JUNE 13, 2025
This is the weekly newsletter of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America (MDC DSA), which is produced by local members of the chapter’s Publications Working Group. The Weekly Update publishes every Friday at 9am. Ready to fight the Trumpocalypse? Join DSA, fight to win with a real alternative!
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CONTENTS
UP FRONT
Nationwide protests as military descends on DC for Trump’s parade
Socialists plan rally: budget for workers, not owners — June 18
Los Angeles demonstrates steadfast resistance to militarized fascism — get involved in the DMV
Masses plan nationwide protests as military descends on DC for Trump’s parade
A thick fog of unease has surrounded the District over the past week in anticipation of the US Army’s march into Washington this Saturday. The parade called by Trump will roll tanks, soldiers, armored fighting vehicles, and a mule down Constitution Avenue. This isn’t an invasion: it’s a celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the US Army and Emperor Trump’s birthday.
Estimated to cost between $30 to 45 million, Trump’s circus aims to cure Americans of national disillusion, reflected in recent polling that suggest the emperor’s antics are wearing thin (38% approval, reported Quinnipiac). However this parade intends to look on broadcast, local revelers will be disappointed. A labyrinth of fences (18.5 miles!) and security checkpoints will manage spectators like cattle maneuvering through the chute of a slaughterhouse. Armed soldiers, likely exhausted and anxious, will leer and gawk, fingers on the trigger, when they should be “riding the sick-book.” Buzzing drones will swarm the skies to peer, prod, and catalogue the public — steered and operated by the always sober Secret Service. Retinues of local and federal police will stalk the city’s streets and alleyways. What a celebration!
Although Washington will be occupied, partisan counter-rallies are expected across the country: more than 1,800, reports Democracy Now. The No Kings protests — kicked off by the left-liberal outfit Indivisible — are expected to convene mass outrage over the excess and cruelty of Trump’s nascent regime. In DC, locals will be convening a resistance celebration at Anacostia Park from 3-8pm. Organized by Free DC and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, DC Joy Day will honor community and struggle with music, performances, and teach-ins. Attendees are invited to bring friends, families, children, and coolers to celebrate the DC resistance movement. The event is endorsed by the Metro DC Democratic Socialists.
Those looking to navigate downtown DC this weekend should review The 51st’s roundup of parade activity. Metro DC DSA has only endorsed the DC Joy Day resistance celebration — occurring from 3 to 8pm at Anacostia Park. Those considering protest are urged to navigate downtown with caution and should review proper digital and legal protection measures. Chapter members can refer to the #action-alerts channel in the chapter Slack to read or report any day-of developments or notices.
DC working class plans rally in opposition to Bowser budget — June 18
Workers, activists, progressives, and socialists have been surging the DC Council building over the past two weeks, urging a stop to a proposed austerity regime from Mayor Muriel Bowser. On Wednesday, June 18th at 8:30am, join Metro DC DSA and allies to tell the District Council: the people of DC deserve a budget that puts workers above owners, tenants above landlords, and autonomy over Trump’s agenda. Please RSVP.
As reported two weeks ago, Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget is a naked austerity agenda. Medicaid restrictions would hoist Medicaid away from over 25,000 residents. Healthcare Alliance cuts would eliminate coverage for nearly 30,000 low-income immigrants. The Pay Equity Fund, which taxes the rich to pay for child care workers, would be eliminated. Universal paid leave benefits would be slashed: medical leave from 12 down to 8 weeks and family leave from 12 to 6. Emergency rental relief would be nearly wiped out, from $26 to $5 million, as the mayor also backs restrictions to both TOPA and eviction rights. DC’s sanctuary-city status would be ended, enabling police cooperation with Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The budget would also completely repeal Initiative 82, cutting the minimum wage paid to tipped workers’ from $10 to $5.95.
If the mayor is attempting to initiate a Republican agenda to halt congressional takeover, the defense appears to be failing. Just this week, the US House resumed its attacks on DC autonomy — voting to bar noncitizens from voting in DC local elections (266-148) and to restore collective bargaining rights for violent or insubordinate police officers (235-178), reversing a post-Floyd victory. Both bills were passed with the support of congressional Democrats; 56 Democrats voted for the former and 30 voted for the latter (the current breakdown in the house is 220-212 — a full Democratic front would have stopped both of these assaults — useful idiots). All the while, $1.1 billion in tax revenue is still being held ransom in Congress. It appears that Bowser is not protecting DC from Republican capture of the city — she is a vector for it.
Bowser’s plot would constrain disposable income among DC’s working class, undoubtedly sparking economic disaster throughout the city. But a resistance path may still be charted through the District Council. In their public communications, CMs Lewis George (Ward 4), Parker (Ward 5), and Nadeau (Ward 1) have been most clear in their opposition to this austerity regime. A left bloc may yet emerge — but is frustrated. In their vote last week to temporarily freeze a tipped worker wage increase, CMs Henderson, Allen, and White betrayed workers and democracy in the District, threatening the potential for coordinated response. (See last week’s Update for more info.) Only a serious political alliance that protects the lives of tenants, workers, and immigrants will keep the District united against coordinated right-wing assault. Anything less spells a grim future for the life and culture of the city.
The Metro DC DSA is calling for DC’s workers, tenants, progressives, and socialists to rally at the steps of the Wilson Building at 8:30am on Wednesday, June 18. The rally coincides with the council hearing of the Committee of the Whole, which will begin recording public testimony on the wider DC budget.
Additional resources:
- The full budget can be viewed on the DC Council’s website
- Socialist Night School’s DC Budget 101 recording for more information on the local budget process
- See additional research from the DC Fair Budget Coalition
Los Angeles demonstrates steadfast resistance to militarized fascism — get involved in the DMV
Last Friday, June 6th, ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and DEA conducted militaristic raids in LA, arresting dozens of workers without judicial warrants, according to several legal observers and the ACLU. The raids focused on locations in downtown LA and its immigrant communities. During these gestapo-like raids on working people, witnesses described heavily armed agents in camouflage and tactical gear, unmarked armored vehicles, and surveillance drones.
With news of the raids spreading, hundreds of peaceful protestors gathered in downtown LA, where detainees were being processed, to show their support for the imprisoned. The LAPD responded with threats to arrest protestors and deployed their riot-gear-clad officers, who were armed with tear gas, pepper spray, and so-called “less-lethal munitions.” David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union California, was violently thrown to the ground, injured, and arrested. He was recently released on $50,000 bail. Over the weekend — and without Governor Gavin Newsom and California officials’ request — Trump issued direct orders to mobilize and deploy 2,000 National Guard troops, as well as several hundred marines. Protests in LA and solidarity events in opposition to ICE have unfolded across the country since.
Trump and his cronies have been painting the peaceful protests as violent ever since — a deliberate tactic. By manufacturing a crisis, Trump lures public attention from the disastrous so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” Republicans are attempting to smash through the Senate. The bill would strike Medicare and Medicaid benefits, reduce food assistance, and provide the richest Americans with even bigger tax breaks. It’s the oldest trick in the book: divide and conquer through sweeping measures and fear-mongering tactics, while finding scapegoats for failing, unpopular policies.
Socialists are fighting back. In a statement, the National Political Committee of the DSA called on members “to pour into the streets, to organize, and to fight to defend immigrant communities.” Metro DC DSA is organizing immigrant solidarity work, in alliance with local partners, through the chapter’s Migrant Justice Subcommittee. Members looking to get involved in the DMV can visit the #migrantjustice channel in the chapter Slack or fill out this interest form.
Find a longer accounting of the Los Angeles Siege in this special report of the Metro DC DSA Weekly Dispatch.
BRIEFS
ATTENTION NEW DSA MEMBERS — chapter Member Engagement Department seeking your input
The DSA has been seeing massive growth over the past year, and the Metro DC chapter is no exception. Processing, onboarding, and mobilizing members are vital tasks for socialists. Locally, this work is coordinated by the chapter’s Member Engagement Department (MED), which runs a suite of chapter orientations, social gatherings, and member onboarding programs.
With the surge in new membership, the MED wants to improve access to the chapter and empower new members to get more involved. But member perspective is needed to study if recent efforts are working. If you joined the chapter in November 2024 or later, give your opinion in this very short survey to help the department make the new member experience even better for people joining this summer.
As city of Rockville plans update to landlord-tenant code, locals continue pressure for rent stabilization — hearing on Monday, June 16 at 6:30pm
After more than a year of pressure from tenants to pass rent stabilization, the city of Rockville is working to update its landlord-tenant code. While the city is not officially considering rent stabilization, the Montgomery County branch of Metro DC DSA still encourages Rockville tenants and residents to complete the city’s survey and emphasize the need for housing affordability as well as anything else that tenants consider important. On Monday, June 16, the Rockville City Council and mayor will discuss the updates to the landlord-tenant code, and tenants and rent stabilization supporters will pack the hearing room to tell the council that they need rent stabilization. Please RSVP for the hearing.
In response to proposed cuts, local environmentalists planning Green Budget Day of Action on June 16
Residents and advocates from across the District are invited to make their voices heard at the Green Budget Day of Action on Monday, June 16th, 8am. DC residents are gathering at the Wilson building to call on the DC Council and Mayor Bowser: Don’t defund District communities and the climate in the local DC budget. All progressives, environmentalists, ecosocialists, and allies are invited to join the 8am rally and press conference, which will precede public lobbying in the Wilson building until 3pm. Allies are urged to wear green and encouraged to participate for as long as possible. RSVP to attend the event, and access advocacy guidance.
Mayor Bowser is proposing to cut the District’s Department of Energy and Environment by nearly a quarter. Shockingly, the plan includes the naked theft of $70 million from the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund — which funds energy efficiency upgrades and solar panel installations for low income renters and homeowners — to pay for the government’s own utility bills. Also proposed are delays and repeals of laws on the books to require energy efficiency in a large number of privately and publicly owned DC buildings — vital to meet DC’s net-zero carbon plan.
Later in the day, socialists will be embarking on a wheatpasting expedition at 5:30pm, kicking off from Shaw Library (Room 1), to spread awareness of We Power DC’s impending white paper release. The lengthy report will document the path to bringing public power to DC. All interested in public power and the city’s electrical grid are invited to attend and learn more about the campaign. RSVP for We Power’s June 16th Poster session.
Tuesday, June 17: Stop Project Pipes — testify at a PSC Hearing (5:30pm, online or downtown)
Washington Gas wants to add $215 million to our gas bills to pay for their project to lock the District into dirty methane gas for decades. Will the public halt this hike? Testify against Washington Gas’s money-making District (un)SAFE plan — long called Project Pipes — at a June 17th community hearing hosted by the Public Service Commission at 5:30pm, online or at the PSC downtown. RSVP with CCAN to let them know you’re going and to get invited to a comment-writing party and office hours to help you craft your testimony. Check out their testimony guide for more info.
Socialists planning fourth teach-in session on global empire — Anti-Imperialist Summer School Week 4, June 22
Metro DC DSA’s Internationalism Working Group is holding the third session of the six-week Beyond the Bombs: Anti-Imperialist Summer School teach-in series on Sunday, June 22, with a session titled “USAID, NED, and the NGO-Industrial Complex.” This session will run from 4-6pm, in-person at the Festival Center (1640 Columbia Road NW) and hybrid on Zoom.
In this session, participants will examine the role of international NGOs and quasi-autonomous US government entities like USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in upholding global imperialism, and American empire in particular. How do these entities promote neoliberalism in the name of humanitarian assistance and “international development,” and how have these institutions historically served (and continue to serve) as fronts for direct and indirect US intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations in the Global South? Learn more and register to attend the Anti-Imperialist Summer School.
Solidarity Is Not A Crime! Fighting Fascism in the Philippines and Around the World — June 21
On June 21st, ICHRP-DMV and Metro DC DSA will hold an educational forum and panel on fascism and political repression in the Philippines and worldwide. Amidst economic and political crises, right-wing parties have taken power and grown around the world. Marcos Jr. in the Philippines, Orban in Hungary, Netanyahu in Israel, Bukele in El Salvador, and Trump in the USA have promised strongman tactics to make their countries great again. They have focused their attacks on critics, human rights defenders, activists, and organizations fighting back. Through coordinated international struggle, fascism can be defeated. The forum is set to take place at the University United Methodist Church (3621 Campus Drive) at UMD from 4 to 6:30pm — those interested in attending the forum are encouraged to register.
MDC DSA Political Engagement Committee to hold online Electoral Accountability Forum — Tuesday, July 1 at 7pm
Following Shayla Adams-Stafford’s win earlier this year in Prince George’s County, the socialist electoral project continues on; future electoral planning and a return to accountability for socialist electeds remains a crucial need. This project is being coordinated by the chapter’s Political Engagement Committee, a five-member body appointed by the Metro DC DSA Steering Committee.
The PEC will be holding a conversation on the chapter’s strategy around accountability for endorsed elected officials at their upcoming bi-weekly meeting on July 1; all chapter members are invited to attend (invite forthcoming) and to join #electoral in Slack for updates. This event will be a great opportunity to learn about — and comment on — a set of important chapter decisions, and will help to guide our electoral approach over the rest of this year. Whether you are a DSA member new, old or returning, input and engagement on this process is strongly encouraged.
INFO ACCESS
Want to fight fascism from the heart of the empire? Join DSA and fight to build socialism! June’s New Member Orientation is all in-person: MDC DSA 101: New Member Cohort on June 18. Learn about the Metro DC chapter — branches, working groups, campaigns, current activities, and enduring values — right here.
Want to stay current? Weekly Updates, like the one you are reading, are scheduled and emailed on Fridays; current and past Updates are available on our website. Not subscribed? DSA member or not, sign up to get the Update, the go-to source for the DMV left. The MDC Dispatch is the chapter’s new video news series, published on the first and third Sunday of each month. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and submit your Update or Dispatch suggestions or DMV scandal tips to our tip line. The Washington Socialist, published since the 1970s, offers in-depth analytical/opinion articles on a quarterly schedule; the Spring 2025 quarterly issue now leads the queue but the Summer 2025 issue is in editing now. Check out our indexed and searchable archive to see what we write — and what you can write. Anyone, MDC DSA member or not, interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions to washingtonsocialist@mdcdsa.org.
Members — want to stay updated in our workspace? MDC DSA members are encouraged to join our all-member Slack for real-time info on working group and campaign events, strategy exchange, and inspiration. Email slack@mdcdsa.org with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get Slack access.
DSA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Friday, June 13
5:30pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
6:30 – 10pm | Pleasure Activism 2: Let’s talk about sex (and Socialism)
Saturday, June 14
5:30pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
7 – 10pm | Pack, Party, Pride!
Sunday, June 15
11am | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
2pm | Internationalism Working Group monthly meeting
4 – 6pm | Anti-Imperialist Summer School Week 3: International Finance and Empire
Monday, June 16
5:30 – 7pm | We Power DC White Paper Poster Session
6:30pm | Rockville City Council/Mayor Hearing – Lobby for Rent Stabilization
6:30 – 8:30pm | New Magazine Essays Discussion Club
7pm | Transit WG call
Tuesday, June 17
6pm | NoVA Medicare for All Working Group
9:30pm | Be Prepared, not Scared: undocumented workers rights training (virtual)
Wednesday, June 18
6 – 8pm | MDC DSA 101: New Member Cohort
8:30a | DC budget for workers, not owners rally
Thursday, June 19
6:30 – 8:30pm | NoVA Social Meetup
Friday, June 20
5:30 – 8pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
Saturday, June 21
1 – 3pm | NoVA Coffee Social Meetup
1:30pm | Stomp Out Slumlords TOPA Canvass
5:30pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
Sunday, June 22
11am | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
4 – 6pm | Anti-Imperialist Summer School Week 4: USAID, NED, and the NGO-Industrial Complex
Monday, June 23
6:30 – 7:30pm | Know Your Rights: tipped workers and the service sector
7 – 8pm | DC Abolition Working Group biweekly meeting
Tuesday, June 24
9:30pm | Be Prepared, not Scared: undocumented workers rights training (virtual)
Wednesday, June 25th
7 – 8pm | Repro Justice Campaign Meeting
Thursday, June 26
6pm | Social Housing Organizing Meeting
Friday, June 27
5:30 – 8pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
Sunday, June 29
4 – 6pm | Anti-Imperialist Summer School Week 5 – International Governance and Empire
DMV LEFT BULLETIN
Lunchtime lecture series, “Vietnam Then, Palestine Now: US Subversion of Liberation Movements” | TODAY, June 13, 12pm
Lecture/discussion with Robert Buzzanco, emeritus professor of History, University of Houston and Green and Red Podcast co-host. In person at The Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW, DC 20037 or hybrid (please register to attend virtually or in-person.)
The Palestine Exception documentary screening | New Deal Cafe, June 16
The documentary The Palestine Exception will screen at the New Deal Café, 113 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770 Monday, June 16, 6:30pm. The film depicts the campus protests demanding a Gaza ceasefire, which have triggered an intense crackdown that reveals the “Palestine exception” — a distinct taboo against criticizing Israeli policies. Students and faculty are finding that advocating for Palestinian solidarity results in arrests, suspensions, and firings. Professor Laurie King of Georgetown University leads the post-film discussion. Those unable to attend in-person can register to watch via Zoom.
Rally to End Chronic Homelessness | The Way Home Coalition, June 18
The Mayor’s proposed budget slashes our social safety net and falls short of what is needed—for families and to end chronic homelessness. The Way Home Coalition is rallying in front of the Wilson Building on June 18 starting at 9:30am to invest in solutions to homelessness. Learn more and follow thewayhomedc on Instagram.
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES
ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES are articles and opinion pieces of interest to DMV leftists but not, generally, appearing in local media. They should have links without paywalls. Readers are invited to submit candidates at our tip line.
Tuesday’s lede: David Huerta is free. The Daily Bread is a new labor newsletter for union members and allies across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It [promises to] compile the clips you need to be reading as well as periodic analysis about points of leverage where labor can come together and take action. Thursday, for instance, it reported that behind the Potemkin deployment of troops in L.A., ’Trump’s Labor Department is “reassessing” a 2013 rule that expanded basic protections for home care workers, [via Bloomberg]. The 2013 measure granted home health aides minimum wage and overtime protections — and a rollback or repeal of the rule would impact millions of workers, many of whom are immigrants.’ The Daily Bread is a project of the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and Fair Future Lab. They invite submissions and tips via email. (TX Portside)
The Last Days of Gaza. In a dour report, veteran journalist and reporter Chris Hedges spells out the near completion of Israel’s genocide on Gaza, and the moral bankruptcy that failed to stop it. Although the genocide will eventually end, Hedges concludes, blowback against the imperial system will “echo down history with the force of a tsunami. It will divide us forever. There is no going back.” Hear more from Hedges in an hour-long interview conducted on Hasan Piker’s program last week, which diagnoses the structures of American society and industry that constructed the genocide.
As the challenges posed by reaction mount, the need to understand organizing as a process rooted in building relationships rather than a formula that can be applied anywhere at any time is more important than ever. UAW Organizing Director Brian O. Shepard makes that point in The Art of Organizing — his approach, though rooted in his experiences in the labor movement, is widely applicable.
The on-going movement in Los Angeles against ICE, in solidarity with targeted immigrant movements, is bringing to the fore challenges in building protest movements in the face of growing repression. Marc Cooper, a journalist and activist who served as a translator for Chilean President Salvador Allende, has been reporting on the events on the street. His June 9 article “Protestor Violence in LA” provides a context most media accounts miss. Cooper has been covering almost daily and is worth reading to understand what has been unfolding on the streets.
Despite years of organizing, massive protests, arrests and one death, “Cop City,” in Atlanta is now open and serving as a police training center. Even in defeat, however, there is something to learn especially as the fight in Atlanta is not over. Community organizers Kamau Franklin, Micah Herskind and Marian Parker talked to editors of Prism about the lessons learned along the way. See Policing, Protest and the Future of Atlanta: Inside the Movement Against Cop City.
The flame of thought, the magnificence of art, the wonder of discovery, and the audacity of invention all belong to revolutionary periods when humanity, tired of the chains of its restrictions, shatters them, and stops inebriated to breathe the breeze of a vaster and freer horizon.
–Virgilia D’Andrea
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