Call your senator. Republican or Democrat or Independent or whatever. Call them, tell them you expect them to cease all routine business in the senate until accountability is restored. They do listen, it does matter.
My Senator is Susan Collins. She does not give a single shit.
My friend worked for her as a page one time. If congress isn't voting on something to do with potatoes or blueberries, she doesn't even show up. She's been emphatically on-board with this for a decade now.
Call anyway. If they don't answer the phone, go to the closest field office in person and knock. The stakes are too high, you need to ask yourself every step of the way: is THIS the roadblock that's going to stop me?
Maybe your senator doesn't care, maybe the courts are bought and the criminals are immune, maybe maybe maybe. Fighting means you keep powering through the maybes, the roadblocks, the hopelessness. There are sophisticated campaigns at work designed to make you feel hopeless and powerless. DO NOT give in to these without a fight!
I know using the phone can be uncomfortable if you don't do it often and that's okay. It gets easier the more you do it, and you don't need to word everything perfectly. The important thing is that you get your point across. "My name is x, I live in county y, and I'm calling to say I expect a yes/no vote on issue z."
I just did this for the first time, I found all three of mine had websites with a form to fill in which I used to leave my message. I hope filling in the form counts as much as a phone call? I left one a phone message too, but do kind of hate calling people...
Email is NOT as good! Phone calls are the most effective means by far. I know it's uncomfortable, it is for me too, but you need to power through that feeling. It gets easier the more you do it.
I called and kept calling until I got through. There were busy signals for 30 minutes before I got in. Be persistent. Keep trying!
To add, as someone who’s called offices to share opinions over the last several years:
You may get either voicemail or someone will pick up. A staffer will be who gets these messages, so be polite. Simply being polite means you’d be doing better than a lot of other callers.
I state my name, that I am a constituent, my city+ZIP, a brief message stating that I urge the congressperson to support/oppose an action and why.
If you’re talking to a human, give them a moment to jot it down and you’re done.
Also, you don’t have to call their DC office. If that line is busy, try a field office.
