1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to publicly condemn the racist behavior and constitutional violations coming from the Trump administration and to take concrete legislative action to restore accountability and the rule of law. On February 6, 2026, President Trump posted a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama with their heads attached to ape bodies. After initially blaming a staffer, Trump admitted on Air Force One that he posted it himself and refused to apologize. This is not a minor controversy. It represents a deliberate attempt to normalize racism at the highest levels of government, and it demands a forceful response from Congress. Beyond this moral failure, the administration is systematically violating the Constitution. In Minneapolis federal court, U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell confronted government lawyers about detention practices, and they admitted the administration's surge "outpaced the system's capacity to ensure that the Constitution is being complied with." This is a confession of a detain first, find authority later strategy. Court testimony also revealed that Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino reports not to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem but to Corey Lewandowski, a special government employee with no law enforcement experience. A Marist poll shows 65 percent of Americans believe ICE has gone too far. The administration has also ended the nonpartisan civil service system in place since 1883, stripping protections from 50,000 federal employees despite 94 percent of 40,000 public comments opposing the change. Economic damage is mounting, with 108,435 jobs lost in January 2025, the biggest cuts since the Great Recession in January 2009. Manufacturing alone lost 68,000 jobs despite Trump's promises. A bipartisan group of 27 former Agriculture Department officials warned of widespread collapse of American agriculture, with farmer bankruptcies doubling. I urge you to introduce or co-sponsor legislation restoring civil service protections, ensuring ICE operates under constitutional oversight with clear chains of command, and formally censuring President Trump for his racist conduct. The American people deserve better than this corruption and lawlessness.