1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

We must not allow President Trump to disregard the Constitution by attempting to dismantle the Department of Education. Allowing the Chief Executive to usurp Congress’ sole Constitutional power of the purse by ignoring clear constitutional limits and fundamental principles such as the separation of powers is akin to Congress allowing President Trump to seize power with an authoritarian coup. Our founders placed clear limits on the executive branch to prevent constitutional crises like the moment we’re living in. President Trump is ignoring Congress’ power to create agencies, delegate power to agencies, and oversee the ways and means by which those agencies are to operate. That is the rule of law. President Trump is also blatantly violating one of the foremost principles of our democratic republic—the separation of powers. I’m a lawyer myself, so I know our constitution well and its history. The concept of judicial review—the concept in which our judicial branch has the sole authority to interpret the law and dictate its interpretation to the executive and legislature—was established in 1803 by Chief Justice Marshall. President Trump is clearly exceeding his legal authority and acting unconstitutionally by disregarding the authority of the judicial branch. Perhaps this was the Republican Party’s intent all along, to overtake all three branches of government and cede all authority to the executive branch. The Republican Party’s actions—and moreso its inactions—are creating a constitutional crisis and placing the fate of our nation in perilous and uncharted waters. Many of our past presidents have acknowledged the most important office that they held was that of a citizen. In that tradition, I must implore you to see reason. Many believe that courage is measured by how easily one stands up to their enemies, but the truth is that courage is best measured by how one stands up to those they know. I know for a fact that many republicans are criticizing President Trump’s actions in private and calling out his brazenly unconstitutional seizure of power from both the legislature and judiciary. But I also know that you and your colleagues are afraid of facing our president’s wrath for speaking up for our country and our constitution. I ask that you find courage, remember your oath to our country and our Constitution, and hold those oaths above your own political ambitions and your family’s own financial security. If you and your colleagues cannot sacrifice your own ambition for sanity, reason, our Constitution, and your fellow countrymen—we are doomed to repeat the mistakes that Germany learned from third reich, and our country will suffer all the more for it. Again, I implore you to see reason, to uphold your oath to our Constitution, and prevent President Trump’s blatantly unconstitutional seizure of power from both the legislature and the judiciary.