To The Reader’s Forum::

Article 1 of the US Constitution defines the structure and responsibilities of Congress. It is the first section after the opening preamble which starts, We the People. Contrary to popular mythology, the three branches are not meant to be coequal; Congress was always meant to be first among equals.

Congress has the power to hire and fire officials of the other branches through the confirmation and impeachment processes. Congress is explicitly given the authority to tax and spend, write and enact laws, ratify international treaties, and declare war. The country’s founders always intended for the branch that is closest to the people to be the most powerful of the three.

Sadly, over the years, Congress has ceded more of its responsibility and power to the executive. We are now at a point in our history where the executive has become authoritarian. “I run the country and I run the world’, Trump has recently said. That can only be true if Congress and the courts do not, as the founders intended, check his unconstitutional power grab. Congress needs to reassert its authority.

I can think of no more pathetic display of subservience than Speaker Johnson. When challenged by a reporter that he had ceded too much authority to the president, Johnson disagreed then said, “If it gets close to where the imbalance is there, then we would step in. But I think the first protocol, to be very frank, is I would call the president and talk with him about that and tell him our concerns.”

What is he waiting for? President Trump is shredding the Constitution.

In his first 100 days, Trump has:

– Openly defied judicial orders, including directives from the Supreme Court

– Repeatedly ignored the first principle of law, due process, through his civil service firings and illegal deportations

– Violated the 1st Amendment by banning books and threatening, then suing, news outlets over coverage he does not like

-Violated the 14th Amendment’s equal justice clause by having the Justice Department investigate his political enemies

-Violated Section 1 emoluments clauses by establishing a crypto coin allowing anyone to funnel money to him anonymously.

I ask again, Speaker Johnson, what are you waiting for?

With Trump openly defying the courts and the Congressional Republicans showing nothing but cowardice, the only short-term option for patriotic Americans is open defiance of the Trump Presidency. The only longer-term action is a new Congress with a Democratic majority. That is, if the tyrant allows us to vote in 2026.

Tom Meara

Jamestown