How To Call Your Senator, House Rep: Best Ways To Contact Congress During First State Work Week Since Donald Trump Took Office

After an eventful first month under President Donald Trump, all of Congress has headed back to their respective districts and presented an opportunity for constituents with every viewpoint and opinion to thoroughly voice their support or opposition to the new president’s policies and actions of late in an effort to alter the future of the country.

Whether you are happy or unhappy about the Trump administration’s handling of a particular issue – the immigration ban and other executive orders, job growth, the Mexico border wall, foreign policy, treatment of the media, you name it – the week of Feb. 21 to 24 has become the best time every year for Americans to reach out to their elected officials in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Given Congress’ ever poor approval rating, as well as Trump’s, it was possible members have opened their ears and minds to more suggestions or concerns from constituents. As of last month, only 19 percent of Americans polled approved of Congress’s work compared to 76 percent who disapprove, Gallup’s results showed. Meanwhile, through Trump’s first month in office, he has averaged a 43 percent approval rating and from Feb. 6-12 he averaged only 41 percent, each historically low numbers for a new commander-in-chief.

Many reports have suggested the best way to reach your district or state’s rep is to call their offices. But to be clear, reaching out to their local district offices, rather than in Washington D.C., was viewed as the most distinctive way to make your elected official hear your voice. Specifically, when contacting a local office and correctly identifying yourself as a voter in the district, the elected official's staff must take down your information.

Admittedly, many Americans did not know who or were not sure exactly how to reach their representatives. That was easily remedied through several websites. The House of Representatives has a directory that allows voters to punch in their zip codes and find their district and then elected official.

The independent government watchdog group ovTrack was also an excellent source. It can allow you to search its database to find your Senator and Representative and also see what legislation they have sponsored, a helpful tool to find where they have recently or in the past stood on various issues.

For example, if you were a voter from Arkansas, you can simply select the state and find that Republicans John Boozman and Tom Cotton are your officials in the Senate. You can click on either’s bio and find links to their official websites, Twitter handles and how much fundraising they’ve and who’s donated to their campaigns via OpenSecrets.

Each official’s website should include phone numbers for the local district office. A call to them was the strongest way to voice opinions and possibly sway their governing.