Actions for the Week of 5/17/26

Written By Darbie Maccubbin

How to contact your elected officials

Use this link to find contact information for ALL of your elected officials – Federal, State, City, and County – just by entering your address: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Other useful links:

Action 1: Trump Wants a Gas Tax Holiday, We Want Real Relief On Gas Prices

From Rogan’s List 5/13/26

With no re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz in sight and experts suggesting we will see the national average price of gas reach $5 a gallon as early as June, the Trump regime is trying to do something, anything, to indicate to the American people that they care. Their latest suggestion: suspending the federal gas tax.

But pausing the gas tax will not in fact do much to help consumers. We pay 18.3 cents in federal taxes for each gallon of gasoline and estimates suggest we’d only see prices fall 10-16 cents, meaning we’d be reducing today’s average national price to $4.34 at best – still higher than it was a month ago, and still climbing. Furthermore, every dollar we end up saving as consumers from a gas tax suspension is a dollar that’s not getting used for the highway and mass transit repairs that that tax is supposed to be funding.

Activists and Democrats led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Ro Khanna have instead proposed the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act (S.4111/H.R. 7690) which would return some of the excess money the fossil fuel companies are making off this crisis to American households. Big Oil, who donated massively to elect this president, made $30 million *an hour* extra for the same amount of oil in just the first month of the war, and could ultimately clear more than $200 billion in excess profits off Trump’s “excursion.” 

Tell your members of Congress to ignore Trump’s call for a gas tax pause, and support the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act as a real answer to rising gas prices. Do one or both of the following:

1. Call or email your members of Congress. Write your own script or use this one.

I’m calling on _______ to back the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act (S.4111/H.R.7960) which would take some of the absurdly large profits made by fossil fuel companies in response to the war in Iran, return that money directly to struggling American households, and discourage oil companies from artificially inflating gas prices. I do not support a gas tax holiday which wouldn’t cover the price hikes in the last month, and would mean less money for highway maintenance. Thank you.

2. Follow this link to sign a petition, sponsored by Fossil Fuel Media, which will be sent to your members of Congress: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/big-oil-rakes-in-profits-while-gas-prices-surge-tax-big-oil-billionaires/?utm_source=roganlist

Action 2: Tell Congress to Support the PREDICT Act and Oppose the "Ballroom Bill"

The Preventing Real-time Exploitation and Deceptive Insider Congressional Trading (PREDICT) Act is a bipartisan bill that will ban members of Congress from trading on prediction markets tied to political events and policy decisions. The ban would also extend to dependents and spouses of lawmakers, senior congressional staff, political appointees, the president, vice president and all senior executive branch employees, including special government employees.

The GOP reconciliation package (aka, "Ballroom Bill"), which Republicans hope to pass without Democratic votes, includes $70 billion more for ICE, CBP, and DHS, as well as $1 billion for Trump's ballroom that he promised would be paid for by private donors and not by taxpayers.  

Call or email your members of Congress regarding these 2 bills. Write your own script or use the one below.

First, I'm calling on the [Senator/Representative] to support the PREDICT Act, a bipartisan bill that will ban members of Congress, the president, vice president, and senior executive branch officials from trading on prediction markets tied to political events and policy decisions. We deserve a government that works for us, not one where insiders can cash in.

Second, I strongly oppose the Republican reconciliation bill that includes $70 billion for ICE and CBP, and $1 billion for Trump’s ridiculous ballroom while adding $71 billion to the deficit. That money should be used to help Americans who can't afford to pay for healthcare, groceries, housing, and utility bills. Vote no, please. Thank you.

Extra Credit: Follow this link to sign a petition, sponsored by representUs, telling Congress to pass the PREDICT Act: PREDICT Act petition

Choose your own outrage with 5 Calls

5 Calls has been around since the first Trump term and offers a quick and easy way to make calls to your elected representatives. Enter your zip code or address and pick a topic. Then choose the representative you want to call, make the call, and read the script provided. Calling your congressperson is the most effective way to influence policy. Please check it out here: https://5calls.org/

Phonebanking Opportunities




Darbie Maccubbin
Previous

Actions for the Week of 5/24/26
Next

Actions for the Week of 5/10/26