LEGISLATIVE CALLS TO ACTION -- December 10, 2025

Indiana Indiana's redistricting bill HR 1032 passed the Senate's elections committee, clearing its first hurdle in the chamber that has been reticent to take up the issue. The 6-3 vote came after hours of testimony from Hoosiers representing both sides of the debate, competing at times with the echo of protesters outside the Senate chamber.

The redistricting bill now heads to the Senate floor, where the full chamber is poised to vote on it Thursday, Dec 11.

Senate Democrats pulled the same moves during the Senate session on Dec. 8. But unlike in the House, the bill's ultimate passage in the Senate is less certain.

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray (R) twice rebuffed the idea of convening to redistrict before ultimately agreeing to meet. While he has previously stated that his caucus doesn't have the votes to pass the bill, he didn't go that far when speaking to reporters Dec. 8.

We'll all find out on Thursday," he said ― the expected day that the full Senate will vote on the bill, which would send it to Gov. Mike Braun for signing. (Indy Star)

All supporters are encouraged to go to the Indiana Statehouse on Thursday, December 11, at 12:30pm to protest at the location of the vote. Please wear purple, bring a sign, and get loud.

Federal

Healthcare News: A bipartisan group of House members is introducing a bill to extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies for two years with new income limits and anti-fraud measures.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is leading the effort, along with GOP Reps. Don Bacon (Neb.), Rob Bresnahan (Pa.) and Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.), plus Democratic Reps. Jared Golden (Maine), Tom Suozzi (N.Y.), Don Davis (N.C.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez(Wash.). The legislation — summarized here — would also crack down on pharmacy benefit managers and expand health savings accounts.

The bipartisan group is considering trying to force a House vote through a discharge petition. And they have a legislative vehicle they could use to speed up the process. Yet using a discharge petition would be a long shot. It’s not clear if House Democratic leadership would back this compromise, which would need heavy support from their side to succeed. But lawmakers seeking an ACA patch — even if it can’t happen until after the subsidies expire on Dec. 31 — are turning to last-ditch plans as the deadline approaches.

Senate ‘show’ votes on healthcare: Senate Republican leaders are set to decide after today’s lunch meeting whether to hold a vote on a GOP-drafted alternative to Thursday’s planned vote on Democrats’ bill extending the Obamacare subsidies for three years. Senate Majority Leader John Thune made news Monday evening when he backed a proposal from Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.).

Crapo told us that he and Cassidy assembled a plan they believe can get the widest backing from GOP senators, who so far haven’t been able to unite behind a single proposal. If enough Senate Republicans back the Crapo-Cassidy approach, that could push Thune to hold a separate vote on it on Thursday. Senators and aides still believe Thune is unlikely to go that route. (Punchbowl News)

The National Security Strategy was released December 5th. There are many changes to our national security strategy, some of which appears alarming. To read the full 33 page document click here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf

Here is a synopsis from Politico and Al Jazeera of five key takeaways from the document:

1 - Hemispheric dominance

The US is seeking to “restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere” by reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine – a 19th-century US policy in opposition to European colonization and interference in the Americas.

Other than deterring foreign influence in the hemisphere, it will push to combat the drug trade and irregular migration while encouraging “private economies.” “We will reward and encourage the region’s governments, political parties, and movements broadly aligned with our principles and strategy,” the document reads.

2 - Deterring conflict over Taiwan

The last two National Security Strategies, including the one released during Trump’s first term in the White House, described the competition with China as the top priority for the US. But the rivalry with Beijing was not put front and center in this NNS.

Still, the document highlighted the need to win the economic competition in Asia and to re-balance trade with China. To that end, it stressed the need to work with Asian allies to provide a counterweight to Beijing, singling out India. “We must continue to improve commercial (and other) relations with India to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security,” it said.

3 - Berating Europe

Although Trump has cracked down on speech critical of Israel in the US and ordered the Department of Justice to target his political rivals, the NNS scorned Europe over what it called “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition”. The strategy proclaimed that Europe is facing the “prospect of civilizational erasure” due to migration policies and “failed focus on regulatory suffocation.” It also hit out at European officials’ “unrealistic expectations” for the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying that the US has a “core interest” in ending the conflict.

The document also suggested that the US may withdraw the security umbrella it has long held over the old continent. Instead, Washington would prioritize “enabling Europe to stand on its own feet and operate as a group of aligned sovereign nations, including by taking primary responsibility for its own defense, without being dominated by any adversarial power”, the NNS reads.

4 - Switching focus from the Middle East

The NSS stresses that the Middle East is no longer the top strategic priority for the US.

It says that past considerations that made the region so important – namely, energy production and widespread conflict – “no longer hold.”

5 - “Flexible realism”

The US will pursue its own interests in dealing with other countries, the document says, suggesting that Washington will not push for the spread of democracy and human rights.

“We seek good relations and peaceful commercial relations with the nations of the world without imposing on them democratic or other social change that differs widely from their traditions and histories,” it said.

“We recognize and affirm that there is nothing inconsistent or hypocritical in acting according to such a realistic assessment or in maintaining good relations with countries whose governing systems and societies differ from ours even as we push like-minded friends to uphold our shared norms, furthering our interests as we do so.”

However, the strategy suggests the US will still press some countries – namely Western partners – over what it sees as important values. “We will oppose elite-driven, anti-democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe, the Anglosphere, and the rest of the democratic world, especially among our allies,” it said.