A bird’s-eye view
By the numbers
- 10,450 participants across every state and six US territories or districts
- 58% of offices were inaccessible to constituents voicing concerns
- 25% of offices openly refused to see their constituents
- 95% of participants were first time visitors to their representative’s district office
We asked our members to tell us what happened on the January 20 Walk Out & Walk In to Congress day of action. A big THANK YOU to them for taking part in our nationwide, peaceful day of lobbying — and for their responses. We have learned a LOT about the way offices respond to coordinated citizen outreach. (If you did not yet share your experience, you can still do so here.)
First – for 95 percent of participants (literally!) this was the very first time they had every gone to their congressional district office. We cannot thank you enough for taking that step and showing up. We had citizens head to at least 96 unique offices with this effort – that is more than 22% of Congress. We say at least 96 because many folks participated in this effort as part of their own organizing work outside of Citizens’ Impeachment.
Feedback from the field
There were offices that were receptive and listened to their constituents. A constituent of Mike Kennedy in UT-03 said:
“If nothing else it showed me that I can speak out and make my voice heard. They were willing to listen and while not willing to discuss specific actions or speak for the Congressman. The act of showing up at the office (the first time I’ve ever done that in my 50+ years) was empowering and encouraging (mostly because of their willingness to listen). Simply writing emails, letters and making phone calls as I’ve done in the past and getting boilerplate responses has never given me new motivation to engage more.”
Unfortunately, most offices did not want to engage. This is the most revealing and infuriating part of Monday’s activity – at least 58% of offices were inaccessible to constituents.
34% of the offices were closed. Some closed deliberately when they learned about “First Amendment Activities”. Some were simply closed without explanation on this random Tuesday. At least four closed even though people had called ahead to confirm that they were open!
Even more frustrating is that more than 25% of open offices simply refused to see constituents. They made folks talk over an intercom or make phone calls while they were standing outside. In some cases bodyguards accompanied staffers when they left the offices and in one wild case the office had seven sheriffs on guard when constituents showed up.
This is, quite frankly, absurd. These representatives DO work for you. Their offices are SUPPOSED to be open. They SHOULD be at work on Tuesdays. And, they should absolutely be hearing and responding to citizen concerns.
We’ve included some shared quotes from participants, as well as a graphic of how many people from each state signed up to participate. You are not alone. This is work that we will continue to do together, and we will get more effective each time we do it.
One last note — we want to apologize to Bob Onder’s district (MO-03) — we did our best to confirm all addresses before the event, but his office location was incorrect. His site now lists “by appointment only” for his offices, something that we are going to address for 2/17.
Lessons learned and Next Steps
Here’s what we learned for this event and how we are going to change the structure for our February 17 National Day of Lobbying with 50501 National, FLARE USA, and the Impeachment Coalition.
- Each district office event will have a set time. Many of you reported not seeing others from your district even though more than one of you let us now that you attended. On 2/17, we will have set times for each event.
- Each district office event will have an assigned leader. This may be a primary candidate from your district, or it may be a local organizer or a local organization. They will be responsible for disseminating information and toolkits and for structuring the event.
- We will have district staff contact info for leaders to request meetings well in advance of the day. If the offices refuse to meet with constituents without an appointment, well, we will make sure we have an appointment on the books.
- We will have a plan for closed offices. Because we have evidence of deliberate closures to avoid our day of action, we will to have a plan for constituent action in the face of locked doors. This will include instructions for recording the event anyway and sharing with media.
- We will have materials to maintain pressure on the representative: How to write letters to the editor, social media instructions, and how to work with media to cover the event.
Feedback results
Was the office open?
- Lieu, CA-36 – I organized a visit with my Indivisible group. We have a generally good relationship with Lieu’s office, as we meet with them once a month. We gave them a head’s up that we were coming and got no response. When we arrived they had all gone home for the day.
- Harris, NC-08 – “We called and they said they were closed even though we saw people enter the building. They took our phone complaint from one woman out of 5 of us. They registered her name and address.”
- Goldman, TX-12 – “Although there is nothing on their website stating this, they told us we needed an appointment. We were able to ask to have our comments tallied over the phone by the very young sounding man who answered. Who knows if he did anything or not? It was very disappointing!”
How did the office staff treat you?
- Pallone, NJ-06 – “The staff were polite and listened. I asked for any sort of responses or plans on impeachment of Sec. Noem and Trump and they couldn’t really comment or give any specific plans. No one in the office seems allowed to engage on the topic of accountability in good faith. This has been the case over the last 9 months when I’ve called any of the district offices.”
- Strickland, WA-10 – “I felt like I was annoying the front desk person by existing”
- Brown, OH-10 – “They were great to deal with! Listened with empathy and all went smoothly. “
- Wagner, MO-02 – “They gave us forms to fill out. While filling out the forms we were voicing our concerns to Ann Wagner’s staff about her never holding town halls to hear what her constituents’ thoughts were. Staff said Ann was not required to hold town halls. She obviously seems to think she is not required to uphold the Constitution, either.”
- Glusenkamp-Perez, WA-03 – “We all thought it was weird that we weren’t acknowledged. We knew they were expecting us because law enforcement was there.”
- Moore, UT-01 – “I could hear people in the back area, but the thing that caught my attention most was a broadcast being played in the background that was listing out all the “illegals” and the various crimes they were guilty of. At the volume it was being played, it felt to me that it was being played for the benefit of anyone that came in, and I took it to mean that they clearly wanted to display their position without having to face any of the constituents that they disagree with. All in all it was a stunning display of everything I’ve come to expect from Republicans during this administration. Shameful.”
What excuses did they give?
Please note, each of these statements from offices ARE excuses. Representatives can bring articles of impeachment to the floor at any time via Rule IX. These representatives are refusing to use their power.
- Pallone, NJ-11 – Multiple staffers tried to explain that congress did not have the votes to impeach. I explained that this doesn’t matter and they need to build support for it, successful or not, via forcing votes with Rule IX. I ended with telling them that it’s really insulting that they have all of these excuses for the congressman not doing his job. And it’s insulting Congressman Pallone thinks his constituents are not paying attention to the nuance of what he’s saying and not saying.
- Chu, CA-28 – “…the thing that bothered me the most was that when I said that Rep Chu needed to file articles of Impeachment, he nodded and said he understood how I felt but it was a process and that ‘IF’ she decided to file, it would be after completing that process. I let him know that his saying ‘IF’ not ‘WHEN’ made me angry because why is it an ‘IF’??? There is more than enough evidence against Trump and his entire corrupt administration and Congress needs to do their job and remove them all! He nodded politely, again reassured me that he knew how I felt, but after I said everything I had to say, we both just stood there in silence.
- Degette, CO-01 – “Because my rep was a Democrat, I was told that although she agrees with us and our concerns there was little she could do.”
Every single state, plus Washington DC, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Marshall Islands, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa were represented.
Total signups by state (one week’s notice of event) = 10,450
