What are you planning to do to protect our Constitutional Republic from the egregious efforts of President Trump and Elon Musk to tear it down?
As a Congressperson, you appropriated the people’s money for programs and staff benefitting all Americans, all of which you now abandon.
We citizens see DOGE for what it is, a demolition of institutions which have provided needed aid and service to all Americans. We see the Executive Branch taking over independent agencies created by Congress to act without political bias, to provide needed services to the American people. We see that the firing or forced resignations of thousands of federal workers is devastating to their families but also the small businesses which have sprouted up to support these workers, their families, and their community. DOGE came in with a chainsaw on their first day and started purging organizations and institutions without any knowledge or expertise of their function, so this purge was without serious consideration of efficiency. As a Congressperson, you appropriated the people’s money for programs and staff benefitting all Americans, all of which you now abandon. You are complicit in the harm done to our great nation.
Let’s quickly review your ascent to the Senate. You ran for the Utah State Senate as a Democrat in 2000, losing to Curt Bramble. From 2002-2003, you served as vice chair and chair of the Utah County Democratic Party. You served as Mayor of Provo from 2010-2017 when you were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, serving until your election to the Senate in 2025. I am not saying you are a “closet” Democrat, as some have accused you in the past. I believe you wanted elected office, and the best chance in Utah was to run as a Republican. Here’s a linked reminder of how troubled you were that you may not fit into the Elephant Club. You made it. Congratulations for knowing how to maximize your opportunities. I realize your sense of opportunity in public service means you have to play along to fit in the big boy's club. However, you still have the opportunity to choose to use your life’s work with honor, integrity, and courage.
I digress. Now you are a U.S. Senator, duly elected and sworn to the sacred oath of defending our Constitution and the Republic for which it stands. This means not surrendering Congressional power, the wealth of a nation, to the often arbitrary and capricious whims of one man. Are you up to the task?
The agencies Trump is effectively destroying, such as USAID, are created by Congress for very good reasons. Eliminating all foreign aid is a goal of Russ Vought, Director of the OMB and co-author of the Heritage Foundation’s guide to authoritarian rule, Project 2025. You voted for Mr. Vought, You are complicit in the damage he is doing.
Independent agencies are being swooped up into Executive control. You are allowing them to be run by one man to satisfy the aspirations of a small group of oligarchs to assume undemocratic domination of our politics, economics, and culture. Stripping CDC of its responsibilities to efficiently monitor disease, ordering a disengagement with WHO (World Health Organization) to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, defunding the NIH (National Institute of Health), the continuing attacks against vaccine safety, destroying the independence of the FEC (Federal Election Commission) and the Security and Exchange Commission, dissolving the Consumer Protection Bureau - these and countless other attacks are not about improving government efficiency. They are about tearing down the independent institutions that safeguard America’s health, our freedoms, our rights. These tactics to force undemocratic control by oligarchs are well known. This is the canary in the authoritarian coal mine.
You voted to confirm some of the worst, most unqualified cabinet appointees, all nominated because of their loyalty to Trump. It’s hard to imagine foreign intelligence services trusting the U.S. with Tulsi Gabbard at the helm. She is not only unqualified, she is a danger to American and allied security. You know, as most other Senators know, Gabbard is loose with intelligence, all fearing her willingness to leak critical information to our adversaries. The harm done could be horrific. I realize Elon Musk, the primary billionaire oligarch, stated he would spend untold millions against those who opposed Gabbard. I also understand your need to fit in with the boys. You can explain to your grandchildren, as an old man with a cane and poor eyesight, why your opportunity for success was worth giving up their country for an angry song.
You voted for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for HHS. He “promised” you he wouldn’t downplay vaccines. As soon as he took office, he targeted the CDC and other health organizations over, yeah, vaccines along with other necessary health advocacy. Kennedy has no background in health care unless you count the bizarre conspiracy theories he’s advocated and spread. Many people have died because of his ignorance and maliciousness. This isn’t about efficiency. It’s about dismantling our necessary institutions.
You voted for Kash Patel for FBI Director, a clear violation of your own conscience because he is not, and will not, keep the FBI neutral in politics. He’s made it clear he intends to use the FBI to target dissenters, to turn the FBI into a monstrosity that would make J. Edgar Hoover blush. The recent appointment of far-right podcaster Dan Bongino as Deputy Director highlights the future direction intended for the FBI. Neither is qualified for their jobs, so this isn’t about efficiency. It’s clearly about politically weaponizing the premier law enforcement agency of our country. You helped make sure this happened.
Hitler’s dismantling of German democracy took 53 days. He was able to do this using many of the same techniques used now. Timothy W. Ryback, an historian who has written extensively on Hitler’s Germany, gives a great description in how Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days. Hitler forced through the Enabling Act which allowed him to rule by decree, bypassing the Parliament. You are allowing Trump to rule by decree, abdicating your constitutional responsibility to the harmful whims of one man.
Surrendering your Constitutional control is dangerous on its face. Trump has his cabinet of loyalists in place and states a willingness to bypass any guardrails established by Congress and the courts. He is already doing untold harm to millions of Americans and people of the world largely uncounted. We can’t count on the courts to stop him without the help of Congress. What are you doing to mitigate the damage he is doing to American communities throughout the country? What are you doing to stop the hostile takeover of our democracy?
As a younger man aspiring to high office such as a Senator, I’m guessing you asked yourself what you would do in a political situation such as what we’re facing in our country. In 1933 Germany, Hitler forced the Reichstag to surrender absolute power to him, something you’re actively doing by your votes and nonaction. Will it continue? If you never asked yourself, I recommend reading On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder to understand how your actions are playing out in Trump/Musk efforts to dismantle the American Republic. If you asked yourself what you would do as a high elected official to stop tyranny in your country, you can stop asking. You are failing us now.
Frank Brannan is an active citizen concerned about the future of our democratic republic. He is a father and grandfather concerned about the future we are leaving our coming generations.
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