1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

A Commander-in-Chief is dismantling our military leadership in the middle of a war, while his ally in Moscow arms the enemy shooting at our troops. This is not a political moment. This is an American emergency. I am demanding you act. The purging of our senior military must stop. President Trump has fired over a dozen decorated, battle-tested generals and admirals — including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first female Chief of Naval Operations, the first female Coast Guard Commandant, and the director of the National Security Agency — with no justification offered to Congress or the American people. Five former Secretaries of Defense, spanning both parties, have called these firings what they are: a dangerous politicization of the military that strips away legal constraints on presidential power. These were not performance failures. These were loyalty purges. Right now, American paratroopers and Marines are deployed in the Middle East. They are under fire. And while they serve, their chain of command is being gutted — generals removed mid-conflict, replaced by political loyalists who in some cases do not even meet the legal qualifications Congress requires. Those are someone’s children. Someone’s parents. Someone’s spouse. They deserve a functioning, experienced command protecting them — not one hollowed out to satisfy a political litmus test. This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. Every gold star family, every veteran, every active duty service member belongs to this country — not to any party. And right now this country is failing them. Russia is arming our enemies, and the President looks the other way. While Trump softens sanctions and embraces Putin, Russia is providing Iran with the precise locations of American warships and aircraft — confirmed by The Washington Post. Russia is supplying Iran with weapons, fighter jets, and missile components. A Houthi procurement network buying arms directly from Russia has been sanctioned by our own Treasury Department. Putin is not a partner. He is fueling the war being fought against our service members, and the President of the United States is protecting him from consequences. When a president weakens his own military from within, while his foreign ally strengthens the forces killing Americans from without — that is a betrayal of his oath of office. There is no partisan lens through which that is acceptable. There is no party platform that justifies it. The pattern is undeniable. The moment for excuses is over. We have watched allies abandoned. Institutions gutted. Truth discarded. Enemies flattered and friends humiliated. We have watched this Congress give ground again and again, hoping for a moment of good faith that never comes — because it was never coming. Donald Trump has shown us, repeatedly and without apology, who he puts first. It is not Americans. It is not our troops. It is not this country. The evidence is no longer ambiguous. The only question that remains is whether you will continue to look away. History will not be kind to those who knew, and said nothing. It will not forgive those who had the power to act, and chose their party instead. Every concession made to this moment has cost us something we cannot get back — credibility, safety, lives. There is nothing left to give. There is no more benefit of the doubt to extend. This is the moment that defines you. I am not asking you to oppose your party. I am asking you to defend your country. I am asking you to remember that your oath — like theirs — was to the Constitution of the United States, not to any man, movement, or political survival. I demand you: 1. Hold immediate hearings requiring the administration to justify every military firing in writing, and block nominees who do not meet congressionally mandated qualifications. 2. Pass binding legislation to protect the independence and legal standards of senior military command from political interference. 3. Publicly condemn Russia’s weapons and intelligence support to Iran and the Houthis, and demand a forceful administration response. 4. Stop enabling silence. If you will not speak when American troops are in the field and their commander is serving another master — when will you? The men and women in uniform are doing their part. They are in the field. They are in harm’s way. They are keeping their oath. Now keep yours. Before it is too late.