Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Congress: Do Your Job

Congress: Do Your Job
white concrete building during daytime

One of President Trump’s 111 record-setting executive actions, 25 proclamations, and 27 memoranda called for election security. Our 535 congressional delegates should have initiated such an action, but didn’t. Seeing Trump 2.0 in action, Congress should have clarified the meaning of the Alien Enemies Act, but they didn’t. The list goes on regarding Congress’s inaction.

Since Jan. 20, Congress has only managed to pass a limited number of bills. Given the critical issues facing our country, it’s not surprising that only 27 percent of Americans approve of Congress (Feb. 3-16 Gallup poll).

The Trump administration is well aware of our do nothing Congress and is testing the waters to see how far they can go even when many actions are alleged to be illegal and/or anti-constitutional (witness 162 lawsuits against Trump 2.0 since Jan. 20). So far, Mr. Trump is not worried since Congress has been sitting on their duff watching chaos and uncertainty reign with small business owners, corporate CEOs, 340 million citizens and all of our heretofore allies.

With our do-nothing Congress and Mr. Trump, Elon Musk, JD Vance, and 15 Cabinet members ripping apart our federal agencies, it’s no wonder a majority of Americans believe we’re in a Constitutional crisis (Economist/YouGov polling).

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Trump has already fulfilled his presidential campaign promise to prosecute his rivals, punish critical media, limit citizen’s free speech rights, pardon over 1,500 Jan. 6 convicted criminals – who assaulted 140 Capitol police officers -- and fire ~54,000 civil servants, which came straight out of the right-wing extremist Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 playbook for Trump to implement.

It’s time to suggest some actions our 535 Congressional representatives should take to preserve our democracy. In a Jan. 30 article in Emissary, titled “Congress can check the president on foreign policy-even under Trump,” the following were among several recommended actions:

First, Congress should clarify that the 1807 Insurrection Act does not authorize the president to use the military to enforce immigration laws.

Secondly, Democratic members of Congress should support Republican members of Congress when they oppose unproductive or dangerous executive orders of President Trump. As one example, they should explicitly support traditional Reagan-like GOP Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Lyndsey Graham (S.C.), John Thune (S.D.), and Mike Rogers (Mich.), who support the role of foreign aid (i.e., USAID). USAID is the foremost tool of American soft power, counter terrorism, and bolsters food security and public health in 160 countries. Trump has abolished 83 percent of USAID’s contracts and $50 billion in humanitarian assistance worldwide.

Other suggestions our do nothing Congress should do to preserve our democracy came from three AI-powered internet search engines (i.e., Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity). Some suggestions include:

  • First, and of paramount importance, under federal law, Congress can cancel national emergencies declared by the President. On April 2, Trump imposed tariffs on 184 countries, saying there was a national emergency and that he was invoking his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The conservative-based Wall Street Journal editorial board took a swipe at Trump by stating “Trump’s tariffs are no emergency” and the law “doesn’t give him power to impose sweeping tariffs.” Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz stated that “virtually all economists” believe Trump’s tariff policy will harm the U.S. and global economy, citing inflationary effects and reduced economic growth (The Century Foundation). Hence, Congress: do your job.
  • Secondly, Congress should pass legislation to limit executive powers.
  • Third, Congress should pass anti-corruption legislation to impose stricter financial disclosure requirements on elected officials.
  • Fourth, while it cannot directly limit the President's constitutional pardon power, it should pass laws to regulate the process surrounding clemency petitions and consider any other constitutional issues.
  • Fifth, Congress should pass laws strengthening the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens’ freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and right to petition the government.
  • Sixth, Congress should investigate any member of the federal government who violates the Hatch Act, enacted in 1939, to ensure the non-partisan administration of federal programs, protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit, not political affiliation.
  • Finally, Congress should advocate for judicial authority to issue nationwide injunctions against unconstitutional executive actions.

If registered voters continue to see that Congress is not doing its job, remember that 435 Representatives can be replaced come November 3, 2026. Thirty-three of the Senate seats will also be up for grabs; 13 currently held by Democrats and 20 held by Republicans.

And of course, take action. If you are reading this op-ed in digital form, forward it to your Senators and Representative, or simply print it and send it to your most favored legislator at the U.S. Capitol (Senate zip code 20510 and House zip code 20515). Or, call your Congressional delegates (Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121) with a simple message: do your job.

Steve Corbin is a Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Northern Iowa.

Read More

Innovative Local Solutions Can Ease America’s Housing Crisis
aerial photography of rural
Photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

Innovative Local Solutions Can Ease America’s Housing Crisis

Across the country, families are prevented from accessing safe, stable, affordable housing—not by accident, but by design. Decades of exclusionary zoning, racial discrimination, and disinvestment have created a housing system that works well for the wealthy but leaves others behind. Even as federal cuts to public housing programs continue nationwide, powerful, community-rooted efforts are pushing back and offering real, equity-driven solutions led by local voices.

Historically, states like New Jersey show what’s possible when legal advocacy and grassroots organizing come together. In 1975, the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel ruling established that every municipality in the state has a constitutional obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing. This landmark legal ruling reshaped housing policy and set a national precedent. Today, organizations like Fair Share Housing Center continue to defend and expand this right, ensuring that local governments are prohibited from using zoning laws to exclude working-class families or people of color.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump Welcomes Salvadoran President, Continuing To Collaborate With Far-Right World Leaders

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House April 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump Welcomes Salvadoran President, Continuing To Collaborate With Far-Right World Leaders

WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would try to deport “as many as possible” immigrants or criminals to El Salvador. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele met with Trump at the White House to discuss the ongoing deportations of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador’s notorious Center for Terrorism Confinement (CETOC).

Trump has now deported 238 individuals to El Salvador under the 1879 Alien Enemies Act without notice or due process of law. President Bukele has agreed to help Trump with his deportation goals and received $6 million from the White House to continue these efforts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Quiet Death of Dissent
woman in black hijab holding white and black printed board
Photo by Justin Essah on Unsplash

Quiet Death of Dissent

There is something particularly American about the way we're dismantling our democracy these days – we are doing it with paperwork. While the world watches our grand political theater, immigration agents are quietly canceling visas, filling out deportation orders, and reshaping the boundaries of acceptable speech without firing a single shot.

I think about Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate who committed no crime beyond speaking his mind. I think about Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts whose academic career hangs by a thread. I think about the estimated 300 international students whose visas are under review or already revoked for daring to participate in First Amendment exercises on campus across the United States. These stories are not just about immigration status but about who is American enough to participate in its democracy and under what conditions.

Keep ReadingShow less
hundred dollar bills.
Getty Images, boonchai wedmakawand

Congress Bill Spotlight: Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about but that often don't get the right news coverage.

Trump reportedly tips his Mar-a-Lago groundskeepers with $100 bills. What if his own face appeared on them?

Keep ReadingShow less