In just a few short months, Donald Trump’s return to the White House has become a relentless assault on the very foundations of American democracy. But as alarming as his actions are, what may be even more dangerous is the deafening silence from the Republican-led Congress. This moment will be remembered not only for what was done, but also for what was allowed.
The Constitution was designed to distribute power, not concentrate it. Congress was intended as a co-equal branch of government, with oversight duties as its most sacred responsibility. Yet today, the halls of Congress echo with cowardice. Instead of standing guard, the Republican majority has watched from the sidelines while Trump tears through legal and constitutional boundaries with impunity.
Donald Trump has already fired 17 Inspectors General, the very watchdogs Congress empowered to root out waste, fraud, and abuse. He did so without the legally required 30-day notice or cause. That action is illegal under the Inspector General Act. When a federal judge admitted the firings likely violated the law but hesitated to reinstate the officials, Congress should have responded immediately to assert its authority. Instead, it remained silent.
Trump has issued executive orders that attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship, roll back protections for transgender Americans, and dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal government. These actions are not routine policy changes. They are constitutional torpedoes. Multiple federal judges have intervened and blocked these orders, citing clear violations of the Fourteenth Amendment and federal civil rights laws. Still, Congress has taken no action to oppose or even investigate these blatant overreaches.
Further demonstrating his contempt for legal limits, Trump illegally terminated the head of the Office of Special Counsel, a position that is protected by statute from arbitrary dismissal. A federal court ruled the firing unlawful. Yet, there have been no hearings, no formal inquiry, and no legislative rebuke. It is a disturbing pattern of unchecked executive power.
Perhaps most brazen of all, the administration has chosen to ignore direct court orders by continuing deportations of migrants, even after judges halted such actions. A federal judge is now considering criminal contempt charges against top Trump officials. Despite the extraordinary nature of this crisis, there has been no congressional inquiry, no demand for accountability, and no emergency convening of oversight committees. The response from Congress has been passive silence.
Now imagine, for a moment, that any of this had occurred under Barack Obama, Joe Biden, or even George W. Bush. The calls for impeachment would have been relentless. Conservative media would have declared a constitutional crisis. Lawmakers would have lined up to condemn the overreach. There would have been subpoenas, primetime hearings, and a full-scale legislative offensive. But because it is Trump, Republican lawmakers do not just fail to act. Many actively encourage him. This is not conservative governance. This is complicity in authoritarianism. And history will not forget which leaders folded when democracy needed them most.
The defenders of the Constitution are nowhere to be found. The so-called constitutional originalists have gone quiet now that the very powers of Congress are being stripped away, not by an opposing party, but by a president of their own.
The Founders did not anticipate that every branch of government would always be righteous. But they did count on the people to recognize tyranny when they saw it and to rise in defense of the republic. We can no longer rely on Congress to rein in this president. We cannot trust these lawmakers to uphold the Constitution they swore to defend. That burden now falls squarely on the shoulders of the American people.
We must organize. We must speak out. We must vote with the urgency of those who understand what it means when democratic institutions collapse. Every illegal firing, every unconstitutional executive order, every instance of open defiance toward the courts is not a one-off scandal. Each is part of a broader design to consolidate power, weaken the rule of law, and undermine democratic accountability. Each one has been allowed to proceed, unchecked, by the very body designed to stop it.
If we do not push back now, we will wake up one day to find that we no longer have the tools, the protections, or the freedoms to do so. This is not hyperbole. This is not partisan spin. This is a warning, and it may very well be our last.
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