1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

2025 was a year of rapid and catastrophic expansion of the Executive branch's power. The United States of America was not designed for one person to hold this much governmental power- there are supposed to be checks and balances. A tripod is more stable than a staff, and Congress and the Supreme Court were always meant to check the Preaident's power so we didn't end up with a monarch or a despot. Since Trump has stacked the court with justices who are either beholden to him or who bring their far-right political and religious ideologies into their rulings, one leg of the tripod has retracted. Our Republican-led Congress was notoriously, humiliatingly silent as he expanded his power, often unconstitutionally. Trump has discovered an act is only illegal if someone stops you, and the people who are meant to do that have instead enabled and assisted him in nearly everything he's done over the last year. I call on Congress to remember your constitutional duties, to step up and fulfill your obligation to the citizens who elected you, and rein in his unchecked power so the governmental branches can begin functioning properly again. Please don't let 2026 be a repeat of 2025- I don't believe our way of life will survive another year like this one.