Today’s Action Items are short and simple. I’d like to preface today’s list with one item that I think is very important and easy for us all to do: Let’s all try to remember how important it is to feel grateful for what we have and what this country, with all its problems and the attempts of so many to tear it all down lately, has given us. Take comfort in family and friends, give thanks together, and renew the shared strength to keep on fighting for the survival of the freedom, compassion, and kindness that really can make America great.
Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!) Scroll down to the matching number of your option:
- Oppose the CDC’s efforts to remove the universal Hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine recommendation
- Save the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
- Pressure Apple to take back its donation to Trump’s ballroom
- Learn about and join Ground Truth’s efforts to educate voters and help Democrats win back voters
- Maine-specific action from the Washington County Dems
Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored.
Contact info: Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)
Actions Actions
1) Oppose the CDC’s efforts to remove the universal Hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine recommendation:
Monday, November 24th, 11:59pm, is the deadline for submitting public comments about the efforts of ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) to remove the recommendation of the universal Hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine. The Hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine has been given over a billion times to newborns and has saved countless lives with almost no side-effects. Now the CDC, under anti-vaxxer RFK Jr., is proposing to stop recommending this vaccine for newborns. Speak up now: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/CDC-2025-0783-0001
2) Save the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):
The Trump administration has falsely declared that the CFPB’s independent funding is illegal, setting the agency on a path to shut down in early 2026. Russell Vought, acting OMB Director and Trump’s shadow president, has been laying the groundwork for this outcome all year. He cut the CFPB’s funding request to zero, ignored Dodd Frank’s statutory mandate, and pushed a legal theory so fringe that even conservative courts rejected it.
Now the DOJ has signed onto that incorrect theory to justify blocking the CFPB from receiving any money at all. The Supreme Court has already upheld the CFPB’s funding mechanism. This maneuver is designed to bypass Congress and sidestep the courts. The CFPB’s cash reserves are rapidly draining because Vought refused to request funds from the Federal Reserve, even though the law requires the Fed to transfer whatever amount the CFPB director determines is necessary.
The CFPB investigates predatory lenders, monitorss credit card abuses, enforce anti-discrimination laws in banking, and returns money stolen by corporate scammers. So far, the CFPB has recovered more than $21 billion for consumers, eliminated junk fees, cracked down on discrimination, banned medical debt reporting, and stopped abusive practices across Wall Street, fintech, mortgage servicing, auto lending, and more.
The courts have temporarily blocked Vought’s mass firings and frozen some of the most extreme attacks, but those protections will not last forever. As this case moves toward the Supreme Court, the threat grows. Congress has the power to intervene right now and make clear that the CFPB must remain funded and operational.
Tell Congress to stop Russell Vought’s unlawful plan to dismantle the CFPB and protect consumers now. Congress must reinforce that the CFPB’s funding structure is legal, constitutional, and required by statute. Lawmakers must be loud and unambiguous that no administration has the authority to starve a federal agency that Congress itself created. Anything less invites a future where presidents can defund regulators at will, leaving families vulnerable to corporate abuse. Support the campaign to protect the CFPB, safeguard the billions it returns to the public, and prevent financial predators from rewriting the rules: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/afr_defend_the_cfpb_from_voughts_unlawful_shutdown
3) Pressure Apple to take back its donation to Trump’s ballroom: https://act.citizen.org/page/91007/petition/1
4) Learn about and join Ground Truth’s efforts to educate voters and help Democrats win back voters:
https://ourgroundtruth.org/?ss_source=em20251119-184
5) Maine-specific action from the Washington County Dems:
The Department of Homeland Security is trying to purge new Mainers—and naturalized citizens everywhere– from voter rolls by creating a “citizenship” check system that could wrongfully keep eligible citizens from voting. They are doing this by using (abusing) private voter data that the Trump administration culled from Social Security files—in flagrant violation of the Privacy Act.
DHS is taking public comments on this effort until Dec. 1. Government agencies are legally required to pay attention to, consider, and respond to significant public comments.
Go to https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/USCIS-2025-0337-0002 to submit your comment. Here is a sample script—remember, it’s best to personalize it:
“The Privacy Act protects U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from improper government use of their data. We share private citizenship information with the Social Security Administration with the guarantee that it will only be used for purposes related to benefits, retirement, disability, and death. We did NOT consent to our sensitive SSA data being repurposed by federal or state governments for use in a massive voter verification system. The government has no right to do this without our consent.
“This misuse of private data could wrongfully purge lawfully registered voters from voter rolls and prevent eligible voters from voting. In fact, some states have already started purging voter rolls and opening criminal cases using this system–even though this data is especially unreliable for naturalized citizens and states are doing little to confirm the data is accurate.
“In addition, the consolidation and misuse of our data in this way substantially increases the risk of our personal information being vulnerable to security breaches.”
Yours in Civic Action,
Bold Coast Civic Alliance
