1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

You are our duly elected representatives, whether by vote or by vacancy appointment. Each of you have taken a solemn oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. So have your brothers and sisters in 49 other states. Your oath of office is not in service of one man. Your oath office is not in service of partisanship. Your oath of office is not in service of falsehoods and treachery. Your oath of office is in service to the Constitution, and by virtue, in service to the people of this nation. Right now, President Trump is usurping all authority over the Executive Branch of our government. It will befall our beloved republic and lead inexorably to its destruction. He seeks imperialism and isolationism. He is fighting our friends abroad by punishing them with self-flagellating tariffs. He is palling around with our autocratic adversaries, namely China and Russia, as a means of emulating their oppressive regimes in our own land. He is dismantling our long-held institutions of government for the benefit of oligarchs and the private sector’s un-quenching thirst for money. He is shunning our allies and strategic partners. All this in the name of power unto himself. Our democracy is on death’s doorstep. Don’t you see it? Wake up! It’s happening right here, right now, just two weeks into his presidency. If you don’t see it, then open your eyes. If you don’t hear it, then unplug your fingers from your ears. Don’t you dare sew your mouths shut! You are duty-bound to speak on our behalf and not to show complacency to a despot. This must be done without hesitation or equivocation. You embody our third branch of government. Act like it! Embrace being a check and balance on the president. Enact meaningful legislation—guardrails so to speak—against the president’s actions thus far, what he seeks to accomplish, and what is yet to come. Don’t abdicate your sworn duties to serve and to defend the people! Because if you do, you will be held personally responsible for kneecapping the legislative branch and our constitutional form of governance in its entirety, either by being complicit with the executive branch or by yielding the hammer to hostile forces in the executive branch hellbent on striking us all down. I implore you to act while there’s still time. Do it swiftly, in service to the Constitution and to the people.