Don't Tell Us Accountability Isn't on the Agenda

I'm writing about House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' comments that Democrats won't pursue accountability because "the American people don't want us to get even." I strongly disagree, and I want to be clear about where I stand. The damage Republicans have done over the last two years wasn't routine partisan disagreement. It was an assault on the rule of law, our institutions, and ordinary people. Treating it as something to move past treats perpetrators like honorable colleagues. They aren't. Precedents we let slide become permission slips for the next abuse. I also reject the framing that we have to choose between affordability and accountability. That's a false choice, and frankly, an insulting one. Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time. Lower costs for working families and real consequences for lawbreaking are not competing priorities — they're both part of restoring faith that our government works and that no one is above it. Saying otherwise is a loser's mentality, and it's exactly the instinct that got us into this mess. I'll say this plainly: anyone who shares Mr. Jeffries' view is not equipped to lead the House or the Senate. Democrats were just handed a historic mandate, in large part because voters want this era ended and ended with consequence. We will remember who chose to fight for us — and who decided, one day after the election, that fighting was inconvenient. Please stand for accountability. The American people are watching.