In a few weeks, government funding will expire. This is not a routine vote. It is a decision about whether Congress will continue financing a government that President Trump has turned into an instrument of personal power and profit, or whether you will draw the line.
The facts are plain. Independent officials have been removed for releasing information the president disliked. Prosecutors and inspectors general have been pushed out for doing their jobs. Federal Reserve governors have been threatened. Masked federal agents patrol American streets without identification. January 6 rioters have been pardoned, while the lawyers who prosecuted them have been dismissed. At the same time, the Trump family has profited from foreign deals, crypto ventures, and lavish gifts, with the president’s personal wealth doubling in a year.
This is not government serving the people. It is government used as a weapon against critics and a business for personal enrichment. Continuing to fund it without conditions risks normalizing behavior that endangers democracy itself.
I understand that a shutdown carries risks. But complicity is worse. Sending taxpayer dollars to underwrite authoritarian practices tells the public there are no limits. At minimum, a funding vote should insist on protections that uphold accountability and the rule of law.
The principle should be simple: government must serve the American people, not one man. That means ensuring independent watchdogs and prosecutors can do their jobs without retaliation. It means preventing agencies from being hollowed out for political gain. It means stopping the use of unmarked federal agents in our streets. And it means making clear that foreign governments cannot buy influence by enriching the president’s family.
This is not just a matter of principle. Corruption affects everyday life. It drives up the cost of health care and prescriptions. It makes housing less affordable. It tilts the economy toward the powerful and away from ordinary families. When government is rigged for the few, the many pay the price.
Our tax dollars should not be used to undermine democracy. At the very least, it should: restore funding for key programs the poor rely on, including Medicaid, SNAP, education, and USAID. It should not be used to support unidentified, masked agents in terrorizing immigrants and citizens. It should not be used for invasions of U.S. cities. And it should not be used to further enrich the already rich, the key budgetary item leading to unprecedented budget deficits.
I urge you to stand up, draw the line, and refuse to be complicit.
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