Power to the People News — March 20, 2026
March 20, 2026: Power without accountability — abortion, ICE, and the courts. Power to the People News from People Power United.
When Power Abuses, the People Respond
This week's stories share a single spine: what happens when power operates without accountability — to law, to the courts, or to the people it is supposed to serve. From a deputy attorney general burying a federal investigation and surveilling legislators, to ICE declaring a court settlement "not applicable," to eight people convicted of terrorism for the color of their clothing, the pattern is consistent: institutions are not just bending the rules — they are declaring openly that the rules no longer apply. The costs land where they always do: families dropping Medicaid to keep disabled children safe, a nine-year-old with autism in a detention cell, and reproductive rights dismantled through federal legislation and mislabeled ballot measures. And yet resistance persists — in senators forcing the DOJ to answer, in 22 states suing to protect patient data, in Kansas organizers who beat this before. The question before us is not whether the damage is real — it is who will organize to stop it.
📰 Stories Shaping Power to the People Right Now
🕵️ DOJ Blocking Epstein Files & Surveilling Congress Deputy AG Todd Blanche — Trump’s former personal attorney — personally intervened to stop the DEA from releasing an unredacted 69-page Epstein investigation file. Senators Wyden and Whitehouse allege the DOJ is hiding files in a “black box” and surveilling legislators who try to view them. Bloomberg
💰 Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act Senators Whitehouse and Representative Ro Khanna reintroduced a 50% tax on war-inflated oil profits, returning money to families via quarterly rebates. Gas prices have jumped from $2.94 to $3.84 since the war began. The Guardian
⚖️ Equal Tax Act: Make Billionaires Pay Like the Rest of Us Senator Markey introduced legislation ensuring investment income is taxed at the same rate as wages — closing loopholes that let billionaires pay lower rates than nurses and teachers. Common Dreams
🌍 Democrats Shifting on Israel Ahead of 2026 Democratic candidates are facing voters increasingly critical of unconditional military aid to Israel. AIPAC has spent nearly $14 million targeting four Illinois House races alone. Gov. Newsom used the word “apartheid” to describe West Bank policies. NPR
💊 Hawley Bill Would Revoke FDA Approval of Mifepristone Senator Hawley introduced federal legislation directing the FDA to withdraw approval of mifepristone — used in more than half of all U.S. abortions and in miscarriage care — making its distribution a federal crime. Truthout
🎭 Kansas Republicans Disguise Personhood Amendment as “Equal Rights” Bill SCR 1623 would amend the Kansas Constitution to grant rights “beginning at conception” — but is labeled an “equal rights amendment” in official documents. Kansas voters rejected a nearly identical measure 59-41% in 2022. Truthout
👶 900+ Children Held Illegally Past 20-Day Limit Over 900 children were detained past the Flores Settlement limit; ~270 for over 40 days. A 9-year-old with severe autism spent 80 days in custody while an ICE officer told his father the settlement “is not applicable.” NBC News
⚕️ Medicaid Data Is Now a Deportation Weapon Following a December ruling, Medicaid can share enrollees’ immigration status with ICE — with no restrictions in 28 states. Families, including a mother of a child with Rett Syndrome, are dropping coverage to avoid detention. 22 states have sued. NPR
✊ Wearing Black to a Protest Is Now a Terrorism Conviction Eight people were convicted of material support for terrorism for attending a July 4th ICE protest in black clothing. Only one person fired a weapon. The AG promised more prosecutions. The Intercept
⚖️ Judge Orders ICE to Restore Right to Counsel in Minneapolis A Trump-appointed federal judge ruled ICE “all but extinguished” detainees’ right to counsel during Operation Metro Surge — flying people to Texas within hours, blocking attorney visits, and pressuring detainees to sign removal forms without lawyers present. The Guardian
💥 Your Power in Action: What You Can Do Today
Take action: Tell Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution and stop Trump’s illegal war in Iran
📢 Take action: Submit an official comment rejecting the criminalization of dissent
💸 Take action: This Tax Day, tell Congress to tax the rich and make life more affordable for working people and families
🗳️ Take action: Tell Congress to stop the SAVE America Act and defend the right to vote
🪖 Take action: Tell Congress to stop Trump from sending American troops into Iran and vote no on the draft
🛑 Take Action Now: Tell Congress: Block the $10 billion scam to fund Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace
🗳️ Bonus action: Register to vote, vote in every election, and help your community do the same. Reproductive freedom is won and lost at the ballot box.
👑 Bonus action: Sign up for the next national No Kings Day of Action and show up in solidarity with everyone whose rights are under attack.
The movement for progress and power to the people starts here.
🔥 What Comes Next: The Work Is Ours
This week’s stories are not eleven separate events. They are one story told eleven ways — about what it costs when power goes unchecked. A deputy attorney general surveilling the senators who dare to ask questions. ICE agents telling a father, to his face, that a court order no longer applies. Eight people convicted of terrorism for wearing black to a protest. Medicaid data turned into a deportation weapon. Reproductive rights dismantled through federal legislation, mislabeled amendments, and quietly rewritten medical law. The throughline is always the same: the people who bear the cost are never the people who made the decision.
And yet the resistance is working. Senators Wyden and Whitehouse are forcing the DOJ to answer publicly for its surveillance. Twenty-two states are in court fighting to protect patient data. Kansas organizers beat a personhood amendment before — by 18 points — and they are ready to do it again. A Trump-appointed judge ruled that ICE “all but extinguished” the right to counsel and ordered it restored. None of these are final victories. But all of them prove that accountability doesn’t disappear — it gets organized back into existence. Show up. Stay in. The work is ours.
Together, we can champion our rights, freedoms, and democracy, hold our leaders accountable to the people’s will, and inspire voters to make a meaningful difference.
Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests) Leader, People Power United
People Power United | In this community, we will always speak out against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, ageism, ableism, sizeism, elitism, transphobia, misogynoir, and bigotry!
This is our moment to rise, resist, and reclaim our rights, freedoms, rule of law, and democracy. Millions of Americans are already refusing to back down — in the streets, at the ballot box, and in their communities.
Every movement that was ever won started with people who refused to quit. We are those people.
The future is not lost. It is being built — by us, right now.