Letter to the Editor: Congress must remember its oath to the Constitution – not Trump or DOGE
Members of Congress take essentially the same oath that military officers take: “… I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States….” There is no mention of being loyal to a president, much less to a quasi-government organization, such as DOGE. According to Article 1, Section 7, Clause 1 of the Constitution, Congress, mainly the House, has the “power of the purse.” Not the president, not Musk, not DOGE.
Is there fraud, waste, and abuse in the government? Sure. It is a huge business. All businesses have these concerns. But those should be dealt with by the purse holders with the assistance of the now – fired inspectors general and other auditing agencies. Congressional committees can also deal with those concerns. It should not be the role of this so-called DOGE set up by Trump and Musk. The latter was not elected by anyone. He has no background in running a government. His henchmen know even less about the various government agencies or what their employees do. They seemingly just pick a dollar amount and cut. There is no investigation, no public hearing, no accounting effort, and no reasoning behind what they do, or what effects their misguided actions have. There is no accountability for their actions.
Allowing DOGE to do what it has done and continues to do means Congress has failed to “support and defend the Constitution.” Why are they failing? There can be only two reasons. First, they don’t know what they swore or they ignore that oath. Or worse they are afraid to take back their sworn duty because they fear certain repercussions of Trump or Musk: “I will primary you.” In that case, they are cowards. I think many Americans now feeling the negative impacts of DOGE would ultimately support Congress members who push back on DOGE and take back their constitutional power.
Ken Freimuth
Ogden