[1]U.S. Senator Chris Murphy

Something important and unprecedented happened in the Senate this week, and you need to know about it.

My Republican colleagues once again gave up power and weakened our democracy. For nearly all of the history of our country, the Senate has approved executive branch appointments one at a time. Nominees are individually judged and considered.

This week, my Republican colleagues gave that power up in an extraordinary way. They went nuclear — changing the rules of the Senate unilaterally without a single Democratic vote.

Under their new rules, with a single vote, the Senate can confirm 50, 100, or even 1000 Trump nominees at once. This obliterates our role to advise and consent.

History teaches us that one of the ways democracies evaporate is with the subjugation of the legislative branch. In healthy democracies, the legislature sees itself as a check on runaway power. In disappearing democracies, the legislature is merely an arm of the executive.

And this isn’t the first time Republicans have voluntarily bent the knee to the executive. Republicans are letting Trump seize congressional spending power — canceling or freezing $400 billion of money that was appropriated with bipartisan votes. They are blocking oversight over his corruption, while he and his family have personally made $3.4 billion off of the presidency.

They look the other way when he breaks the law. They grant his request to consolidate power without thinking.

None of this is normal. If Republicans continue to view themselves as Trump's employees, instead of an independent branch charged with checking runaway executive power, the damage to our democracy will be fatal.

We are watching a slow-motion, daily assault on democracy. Institutions are shuttering dissent. The judiciary is becoming a mechanism to harass and imprison his opponents. The media is making deals with Trump to silence his critics.

But we cannot give up. That is what Trump wants. We must continue organizing and demanding my colleagues rise to the challenge of protecting our democracy.

That’s why my American Mobilization Project is so important. We are investing in citizen-led organizing and building an effective grassroots opposition to Trump’s corruption.

If you can, please consider making a donation to support these efforts. It would mean a lot to me. Every dollar will be put to work right now — before it is too late — to fight back.

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Every best wish,

Chris
 


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