Dear Senator Collins,
A fork in the road...It seems so indeed. A non-elected, non-confirmed billionaire seems to be in charge of ending programs that Congress enacted, laying off and firing federal workers, stopping government funding.
What was your job again?
I so fear that our president, twice impeached, felony convicted, provocateur of the January 6th attacks - a man unable to abide by the laws and norms of our country - is now making every effort to seize congress's power and finish consolidating his control over the Supreme Court. There aren't many guardrails left, are there? In spite of the fact that so many of your colleagues loathe the man and his relentless bullying and divisive words and actions, despite many of them having been in the Capitol on the day of his attempted insurrection - fearing for their lives - they seem, from this distance, to have become obsequious court fools to the man, fearful (not without reason, I grant) and enabling.
But again, What is your job?
I've seen quoted in several journals:
"Collins believes that senators should give presidents deference to pick senior executive branch officials as long as they are qualified for the job, according to a source familiar with her views."
While such respect and collegiality are a wonderful intention, I think they must be put in the context of the actual president and his actual intentions and deeds, which really seem to be to seize the government, take over the powers of congress, and bend it all to his whims and pleasures. Freezing funds, firing Inspectors, threatening other countries, the pettiness and cruelty of ending security for his appointees who face real threats because they did what he asked – on and on it goes. You don't have to look too closely to see the ethically challenged merch and crypto offerings that the president uses his office to bolster, reaping huge benefits. He struggled with these ethical issues in his first presidency and has simply waved them by, apparently without challenge.
And, of course, there's Elon...Are you willing to yield your "powers of the purse" and force of legislation to this man?
What is your job again?
So as to the confirmations, please vote against Vought, one of the architects of Project 2025, a man who has written that the president has the power to impound funds authorized by Congress for things he doesn't like or want. No, Congress, however reluctantly these days, controls the purse. Please don't use the "I think he's learned his lesson" to allow Vought to change his mind when in a hearing to get his job. Don't believe it.
As to Kennedy, Patel and Gabbard, NO THANK YOU. As I said in other letters to you "It is sad that the President would pick someone whose only real competence for the position was his fealty to the President, not his abilities, history or experience." Fealty is really the only parameter that the President cares about and he is, as you know, a dangerous man. You know that. You've seen it.
I wake up, afraid, at night, because it seems that we are indeed at a fork in the road concerning our Republic and I don't see Congress doing it's job and am afraid that is has lost that ability. We have serious issues that need work, have spent a generation losing the ability to work together and to see beyond party.
The Constitution set out a deliberate trio of powers that would push and pull and help keep any tyrant or dictator, ideology of creed, from imposing its will on the nation - but it is barely treading water at the moment.
I'm sorry for the length of this letter, but here's one last issue for now. President Trump has ended the Temporary Protected Status of Haitians who were admitted over the last many years because of the terrible civil war, gang violence, poverty and terror that they faced at home. He will send them back to that ever intensifying danger. Who have we become that we would allow that?
Though he mans a firehouse, much of whose contents are outrage and pettiness, it is still your job to speak, to act, to show some signs of life and leadership. Of course, it's not just the Haitian refugee population at risk. It is the hallmark of the bully to pick on those most vulnerable and unable to protect themselves. And then he moves to consolidate the rest under his wings or face the same division and bullying.
What is your job?
I wish you courage and clarity and a full remembrance of where we have been with this president and what's at stake now. I'm sorry to say, I do believe it's your job to stand up against the bullying, the excesses, the cruelty, and the flagrant violations of his oath, our trust, and the future of our freedoms. Don’t allow he and his cronies to steal your jobs, too. It is a time to rally your colleagues from both parties to do your jobs. Please.
