Congress Must Reassert Article I Authority Against the Rolling Coup

Stop the rolling coup. Congress must reassert its Article I authority over emergency powers, military deployment on U.S. soil, and the Office of Legal Counsel's ability to rewrite statute by memo. This is not hyperbole — it is the documented architecture of authoritarian consolidation, built piece by piece while Congress watches. NPSM-7 designates Americans with disfavored political views as counterterrorism targets, with no statutory authority whatsoever. A $12.5 billion FBI Joint Mission Center is now tracking thousands of U.S. citizens and nonprofits on a secret watch list. ICE detention capacity is being expanded by 265% — $45 billion for facilities that former House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt and former Senator Tim Wirth warn are being built as prisons for political opponents. The White House has refused to rule out lethal force against Americans designated as domestic terrorists. The Commander of U.S. Northern Command said he would "definitely" execute orders to apply that authority on American soil. Each step has been framed in national security language. Each has been met with congressional silence. That silence is now indistinguishable from complicity. The oath you took was to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is the moment that oath demands action.