By Meghan Hunt, Mills MPP ’17 and all around nasty woman
Fighting Trump is as much about keeping up with what’s happening as it is about hitting the streets. If his whirlwind of executive actions has your head spinning, then these five tools are for you. Get the best information at your fingertips so you can stay informed to stay fighting.
Five Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration:
1. The New York Times Trump Agenda Tracker
What has Trump actually done to repeal my ACA health care? Where do we stand with the Trans Pacific Partnership? Is he really going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it? If you are wondering what concrete actions the Trump administration has taken and how close they are to enactment, this tracker is for you. In beautifully simple graphics, the New York Times lays out how far along Trump is in enacting his campaign promises and what steps are left to get there. The tracker also links to relevant articles with more detail on what happened when. Perfect for keeping tabs on the issues you care about without missing a thing.
2. The New York Times Cabinet List
In addition to executive actions, you will want to read up on the president’s cabinet list and confirmation process. This page provides live information on each cabinet nominee, along with their background and the status of their appointment.
While you’re there, you’ll also want to check out this page on how each senator has voted in the confirmation hearings. You may think that living in California means your senators are already voting in your interest, but Kamala Harris and Diane Feinstein actually have different voting records on nominees. It might be time to get back on those busy phone lines again.
3. Presidential Actions, the App
Developed by UC Berkeley students in the wake of campus protests, this app gives you live push notifications for every executive order, presidential memorandum, and proclamation. As you might expect from one of California’s fine academic institutions, the app only links to primary documents, allowing you to cut through the fake news.
4. What the Fuck Just Happened Today?
If a daily email or blog post is more your pace, check out this wonderfully snarky site. This gem comes courtesy of Matt Kiser, a techie and former senior manager at Forbes Magazine, who posts daily recaps of major political recaps starting with inauguration day. Posts include Items of Lesser Importance and Tweets to Shake Your Head At. You can also follow along on Twitter.
5. Washington Post Fact-Checker Plug-In
Need a little more truth and a little less truthiness in your day? Use this Chrome extension from the Washington Post to automatically fact check the President’s tweets. While journalists write entire posts about Trump’s use of 140 characters, this extension puts the context right under his tweets.
Don’t let the president’s policy of shock and awe distract you from the real issues. Keep track with one of these tools, or share your own in the comments. And if anything on these lists isn’t to your liking, give your representative a call, take action in your area, or even write us an Op-Ed here at the Policy Forum.
Note: New York Times sites may require subscription.