The Spinelessness of Thune and Johnson Is Destroying American Democracy
GOP leaders in Congress are assaulting the Constitution by dismantling the separation of powers in favor of limitless presidential authority indistinguishable from monarchy or a dictatorship of Der Fuhrer.
Dear Majority Leader Thune and House Speaker Johnson:
Under your leaderships, the wholesale surrender of constitutional powers of Congress to the White House has been appalling. You both took oaths to defend and preserve the Constitution under Article VI. In violation of your oaths, you are destroying the Constitution by dismantling the separation of powers—a structural bill of rights to arrest executive tyranny—in favor of limitless presidential authority indistinguishable from monarchy or Der Fuhrer.
You cannot claim ignorance. Among other assertions and actions, President Donald Trump proclaimed on July 23, 2019, “Then I have Article 2, where I have the right to do anything I want as president.” If there were any doubt about Mr. Trump’s belief in lawless presidential omnipotence, it should have been dispelled by Mr. Trump’s skepticism about honoring his oath of office on May 4, 2025. During an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Trump was questioned about a potential mass deportation program. When Welker asked, “Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Trump responded, “I don’t know.”
Would you have acted as Mr. Trump has as president of the United States? Can you accept behavior that you would not tolerate if you occupied the White House?
On your watch, Congress has surrendered the war powers to Mr. Trump. It has surrendered the power of the purse to Mr. Trump. It has surrendered the treaty power to Mr. Trump. It has surrendered the oversight and confirmation powers to Mr. Trump. It has surrendered the power to legislate to Mr. Trump, including limitless discretion to jettison his constitutional obligation to take care that the laws be faithfully executed instead of being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Mr. Trump’s refusals to enforce the congressional ban on TikTok, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the federal prohibition on extortion, the Anti-Deficiency Act, the Hatch Act, or the Leahy Amendments are some examples of his serial violations of law. Indeed, Mr. Trump has turned the United States into a police state in which any criticism of his stewardship of our liberties is treated and prosecuted as a felony.
You both have idled as Mr. Trump has flouted the Domestic and Foreign Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution, putting the White House up for auction and lately, unlawfully paying for a giant ballroom with private contributions. You both have acquiesced while Mr. Trump has daily flouted the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and association, pressing to make American journalists echo chambers of his administration in the manner of Russian President Vladimir Putin and RT and Radio Sputnik.
Would you have acted as Mr. Trump has as president of the United States? Can you accept behavior that you would not tolerate if you occupied the White House?
You have turned Congress into a laughingstock as the Invertebrate Branch. We have no confidence that you will respond to our constitutional peril by impeaching and removing President Trump from office. Your entire careers betray the treacherous earmarks of the “summer soldier and sunshine patriot” as historians will highlight.
On July 4, 1776, nearly 250 years ago, the 56 signatories to the Declaration of Independence signed their death warrants to secure unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness under attack by King George III and his powerful military forces. President Trump has bested the King’s tyranny. He is exercising the power to assassinate any person or organization on the planet as a putative enemy of the United States. Trump’s assassinations may have started with suspected drug traffickers. His dress rehearsal was assisting Israeli assassinations throughout the Middle East. Mr. Trump has articulated no limiting principle that would preclude assassinating political opponents, active or retired, including Members of Congress. “Immunity, immunity, immunity,” in the words of Justice Sonya Sotomayor dissenting in Trump v. United States (July 1, 2024). The only uncertainty is where Members stand in the queue, unlessimpeachment is forthcoming by Congress without tarry.
The lament of Pastor Martin Niemöller, inaudible during the rise of Hitler, should awaken you from your cowardly complacencies:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Sincerely,
Bruce Fein
Ralph Nader
Lou Fisher
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