Congressional Republicans have proven themselves unworthy to govern

Opinion>Opinions - Campaign The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill Congressional Republicans have proven themselves unworthy to govern Comments: by Svante Myrick, opinion contributor - 08/10/26 10:30 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Svante Myrick, opinion contributor - 08/10/26 10:30 AM ET Comments: Link copied Title: Congress Iran War Powers Image ID: 26176666811448 Article: FILE - Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., heads to a closed-door Republican policy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Title: Congress Iran War Powers Image ID: 26176666811448 Article: FILE - Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., heads to a closed-door Republican policy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE – Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., heads to a closed-door Republican policy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Public service is a privilege that comes with the responsibility to govern effectively within the boundaries established by our Constitution and laws. Congressional Republicans have proven themselves unworthy of the majorities they won in 2024. The coming midterm elections will give voters a chance to hold them accountable for their failures.

Our constitutional form of government was designed with built-in checks and balances to prevent the rise of a tyrannical leader. But congressional Republicans have abandoned that important role. Rather than act as an independent branch of government, they have acted as if their primary duty is to carry out President Trump’s dictatorial demands and protect him from any real oversight or accountability.

That includes the unanimous vote by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance the nomination of Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, to be U.S. attorney general — even after Blanche engineered the most corrupt deals imaginable. He was involved in the deal to create a slush fund to reward Trump’s allies and to give Trump and his family and their businesses legal immunity from on tax issues going forward.

Every Republican on the committee backed Blanche, even though he has presided over the administration’s illegal stonewalling on the Epstein files. They backed Blanche even though he has overseen the destruction of the Justice Department’s credibility with the federal courts through lying and prosecutorial misconduct related to Immigration and Customs Enforcement brutality against immigrants and their supporters.

It would only have taken a few Republican senators to prevent Blanche’s confirmation and reject this travesty of justice — at a time when many Trump voters have come to realize that the president puts a higher priority on enriching his family and friends and building monuments to his own vanity than to helping American families struggling to get by. Instead, Blanche’s confirmation serves as confirmation of the Trump regime’s utter corruption of the Republican Party.

The endorsement of Blanche’s wrongdoing and enabling of Trump’s corruption are parts of a larger pattern of congressional Republicans failing the American people.

Perhaps the most consequential legislation passed by the 119th Congress was the horribly misnamed “One Big Beautiful Bill.” It extended massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans while cutting funding for food assistance programs that provide a lifeline to our most vulnerable. More than 4.5 million people — including at least 1.5 million children — have lost food assistance while congressional Republicans look away.

Trump and his allies in Congress are clearly attuned to the needs of the Epstein class. The president recently bragged about a friend who used a Republican tax provision to buy a private plane he didn’t really need but could write off thanks to the big bad bill.

At the same time, Republicans killed a tax credit that made health insurance more affordable for working families, leading millions of people to drop their healthcare coverage and take chances with their families’ health.

Taken together, Republican budget policies and Trump tariff shenanigans could leave 70 percent of American households with the lowest incomes worse off, while funneling money to the top 1 percent. It’s Robin Hood in reverse.

That kind of irresponsible governance explains why Trump is so unpopular, why many Trump voters have lost faith in him, and why polls suggest that more Americans will vote for Democrats this fall.

It helps explain the appeal of progressive candidates who have been winning elections with truth-telling about the Trump regime and calls for a government that works for all of us, not just the Mar-a-Lago set.

Trump and his team see the same polls. Trump is terrified of a Congress that might actually hold him accountable for his lawbreaking and corruption. That’s why they’re so intent on interfering with the elections to make it harder for millions of people to vote.

There’s no telling what extremes Trump will be willing to resort to if he feels his back against the wall — especially since the Supreme Court majority has basically given him a green light to abuse his power without worrying that courts will hold him accountable.

That’s why we the people must hold him accountable. We must hold his congressional enablers and collaborators accountable. We must do everything we can to mobilize voters this fall — and to protect our elections from every corrupt scheme Trump and his supporters can come up with to try to stop Americans from exercising their right to steer our country toward a better future.

Svante Myrick is president of People For the American Way.