This is Not a Drill
It’s only Wednesday, and this week’s headlines are enough to do one’s head in. Here in DC, we’re fighting back. What have I been seeing, doing, and holding onto….
1. The Big Bad Bill
In a show of utter compliance, the Senate passed the Big Bad Budget Bill yesterday—complete with a smug JD Vance moment, prancing in to cast the tie-breaking vote. You’ve seen the headlines: this bill will result in a grotesque upward transfer of wealth, while further militarizing our country. For context? The $15 billion/year approved for Homeland Security is more than the entire budget previously given to USAID ($12 billion). And the alligator-Alcatraz is no joke; with a cost of $90,000 per inmate annually, DHS will be getting $45 billion for ICE detention facilities alone.
The Poor People’s Campaign held another Moral Monday rally, with clergy carrying symbolic coffins—one for each state—marking how many people will lose Medicaid and SNAP. I missed it while visiting my folks, but am deeply grateful to the 38 protestors who brought attention to these issues by being arrested: 24 outside the Capitol, and 14 in the Rotunda.
There was, oddly, a positive twist for DC: in an effort to win Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s vote, Alaska got a carveout on SNAP cuts—and because of our shared “error rate,” Washington DC did too. It’s too wonky to explain briefly, but you can read the details here.
2. Another Battle for Freedom in DC
While that tragedy unfolded on the Hill, over 50 of us gathered at the DC Council as they deliberated the final version of the “Peace DC” crime bill. Under the leadership of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, our lobbying had already succeeded in stripping the bill of provisions that would have put cops on buses to fine people for unpaid fares—a policy that would’ve cost more than they recouped, not to mention criminalizing poverty in the process.
We were back for the final vote, with the aim to stop the permanent expansion of pretrial detention. We had convinced Councilmember Robert White to introduce an amendment to strike the pretrial expansion language altogether. His testimony about his amendment were true to our talking points:
“All the data is telling us pre-trial detention is not helping our city stay safe. All it is doing is taking away people's liberties, causing them to lose jobs, destabilizing families.”
But White’s amendment failed: 10–3. Apparently most Council members are worried about looking weak on crime – to either the Trump administration, or the general public.
Then, in classic DC fashion, a “kick-the-can” amendment passed, unanimously. It extends the pretrial provisions through December 2026, with a requirement to “study it further.” It wasn’t what we wanted, but better than no guardrails at all.
And to be clear: with the horrific conditions in the DC jail, and a Trump loyalist as our top prosecutor, this is a setup for more harm. We don’t need much imagination to picture what’s coming. Organizers documenting police violence? Immigrant rights advocates filming ICE arrests? All it will take is a felony charge for “assault on a police officer” and folks will find themselves jailed for months before their trial even begins.
3. ICE, Again
Speaking of ICE, this morning I got a text from a Free DC friend. She had seen ICE about a mile from my house, while biking to work. She stopped, but the agents were hostile. She didn’t feel safe taking photos.
I called the Migrant Solidarity hotline and we agreed I should go back to check it out. Adrenaline pumping, I biked to the scene. Nothing. No vans, no agents, just a quiet street with parents dropping kids off at school. I spoke to a few people on the street, no one had seen anything.
I called the hotline back, only to learn someone else had submitted photos of the arrest, taken minutes before I got there. It felt surreal—standing in the spot where state violence had just unfolded, the city carrying on like nothing had happened.
4. Hope from NYC
Perhaps like some of you, I was energized by Zohran Mamdani’s stunning win of the New York Democratic primary. I turned to Ezra Klein and Chris Hayes to unpack what it means for Democratic strategy.
“Mamdani and Cuomo were the perfect foils: the big-name establishment backed by a super PAC vs. the grassroots movement-builder with a killer sense of style and an inherent understanding of viral culture.
“He’s the first politician I’ve seen who feels truly native to social media. Not dominant through text posts—but videos and visuals. The graphic design was beautiful—the colors, the whole thing.”
If you didn’t follow the campaign on social media, don’t miss the earwig remix of Hollaback Girl with Mamdani spelling out his name to Cuomo: “The name is Mamdani. M-A-M-D-A-N-I.” Instant classic.
5. This is not a drill.
This week reminds me that nothing is promised, but everything is possible.
From the US Capitol to the DC Council, from ICE raids to organizing wins— yes, we are being gaslit, surveilled and criminalized. But we can also organize, testify, outwit them with our creativity … and refuse to back down.