An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
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Current Issue
Authoritarian Watch
/ January 30, 2026
An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
For the good of the country, it’s time to cross the aisle.
Sasha Abramsky
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Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY).
(Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
To: Senators Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul and Representatives Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Thomas Massie
For the past year, the seven of you have been rare voices of opposition from within the Republican Party to many of President Donald Trump’s power grabs. You have critiqued his inflammatory language and expressed concern at the extremist behavior of many of his appointees.
As the author of this weekly “Authoritarian Watch” column, however, it strikes me that your verbal opposition is not enough. In this moment of national trauma, the most effective action you could do to curb the excesses of the Trump regime is to cross the aisle.
Current Issue
February 2026 Issue
So long as your Republican colleagues control the investigative and financial levers of government, Trump will continue to tear apart the country’s social fabric and demolish the pillars of governance that make a functioning democracy possible. In your hearts, you surely must realize this. But if you join the Democrats—not because you agree with all, or even most, of their policies, but because you understand the existential threat to democracy that Trump represents—you could change the political landscape of this country and prevent Trump’s nightmarish dreams from becoming reality. Yes, you might lose your seats to a primary challenge should you do so—but you will be remembered in history for standing up to nascent tyranny.
I say this without hyperbole: The president is unbound and, you must have noticed, increasingly unstable. Trump is exhibiting megalomaniacal tendencies on the international stage that have fractured the post–World War II Western alliance and rules-based global order. The United States has become a rogue state.
Domestically, Trump is attempting to use overwhelming force to break the resistance of ordinary residents in Minneapolis. It’s arguably the first time since the Civil War that the federal government has defined a major city as being a hub for “the enemy within.” Trump’s hard-right henchman Stephen Miller has even demanded that local and state law enforcement in Minnesota “surrender” to the feds, as if he were a commander in a new civil war.
Can you honestly say that the daily imagery of federal agents beating, tear-gassing, macing, and shooting civilians—all the direct consequence of Miller’s …
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An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
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Current Issue
Authoritarian Watch
/ January 30, 2026
An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
For the good of the country, it’s time to cross the aisle.
Sasha Abramsky
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY).
(Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
To: Senators Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul and Representatives Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Thomas Massie
For the past year, the seven of you have been rare voices of opposition from within the Republican Party to many of President Donald Trump’s power grabs. You have critiqued his inflammatory language and expressed concern at the extremist behavior of many of his appointees.
As the author of this weekly “Authoritarian Watch” column, however, it strikes me that your verbal opposition is not enough. In this moment of national trauma, the most effective action you could do to curb the excesses of the Trump regime is to cross the aisle.
Current Issue
February 2026 Issue
So long as your Republican colleagues control the investigative and financial levers of government, Trump will continue to tear apart the country’s social fabric and demolish the pillars of governance that make a functioning democracy possible. In your hearts, you surely must realize this. But if you join the Democrats—not because you agree with all, or even most, of their policies, but because you understand the existential threat to democracy that Trump represents—you could change the political landscape of this country and prevent Trump’s nightmarish dreams from becoming reality. Yes, you might lose your seats to a primary challenge should you do so—but you will be remembered in history for standing up to nascent tyranny.
I say this without hyperbole: The president is unbound and, you must have noticed, increasingly unstable. Trump is exhibiting megalomaniacal tendencies on the international stage that have fractured the post–World War II Western alliance and rules-based global order. The United States has become a rogue state.
Domestically, Trump is attempting to use overwhelming force to break the resistance of ordinary residents in Minneapolis. It’s arguably the first time since the Civil War that the federal government has defined a major city as being a hub for “the enemy within.” Trump’s hard-right henchman Stephen Miller has even demanded that local and state law enforcement in Minnesota “surrender” to the feds, as if he were a commander in a new civil war.
Can you honestly say that the daily imagery of federal agents beating, tear-gassing, macing, and shooting civilians—all the direct consequence of Miller’s …
An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
Who's accountable for the results?
Log In
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Password *
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Forgot Your Password?
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An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
Magazine
Newsletters
Subscribe
Log In
Search
Subscribe
Donate
Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
Newsletters
Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
Authoritarian Watch
/ January 30, 2026
An Open Letter to Congressional Republicans of Conscience
For the good of the country, it’s time to cross the aisle.
Sasha Abramsky
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY).
(Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
To: Senators Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul and Representatives Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Thomas Massie
For the past year, the seven of you have been rare voices of opposition from within the Republican Party to many of President Donald Trump’s power grabs. You have critiqued his inflammatory language and expressed concern at the extremist behavior of many of his appointees.
As the author of this weekly “Authoritarian Watch” column, however, it strikes me that your verbal opposition is not enough. In this moment of national trauma, the most effective action you could do to curb the excesses of the Trump regime is to cross the aisle.
Current Issue
February 2026 Issue
So long as your Republican colleagues control the investigative and financial levers of government, Trump will continue to tear apart the country’s social fabric and demolish the pillars of governance that make a functioning democracy possible. In your hearts, you surely must realize this. But if you join the Democrats—not because you agree with all, or even most, of their policies, but because you understand the existential threat to democracy that Trump represents—you could change the political landscape of this country and prevent Trump’s nightmarish dreams from becoming reality. Yes, you might lose your seats to a primary challenge should you do so—but you will be remembered in history for standing up to nascent tyranny.
I say this without hyperbole: The president is unbound and, you must have noticed, increasingly unstable. Trump is exhibiting megalomaniacal tendencies on the international stage that have fractured the post–World War II Western alliance and rules-based global order. The United States has become a rogue state.
Domestically, Trump is attempting to use overwhelming force to break the resistance of ordinary residents in Minneapolis. It’s arguably the first time since the Civil War that the federal government has defined a major city as being a hub for “the enemy within.” Trump’s hard-right henchman Stephen Miller has even demanded that local and state law enforcement in Minnesota “surrender” to the feds, as if he were a commander in a new civil war.
Can you honestly say that the daily imagery of federal agents beating, tear-gassing, macing, and shooting civilians—all the direct consequence of Miller’s …
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