by Ram Narayanan
As things stand today, Trump and his band of outlaws have infiltrated all branches of the federal government. The cabinet, the entire GOP wing of Congress and half the Supreme Court are filled with unqualified sycophants — all of whom who seem willing to go down with the ship if needed.
Caving is generally not a good strategy
How are Democrats dealing with this? Not well.
In Trump’s 2nd term, Democrats in Congress have inexplicably seemed both willing to help Republicans sink the ship and accompany them on the way down. The government shutdown last fall—the longest in U.S. history—was the last straw for many Americans. We watched as Dems caved in after a 43-day long showdown. Even as poll after poll showed that most people blamed Republicans for the shutdown, enough Democrats chose to end the shutdown and walk away empty-handed. The Dems even failed to achieve their highest priority demand — an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
It turns out that civility, calm discussion and compromise don’t work when your opponent doesn’t value any of these things. There are times when you just have to punch the bully in the face—if not physically, at least metaphorically.
Nice guys don’t finish last…if they punch back
This is where organizations like IEB are making an impact. In alignment with Indivisible’s national efforts to back “fighters not folders” in this year’s midterm elections, our IEB Senate Team has jumped into action. They’ve been making steady progress over the past year, building bridges, deepening engagement, and influencing policy with California Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
There are a couple of dynamics in play. Non-MAGA voters in California and nationwide are demanding more from their elected leaders in light of the egregious abuse of authority and blatant corruption on full display by Trump and the entire GOP. It’s becoming clear to Democrats like Schiff and Padilla that it’s in their best interest to step up and speak out forcefully against the chaos in government — chaos that is damaging the lives of tens of millions of Americans (not to mention people all over the world)! Engagement with and encouragement from groups such as IEB have led to recent shifts in the Senators’ behavior, which reflects a shift in reality: these guys now know that they have to become fighters if they want to maintain the support of their constituents—and save this country!
The IEB Senate Team timeline
Let’s review the IEB Senate Team timeline. In spring of 2025, IEB and ISF Senate Teams, led by Matt Stone and Lili Soroceanu respectively, decided to join forces. Together, they kicked off an ongoing dialogue with the leadership teams representing Senators Schiff and Padilla (including senior advisors, chiefs of staff, and foreign policy leads). Results were quick, with Schiff leading a successful grass roots activist town hall meeting in June 2025. That meeting included participation from both IEB and ISF, who have since met four times with Schiff’s staff and twice with Padilla’s.
The tumultuous events that kicked off 2026 have caused a pivot in the IEB / ISF Senate Team strategy, a doubling-down if you will. The unauthorized bombing of drug boats in the Caribbean, the invasion of Venezuela, and finally the ICE raids that resulted in the killing of Minnesota activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti led the two Indivisible teams to decide that it was necessary to get the Senators to call for Congress to block DHS funding. The IEB and ISF teams concluded that they would be better able to capture the attention of the Senators and wield more influence if they included a broad representation of Indivisible groups. The Senators’ staff members would see that this request was not just coming from the most progressive Bay Area chapters, but from Indivisible activists across the state. So Lili and Matt pulled together more than 100 Indivisible leaders from over 50 Indivisible chapters throughout California to lean on the Senators. This coalition represented about 150,000 Indivisible members statewide. Indivisible had become a force to be reckoned with and the chiefs of staff for both Senators agreed to a meeting.
Encouraging a noble fight
During those meetings, Indivisible leaders made it clear that they wanted both Senators to demand changes to ICE operations: no more warrantless searches, no roving patrols, and a lot more accountability—including legal liability for ICE agents who violate anyone’s rights. They also called on the Senators to publicly display more leadership through their work with other Democrats in Congress. This included shaking up public sentiment by clearly showing what the Trump regime has been doing to undermine our democracy and explaining what the Democrats were going to do about it. It’s not enough for Democrats to just wag fingers and shake heads in disbelief.
Following this meeting, and after a specific request from the Indivisible groups coalition, Schiff agreed to boycott Trump’s State of the Union speech in late February. Padilla, for his part, delivered the Spanish language response to the State of the Union. Although Padilla’s speech was planned in advance, his team specifically requested support from the Indivisible groups — and recognized IEB among its list of key supporters for that event.
In recent months, our two Senators have been listening to and responding to Indivisible and to IEB specifically. For example, Padilla and Schiff had been making announced visits to ICE facilities over the past several months. To get a more accurate picture of the conditions at ICE facilities, especially the treatment of detainees, the IEB Senate Team asked Padilla and Schiff to start making unannounced visits. Padilla has begun doing that and Schiff is expected to do so shortly. The level of engagement and dialogue with both Senators is strengthening, which is a clear indication that they recognize the value and importance of Indivisible.
In the meantime, IEB and ISF continue to lead conversations among 50+ Indivisible chapters in California. They are developing a plan to get both Senators to strategize with other Democratic Senators nationwide and drive a more coordinated pushback against the MAGA / GOP agenda and show strong leadership in advance of this year’s midterms.
Many of us, including Indivisible’s national leaders, have not been happy with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and have called for a change in Democratic leadership. IEB’s Senate Team, and the All CA Indys Senate coalition, are continuing to emphasize our demand to both senators that they be ready to support new leadership for the Senate Democratic Caucus. While most Senators, including Schiff and Padilla, have refrained from making public statements to this effect, we believe that, when the time comes, they will join the call for new Democratic leaders.
Given the current DHS shutdown battle over ICE and CBP, the message from IEB (and the All CA Indys Senate coalition) to Schiff and Padilla is to make sure that we “win” the shutdown by winning the public. There’s currently a pressure point around TSA and we need Democrats to get on top of the message and control the narrative. Republicans are again claiming that Democrats are responsible for the current partial shutdown. The truth is that Democrats DO want to fund the TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, etc. but Republicans are refusing to do so unless they keep ICE in its current state of semi-lawless brutality. In coming weeks, we expect to see some of the Democratic messaging change and become more forceful.
After the joint U.S. / Israeli attack on Iran last week, which came on the heels of U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and in Venezuela, Schiff has also been instrumental in leading a Wars Powers Resolution, which limits the president’s ability to engage in military action without Congressional approval. The Indivisible coalition has worked hard to influence Schiff’s actions — by stressing the urgency behind the resolution and the need for his public leadership.
Indivisible has steadily increased its clout with both California Senators, largely due to the efforts of IEB and ISF Senate Teams, and the coalition that they’ve built among other Indivisible chapters statewide. Now that they’ve met several times with Schiff’s and Padilla’s respective teams, they’ve gained their trust, respect and appreciation. We anticipate a bi-monthly cadence, at minimum, with each Senator’s team going forward. Through the efforts of Indivisible, our Senators are getting a clearer picture about the mood of California voters: they want their representatives to show up as fighters, not folders. Nice guys don’t have to finish last — not if they aren’t always so nice and land some well-deserved counter-punches. The power and timing of these punches will determine where the country lands this November.
