Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, your reliable weekly source for information, inspiration, and opportunities for action during the second Trump administration.  Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it.

U.S. Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, is refusing to drop out of his House race despite reports of domestic abuse against his wife, Emily Moreno (daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno), and their small child. Sen. Bernie Moreno weighed in with concern for both his daughter and the people of Ohio and was met with mockery from his former son-in-law. This defiant response to such heinous allegations has not drawn broad public rebuke from Republican Party leaders.

This development comes as U.S. Rep Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., ended his reelection bid after a House Ethics Committee found he sexually harassed female aides, and U.S. Rep Cory Mills, R-Fla., is also under investigation by the committee. In addition to this, Brandon Herrera a Republican candidate for U.S. House in a San Antonio-based district, recently recorded videos disparaging mothers in vulgar terms. This spate of misogynistic and predatory behavior towards women from Republicans comes after the campaigns of Democrats Graham Platner and Eric Swalwell, former congressman, ended after credible reports of sexual assault.

The behavior we're seeing from candidates like Max Miller and the pervasiveness that has led to it have been sanctioned by white Christian nationalism, but the patriarchy that undergirds this logic is not new. Throughout the country, we've seen denominations fail to address the unequal treatment of women, which leads directly to violent abuse. We have also seen churches choose to protect the powerful men who target women time and time again. We must see the church itself address the patriarchy that plagues our pews, while demanding moral leadership from the people leading our country.

–Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners

P.S. We are continuing to build an intentional community of people looking to live out their faith in our Sojourners Faith and Practice Forum on Mighty Networks. Please consider joining us.

In the News

1. Elections in Michigan, Missouri and Kansas took place amid continued efforts to undermine confidence in the electoral process.

• In New Jersey, The Trump administration’s efforts to access the voting rolls were turned away by the US district courts, while Democrats in Maryland are turning to redistrict in response to Republican gerrymandering.

• On Tuesday in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won a highly contested Democratic U.S. Senate primary, Missouri voters blocked a Republican-led effort to raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments, and Kansas voters rejected a proposal to directly elect state Supreme Court justices.

2. The policy of mass deportation by the Trump Administration is continuing to be seen throughout US communities.

• Video footage of conditions inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center appear to show worms in detainees’ drinking water. The Guardian also exclusively reported that ICE has force-fed detainees in facilities nationwide amid hunger strikes.

• Children across the country lost independent legal representation after the Office of Refugee and Resettlement (ORR) withheld fees from legal service providers, who say the funding was cut to pressure them into turning over confidential information. Those services are now set to be replaced by a firm founded by a former Trump appointee.

• The end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians has set off a scramble for options in communities across the country as communities are being targeted for enforcement.

3. Internationally, we continue to see the fallout from conflicts across the globe.

• In Cuba, the United States has reportedly sent additional intelligence assets to the island amid rolling blackouts, while residents vow to resist U.S. intervention.

• Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has called into question the legalities of ongoing U.S. boat strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean, citing strikes that fall outside the military’s own targeting guidelines.

• On Iran, U.S. Central Command has solicited creative and unconventional ideas on the war, while concerns about depleted munitions shadow continued negotiations over a Strait of Hormuz deal.

Take Action

• We continue to demand that Congress intervene to end the blockade of Cuba as blackouts continue to affect the island.

• The Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns is asking Congress to promote peace in Sudan. You can contact your members of Congress here.

• Freedom Summer is holding revivals across the country in response to the ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.

What We’re Reading

“ICE is Moving More Quietly. Clergy Resistance Is Not.” | “In different states, the dynamics are different,” he said. “But clergy are desperate to act.” (By Bekah Stolhandske McNeel)

“Preach The Gospel, But Not On A Plane.” | “There is no space for reciprocity, mutuality, rebuttal, or respect because it’s not a discussion. It is a proclamation to a captive audience.” (By Amar D. Peterman)

Deep Breaths

Black August: Freedom Must Be Practiced

As we enter the first week of Black August and hold the urgency of voting rights before us, we are reminded that the struggle for the ballot is bound up with the dignity of God’s people. The vote is both a mechanism of government and moral testimony about who is seen, who is heard, and who is allowed to belong. 

I am both angered and aggrieved by the long history of anti-Blackness that has shaped this nation and still shows up in the endless efforts to restrict access to the ballot. It also angers me to see the cruel ways these attacks reach into the lives of immigrants and refugees, women and queer folk, children and elders, disabled and neurodivergent people. The burden of exclusion is not carried evenly, and the work of justice must be attentive to those who bear the heaviest weight.

Maria Stewart understood this truth with remarkable clarity. An American activist, writer and lecturer in the 19th century, she lived in a nation that spoke the language of liberty while denying its promises to Black people, and she refused to be silent. In one of her most enduring challenges to racial hierarchy, she proclaimed: “Many think, because your skins are tinged with a sable hue, that you are an inferior race of beings; but God does not consider you as such. ... he hath made all men free and equal. Then why should one worm say to another, ‘Keep you down there, while I sit up yonder; for I am better than thou?’” Her witness still speaks to us now: freedom cannot be merely proclaimed; it must be practiced.

As we move through this first week of Black August and into the days ahead, may we remain prayerful and steadfast. May we protect the vote with courage and holy resolve, and may we not grow weary in the face of those who would silence the people and mock justice. Let us remember that to defend democracy is to defend the dignity of our neighbors. And may God still stir us to speak the truth and labor for justice, mercy, and peace.

––Rev. Moya Harris, Senior Director of Programs, Sojourners

The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff:

President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor
Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson
Digital Content and Community Specialist: Kassandra Tapia
Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps
Political Director: Chad V. Stanton
Senior Program Director: Rev. Moya Harris
Program Manager, Education and Engagement: Cortnie Brooks

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