Move On – February 16, 2025

Posted on February 16, 2025

Dear MoveOn member,

We’re going to break up Donald Trump and Elon Musk. We want to put up billboards in left-leaning districts with Republican congressional representatives, calling on them to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk from shutting down funding for vital programs relied on by millions of people.

We need your help to get this up and running as quickly as possible. Will you donate $5 monthly to help us put up these billboards, keep them up for as long as it takes, and then continue our fight against Trump and Musk in the months to come? 

Yes, I’ll chip in $5 a month. 

No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.

Donald Trump has set Elon Musk loose, and he is already wreaking havoc. In just the last two weeks, he has:

  • Taken control of the federal payment system responsible for issuing Social Security payments, tax refunds, and more.1 Yes, you read that correctly. Elon Musk—a private citizen—had access to your Social Security number.
  • Moved to shut down watchdog agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created with the sole purpose of helping everyday people fight against greedy corporations and big banks.2
  • Cut off support for Ebola and HIV prevention programs in Africa.3
  • Slashed funding for health care programs that impact cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes research. Experts are calling it an “apocalypse [for] American science.”4

And this is just the beginning. If Musk is allowed to continue unchecked, he will devastate the lives of untold millions of regular people while hoarding even more wealth for himself.

But we can stop him. Musk is operating without official authority, Congress can step in to stop him, and with Republicans’ razor-thin majority, we just have to convince a few of them to break ranks. That is why our billboards are so important.

We are going to strategically place these in the districts of Republicans who represent moderate or left-leaning areas, many of whom have assured their constituents that they would be moderate voices opposing MAGA extremism in Congress.

When local news outlets in these districts start covering the billboards, or when constituents begin flooding these offices with phone calls, it will put more pressure on these specific Republicans to take action than blasting out a more general—and expensive—ad campaign could.

Doing this is all part of MoveOn’s commitment to using funds from generous donors like you in the most strategic and impactful way we can by investing in fights where we believe we have the most leverage and can do the most to stop the worst of Trump and Musk’s abuses.

But we can do it only with your help, Kendall. Will you start a $5 monthly gift to help us get as many of these billboards up and running as quickly as possible and keep them up for however long it takes to stop these disastrous funding cuts?

Yes, I’ll chip in $5 a month. 

No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Nakia, Aliya, Amanda R., Jensine, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “A Musk ally was accidentally given broad access to sensitive Treasury data.” The New York Times, February 11, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/elon-musk-treasury-data-x-employee.html

2. “With Attack on Consumer Bureau, Musk Removes Obstacle to His ‘X Money’ Vision,” The New York Times, February 12, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/business/elon-musk-cfpb-x-money.html

3. Post on X by Aaron Rupar, Politico, February 11, 2025
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1889430194760405063

4. “NIH Budget Cuts Are the ‘Apocalypse of American Science,’ Experts Say,” Time, February 11, 2025
https://time.com/7216299/nih-budget-cuts-science-research-funding/

Want to support MoveOn’s work? Donald Trump and his MAGA allies expect us to give up. But we will not give them what they want. We will never stop working to defend our fundamental freedoms and protect our democracy. MoveOn has been leading the movement against right-wing extremism for 26 years, and we promise you that we will still be here every step of the way forward.

Will you donate to power MoveOn’s work to protect our freedoms and democracy under Trump’s administration?

Yes, I’ll chip in $5 a month.

No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. MoveOn.org Civic Action – PO Box 96141, Washington, D.C. 20090-6141. ActBlue Civics Inc. is the merchant of record for all transactions made to MoveOn Civic Action using the ActBlue platform. ActBlue Civics Inc. receives and processes these donations before disbursing them to MoveOn Civic Action within 30 days of receipt.