🧵 Having served as an employment lawyer at DOJ & Treasury for 19 yrs, I can attest that there is plenty of room for the federal government to improve on regarding personnel. Both hiring and firing are WAY too hard. But Trump + GOP’s #Project2025 plan is extreme and dangerous./1

https://twitter.com/alligordon_/status/1784219564374470973

You should take a look at this latest @CNN story to read more. The GOP notion of eliminating dissenters in the civil workforce would be disastrous for the functioning of the govt and for our national security. Disastrous - mainly because civil service /2 cnn.com/2024/04/27/pol…

🧵 Hi y’all! Yesterday I got to attend the #RestoreRoe rally and campaign kickoff with all 4 principals - @POTUS @VP @FLOTUS and @SecondGentleman. It was in VA and attended by probably 800 people. It was such an amazing day!
It started by me doing a live 📺 @BBC interview /1

After the interview, I went into the auditorium got to sit up front waiting to start with other women committed to reproductive health and women like @liuba4congress @JulieKashen @LanaeErickson @FuturePresente @AishaCMills! The crowd was huge and fired up! /2

This week I had the honor to hear from/meet some of the moms & sister of the young Israeli women who remain hostages by the hands of Hamas. The family came to the U.S. to talk about the urgency in getting their young women - who are susceptible to rape & pregnancy - released. /1 The families of the sexually vulnerable hostages traveled to DC, Bethesda, Brooklyn, & NYC. They met with American elected officials, rabbis, Jewish community members and (thank you) non-Jewish community members to say their daughters names and to talk about them. They shared /2

🧵🧵Yesterday I reacted to something @SIfill_ said on Twitter. We spoke today on the phone, and had a great chat, where we truly heard each other and laughed. Sherrilyn is off of Twitter but we agreed I would share her thoughts: "Julie and I just had an extraordinary and..." /1

https://twitter.com/JulieZebrak/status/1733930419769242087

.@SIfill_ continued: "important conversation, which we both wanted to pursue after our Twitter exchange. It was lovely & refreshing to have an exchange of nuance, clarity, and sensitivity. Especially at this time of understandable pain and anger, those of us who have been" /2

A shutdown doesn't just impact federal workers. It effects every American.

The weeks of uncertainty leading up to the shutdown mean that government work isn't necessarily focused on work -- it's focused on shutdown planning.

In effect, the shutting down started already. /1 Hiring decisions are on hold. The work those hires would do isn't being done.
Decisions are paused. Everything becomes a wait and see.
Meetings aren't on substance. They are on shutdown procedures.
Morale is shot as folks worry if they are "essential" and if they'll get paid. /2

🧵Remember all of us who railed against not just DJT but also his appointees & close associates? Do you remember why those folks were just as bad as him if not worse? And why that mattered?

Because a president is not just one man doing the work. He’s got influential advisors./1 The converse (?) is also true. Biden as president is not the only man doing the excellent work that’s getting done. He has influential advisors who are on the same page as he is (and as Dems are). Why does that matter? Because the President’s job - whether he is 41 or 81 - is /2

On Wednesday, like @djrothkopf, I had the honor of attending a meeting with the @VP and her incredible staff, along with several other attendees. Adding to David’s readout, I want to share what I observed:🧵/1

https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1669293637794951169

The VP is confident in her role as VP. She knows that POTUS can’t get to every issue and every place, and she is there to support POTUS. She understands how VPs have been viewed, treated historically, and why her unique position as a first can make her even more of a target./2

Y'all. Let's refresh: (1) the @VP and her team communicate CONSTANTLY about what she's doing -- the media refuse to cover it unless it's negative; (2) negative coverage of the most powerful black woman in America is like NYPost level clickbait reporting; (3) when you're the VP /1

https://twitter.com/CleveWootson/status/1620113895133437954

Your job is to help buttress the work of @POTUS and you are constrained by your role as the #2, not be a scene stealer and not make your own major news, nor can you say or do what you want; 4) Reporters scrutinize this @VP more than any other male @VP in modern history; /2

Here are some photos of the area around the Capitol today where you can see (if you enlarge the photos) all of the National Guard, Secret Service, tank, and fences. P.S. he’s getting his wall but it’s in DC. See below. /1

https://twitter.com/juliezebrak/status/1349435833993060355

Here is a shot with the National Guard and police. /2

I'm not as worked up as everyone else in DC seems to be about this new EO creating a Schedule F for civil service....IF there is a 2nd Trump term, the EO will 💯be an issue. BUT that is a big IF. If Trump doesn't win, the EO calls for a "preliminary review" of positions /1 Within 90 days (before inauguration day), followed by a "complete review" of those positions within 210 days (well after inauguration day). Those reviews are going to take TIME to complete by each agency and the agencies' HR staff. HR staff are technical in federal govt & not /2

Feels like a good time for a thread: We expect @JoeBiden to make his VP announcement this week, in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention kicking off on Aug. 17. My prediction is that we will hear on Monday the 10th. As many of you may know about me, I'm hoping /1 it's Kamala Harris, but no matter whom Joe chooses, I'll still be working as hard as I can between now and November to make sure we don't have 4 more years of Donald Trump. To that end, I have a few thoughts to share, which you are welcome to pass along if helpful:
/2

Thread: A friend who is a Bernie supporter asked me for talking points for why Bernie supporters should vote for Biden, rather than sit this next election out. Sharing here in case others need the advice for folks they know who supported Bernie. /1 Most every democrat in America did not get their first choice of candidate. Everyone is understandably angry and frustrated when their candidate of choice is forced to drop out. We are almost all victims of having to settle. The anger and frustration will subside. /2

True story. Two years ago a woman reached out to me whom I didn’t know to ask me to coffee to talk politics. Turns out she had been a Republican, but had voted for Hillary. After she watched the Kavanaugh hearings, she decided she could no longer be a Republican AND she /1 Told me she planned on helping the Democrats take back the White House in 2020. So she not only left her party because of Trump & the Kavanaugh confirmation, but she wanted to spend her free time to work elect a Democrat. Fast forward 2 years, & I heard from her tonight. /2

Thread: I'm getting a lot of questions offline about what folks can be doing politically right now. Here are a few areas:
1. Donate, even small amounts to candidates you support, including folks running for US Senate. For example, Amy McGrath to flip Mitch McConnell's seat; /1 or Sara Gideon to flip Susan Collins' seat. Even $5 helps candidates b/c it all adds up.
2. Pick a cause that matters and donate and/or get involved. For example, find a chapter of Moms Demand Action for gun sense reform near you. It is an instant community of like-minded /2

Quick pep talk: We knew before it started that this Senate trial not be likely to end in impeachment. We have known this. Even if it wasn’t a sham trial, like it now seems to be, without witnesses, we knew removal was a long shot. So take a deep breath, & think about how mad /1 You are today and this weekend. And remember that these Republican votes were never within our control. And make a list of what you are willing to do through November which is within YOUR control. Making donations? Knocking on doors? Phone banking? Feeding canvassers? Driving /2

Quick impeachment thread: On January 21, 2020, as one of the few Americans admitted entry to the U.S. Senate gallery to bear witness to the Senate trial, I will be wearing white. While the sobriety of the occasion seemingly would demand dark attire, throughout the Trump /1 Tenure, women wearing white has symbolized defiance of this administration. White also symbolizes women suffragettes, I will wear white to represent the women & men who have spent the last 3½ years pushing back against a lawless president, & who can't attend the Senate trial. /2

Thread: I’m sort of on a political money kick right now. And I think we need to have a ♥️ to ❤️ about political donations. Many people are not comfortable with political donations. For 2020, I’m going to ask you to put that discomfort to the side. Hear me out. /1 If you are someone who will donate to your church, to a charity for heart disease, to your alma mater, to a homeless shelter, to the arts, to Planned Parenthood, than you are a donor. You care about improving your community, the world, and others’ lives. You are a good person. /2

Thread: Here’s the thing, friends. Fighting to save democracy isn’t fun. It’s not convenient. If you’ve found yourself feeling horrified and depressed by the state of our country over the last 3 years, it’s time to roll up your sleeves. If you claim to want Trump out /1 (even more than you dread a Pence White House), then you need to show up. On Tuesday night, ALL OVER THE US, folks are taking to the streets. I know you don’t feel like doing this. Gosh knows I don’t either. But don’t post on social media & vent to your friends and then sit /2

Quick thread to my followers: You may have noticed an uptick in my pro-@KamalaHarris tweets. She's my candidate. I've been on board since Jan. I've raised over $20,000 for her, and I'm co-running @mamas4kamala. I spent the wknd in Iowa w her & her team, & other supporters./1 @KamalaHarris @mamas4kamala I get that not everyone agrees w my choice. I also see where the polls claim she falls. But if you know me on Twitter or in real life, you know I'm a rule of law person, who believes in the work of prosecutors, supports strong women, & loves this country. I'm not a fair weather/2

THREAD: This week 1 of my followers who is a Dem from a red state emailed me. I don’t know her, but she is feeling discouraged & nauseated by the state of politics right now. She is a single mom who works full-time. Rather than accept the feeling of powerlessness, she asked me /1 To help her find a way to get involved in Dem politics as a single working mom. Besides being honored that she reached out to me to ask for help on how to help, I am so impressed with her resilience & commitment to make an impact. As we all know by now, their goal is to /2

Today I spoke w a friend who lives out of DC. When I described to her how I’ve been spending my time (being on podcasts, talking to reporters, writing, activism, raising $), she asked me if anyone pays me to do this. The answer, of course, is no. There are MANY former federal /1 Employees from State, Treasury, Justice, the White House, who have spent the last 2 1/2 years talking and making sure we bear witness, we ensure Americans know what’s “off” and sharing our institutional knowledge to preserve (our sanity &) what is supposed to happen. Most of us/2