1. United States
2. Vt.
3. Letter

Please don’t vote in support of Republican’s six-month spending bill. Congressional Democrats have only a few key leverage points this term, and this bill is one of them. Supporting the Republicans’ proposal without any conditions on reining in Donald Trump’s flagrant lawlessness or restoring Congress’ power of the purse is absolutely unacceptable. The position your Minority Leader, Senator Schumer, has taken is an abdication of responsibility, and completely out of line for this moment. Are we in a “constitutional crisis” or not? If we are — and I do believe that we are — then we should not be supporting the people who are shredding our system of governance. The American people need a strong opposition party to stand for democracy and to get creative and assertive in standing in the way of Trump and DOGE. So far, the Democratic response has been weak and scattered and, honestly, just embarrassing. There’s a reason the Democratic party’s favorable numbers are so low. Please oppose this funding bill. Use your leverage to take a stand on core values and good governance.