Please Act Now to Stop the Slide Toward Authoritarian Rule

I am writing to you not as a partisan, but as an American who is deeply afraid for our democracy and begging you to do your job before it is too late. On January 8, 2026, President Trump told New York Times reporters that as commander-in-chief, the only limit on his power is “my own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” He further claimed the authority to decide what is legal under international law, suggested he could simply relabel unconstitutional tariffs to evade Supreme Court rulings, and openly floated invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops inside the United States if he “felt the need.” That is not how a constitutional republic works. That is how authoritarian rule begins. No President gets to be restrained only by their own mind. No President gets to decide whether the Supreme Court applies to them. No President gets to redefine laws at will to avoid judicial oversight. And no President should casually threaten the use of the military against the American people. The Founders gave Congress immense power for moments exactly like this. You are not ceremonial. You are not optional. You are not supposed to look away and hope norms survive on their own. You are the check. You are the guardrail. You are the line between democracy and dictatorship. Silence is not neutrality. Inaction is not restraint. Every day that Congress fails to respond forcefully, publicly, and unequivocally, you normalize the idea that the President is above the law. History shows us—clearly and repeatedly—that democracies do not collapse all at once. They erode while institutions hesitate. This is not about liking or disliking Donald Trump. This is about whether the United States will remain a nation governed by laws, courts, and a Constitution—or whether it will become a country ruled by the will of one man. I am begging you: • Reassert Congress’s constitutional authority • Defend the independence of the courts • Reject the misuse of the military for domestic political purposes • Speak out clearly, loudly, and immediately If Congress will not act when a President openly declares that only his own morality restrains him, then when will you? Please choose the Constitution. Please choose democracy. Please act—now.