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'This Is Not Governance': Ex-Lawmakers Urge Congress to Defend Democracy Against Trump-Musk Power Grab [1]
['Brett Wilkins', 'Brett Wilkins Is A Staff Writer For Common Dreams.']
Date: 2025-03-05 19:16:30+00:00
Dozens of bipartisan former U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday implored members of Congress to "exercise their constitutional authority amid growing concerns that the Trump administration is threatening the system of checks and balances" upon which the nation's political order depends.
"While we represent different political perspectives, we stand united in our conviction that the United States Constitution represents humanity's greatest testament to self-governance," the 60 ex-lawmakers wrote in an open letter that's part of a broader campaign by Issue One, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit seeking to reduce the role of money in politics.
"Article I of the Constitution places Congress at the center of our democracy for a profound reason," the letter states. "The legislative branch was designed to be the primary voice of the people, containing all political viewpoints, not just one. This is why the Constitution grants Congress specific and immutable powers, including the power of the purse—a vital check on executive authority."
Former Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel, ex-House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt & more warn that the executive branch is seizing unchecked power. Read the letter and take action: issueone.org/press/n...
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— Issue One (@issueonereform.bsky.social) March 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
The former legislators noted that the U.S. founders "acutely understood that unchecked power, no matter its source, poses a fundamental threat to liberty."
"But America is suddenly at a perilous crossroads," they warned. "The executive branch must yield to checks and balances. It must not seize for itself—or for any unelected billionaire—powers that defy accountability."
The letter continues:
The challenges we face today are not partisan—they are constitutional. Recent actions taken by certain actors within the executive branch, Elon Musk, and his Department of Government Efficiency, represent an unprecedented challenge to congressional authority.
Musk and his DOGE operatives, many bearing no official government role, have positioned themselves as the final authority on hiring, spending, and governance—without input from elected lawmakers. Even more alarming, these operatives have been granted direct access to federal payment systems, placing Social Security payments, military salaries, and government disbursements under private influence.
"This is not governance," the letter's signers stressed. "This is a direct threat to democratic accountability and the separation of powers that protects the rights and freedoms of all Americans."
"Many of us agree that wasteful spending and burdensome bureaucracy can and should be addressed, but this is not the way to do it," the ex-lawmakers argued. "Congress must not allow their constitutional authority to be usurped."
The letter also voices concern over "efforts to bring independent agencies under the control of the White House, including the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Election Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission."
"These agencies were legally established by Congress to operate independently from the president and implement regulations impartially," the letter's signers said. "If Congress fails to exert their Article I powers, it risks becoming nothing more than a ceremonial body, debating policies it no longer has the power to enforce. This is not a theoretical concern—it is an immediate threat to our constitutional order."
The former members of Congress are calling on current legislators, "regardless of party," to "take immediate action," including:
Launching comprehensive oversight hearings into the unprecedented access granted to DOGE operatives;
Issuing subpoenas for key officials and documents related to DOGE's hiring practices, financial access, and decision-making authority;
Publicly reaffirming Congress' constitutional authority under Article I, and
Rejecting any attempt to shift power permanently into unaccountable private hands.
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