1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

You need to act against two direct attacks on democratic accountability happening right now. The White House blocked CNN from the Air Force One press pool — a pool CNN was scheduled to provide television footage for — simply because Trump doesn't like the coverage. That's not a media dispute. That's a president deciding which journalists get access based on whether they flatter him. At the same time, the administration is refusing to spend $810 million that Congress appropriated on a bipartisan basis for health research and programs serving immigrants and minority communities. The GAO is unambiguous: these "pocket rescissions" are illegal. The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, not Russell Vought. Senator Patty Murray put it plainly — "your votes don't count, and your laws are optional." That should alarm every member of Congress regardless of party. Speak out publicly against both of these abuses. Push for oversight hearings. If Republican colleagues promised they'd never let a president seize Congress's spending authority, hold them to it. A free press and a functioning legislature aren't partisan issues — they're the floor.