1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I need you to change how you question witnesses in Congressional oversight hearings. What I watched during the recent Hegseth hearings was theater, not testimony. Cabinet officials are dodging questions, deflecting, and lecturing instead of answering directly. This has to stop. When a witness gives a non-responsive answer, pause the hearing. Ask them directly: "Do you understand you are testifying under oath today? Yes or no." Follow up: "Do you understand you work for the American people, your salary is paid by taxpayers, and you are obligated to answer my question directly and truthfully? Yes or no." If they still refuse, turn to the chair and request they remind the witness that refusal can result in contempt of Congress. Then repeat your original question. These officials work for us. We pay their salaries. Lying to Congress, misleading Congress, or refusing to answer without valid legal privilege are crimes. The witness's job is simple: listen to the question, answer the question, move on. This is not about politics. This is about the basic architecture of American self-government. Ultimate authority flows from the people, not from the President or any political party. Hold these hearings like the formal legal proceedings they are, not like press conferences for grandstanding.