The actions of the Trump Administration in the last three weeks can only be described as dictatorial and authoritarian. Every day, nearly every hour, there is some new action or executive order that makes a mockery of the rule of law and the Constitution itself.
This weekend, Vice President JD Vance posted a statement saying that judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power. That is a complete affront to the system of checks and balances inherent in our Constitution. The independent judiciary acts as a check on executive overreach. In the United States, we appeal rulings we disagree with—we don’t ignore court orders or threaten judges with impeachment when a ruling doesn’t go our way.
I want to be as direct and clear as I can be. There is an undemocratic administration in power, and they appear hellbent on undoing 250 years of adherence to the rule of law in this nation. This is an incredibly dangerous moment, made even more so if people don’t understand what is happening. There is an ongoing coup against the Constitution of the United States happening as we speak.
Congress authorizes the work of federal agencies and allocates funding to them. The elected representatives of the people are supposed to exercise oversight to ensure these agencies operate within the bounds of the law, serve the public interest, and are held accountable for how they use taxpayer dollars. But today, Congress is nowhere to be found. Donald Trump has seized the power of Congress and handed it to an unelected billionaire and a group of teenage hackers. The richest man in the world is now running roughshod over the authority of federal agencies, violating the rule of law and the Constitution.
Republicans hold majorities in the House and the Senate. They could pass the administration’s policies through Congress and send Trump legislation to sign. But they know the American people don’t support what’s happening. They don’t support eliminating the Department of Education. They don’t support canceling funding for law enforcement and public safety. They don’t support cutting healthcare funding. So instead, Donald Trump has decided the Constitution doesn’t matter and has handed power to Elon Musk to do whatever he wants—without accountability, without oversight, and without the consent of the people.
The way we make change in this country is through the law—either in the courts or in Congress. But when those processes are undermined, when the rule of law is ignored, manipulated, or twisted to serve the whims of an unelected billionaire, it is an assault on the very foundation of our democratic republic.
In every case we have brought against the Trump Administration so far—from birthright citizenship to the illegal spending freeze—we have blocked the president’s lawless actions. I will continue to challenge the illegal actions of the Trump Administration in court, and we will continue to win. But it is time for every American patriot to stand up, speak out, and defend our democratic processes. The moment we allow them to be eroded is the moment we risk losing the freedoms and justice they were built to protect, and that countless Americans have fought and sacrificed to defend.