy! with Wabash Valley Indivisible. Low-key rally. No speakers. Listen to Music. Wave your signs. Talk to your neighbors and make a new friend. We'll be doing this for a long time so building relationships is important. ❤ Register here.
END ON A HIGH NOTE
A federal judge in Vermont ordered the release of Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, saying that the government has “no evidence” against her. She was arrested on the Boston streets for co-writing an op-ed critical Tufts’ response to Gaza-supportive protests in her student paper.
The Vatican confirmed the authenticity of Cardinal Robert Prevost's account on X, in which he retweeted posts critical of Vice President JD Vance before becoming Pope Leo. Somebody give the pontiff back his iPhone and let’s gooooo!
A coalition of Indiana media groups, including IndyStar, filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking access to executions in the state. Indiana is one of only two states that bars journalists from attending, which violates the First Amendment's guarantee of a free press, in turn limiting the public's ability to understand the proceedings.
In a ruling that put an end to nearly six months of legal battles over North Carolina’s contested Supreme Court election, a federal judge ruled against the Republican candidate’s effort to overturn his narrow loss. Shortly afterwards, he conceded. HUGE WIN!
Republican Brian Kemp has passed on a Senate run against Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026. He was the only one who was polling competitively with Ossoff, so this is great news!
A federal judge has halted Trump's attempt to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services — the agency that provides federal funding to libraries and museums across the country.
Trump's time in the White House runs out in:
