Another question that historians will attempt to answer will be: How was it that Republican members of Congress allowed Trump to run unchecked through the Constitution? Why did they abandon their oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”?

Over the past few weeks, I have placed several calls to the office of Rep. Blake Moore, who represents the citizens of Utah’s 1st Congressional District. Very nice people have answered the phone and have assured me that Rep. Moore shares the concerns of the citizens of Utah. When I question why we have not heard from Rep. Moore, why has he not spoken out, they assure me that a statement is coming. But a statement never comes. So, in the absence of anything to the contrary, I am left to conclude that he supports what Donald Trump is doing. Let’s review some of those actions.

Just a few hours after taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, Trump issued a full pardon to the almost 1,600 people who were indicted and/or sentenced in relation to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. This included those who destroyed or damaged government property, those who took over congressional offices and those who pursued elected members of Congress. Further, it included all those that brought firearms, knives, hatchets, pepper spray, baseball bats and other weapons to the Capitol grounds, which were used to attack and beat uniformed officers. A total of 138 officers were injured and 15 were hospitalized. One officer died the day after the attack and four officers subsequently died by suicide. We have all seen the videos: officers beaten with fire extinguishers, beaten with a flagpole and crushed against the doors. Trump pardoned them all, calling Jan. 6 a “day of love” and the perpetrators “hostages.”

And what does Moore think of this? Apparently, he supports it, because he has said nothing to suggest otherwise. Think of it — our elected representative, whose job it is, as a member of Congress, to be a check on presidential power, remains absolutely quiet. His office told me that he had serious concerns and a statement would be forthcoming. That was weeks ago. Silence since then. We are left to conclude that Moore supports the pardons, that he is not concerned about attacks on our nation’s seat of government and that the attacks on the officers were justified. Otherwise, he would have said something.

On Dec. 6, 2024, it was announced that Moore had been appointed co-chair of the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus, to work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. (Yes, it is confusing.) At that time, Moore said, “With the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, we have a great opportunity before us to identify areas of government inefficiency, cultivate a solutions-first approach to our challenges, and reform our systems to better steward our resources and serve the American people. I am honored to Co-Chair the DOGE Caucus with Congressman Aaron Bean and Congressman Pete Sessions, and alongside Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, President Trump, and our Senate partners, we will make America efficient again.” (See blakemoore.house.gov). At the same time, according to the Desert News, Moore indicated that as a non-congressionally approved body, Musk’s DOGE will have advisory but no policymaking authority.

How things have changed. Since that time, Musk has given what appeared to be the “Heil Hitler” salute on the evening of the inauguration and endorsed the far-right AfD party in Germany, telling them that “they are the best hope for Germany” and urging them to forget the sins of the past. (This occurred two days prior to International Holocaust Remembrance Day.)

Further, Musk and his DOGE team, along with Trump, have terminated thousands and thousands of federal workers, shut down agencies and stopped the distribution of congressionally approved funds. In addition, Musk and his DOGE team have gained access to sensitive Treasury Department data, including the payment system (which disperses government funds) and taxpayer records, Social Security numbers and banking information of millions of Americans. This week, they headed for the IRS, where they will gain access to all of our tax returns. This is just a sampling of what he and his team has done — without any congressional approval or oversight.

Surely, Moore has spoken out against this, right? In a district with as many federal workers as the 1st? Well, in response to my questions, the nice person on the phone said Moore has serious concerns and, wait for it, he would address it soon. But he never did. In fact, I have only seen two comments. One was Moore joking (yes, joking) about the entire thing at the Washington Press Club Foundation dinner. Again, according to the Desert News, Moore said, speaking of the Republican Party, “We took the Senate, we took the White House, we took Elon from y’all. For crying out loud, we even took a Kennedy.” (Apparently, Moore is anti-vaccination as well.)

According to his own newsletter, at a recent town hall in Kaysville, Musk and what he is doing was very much on people’s minds. In the newsletter, Moore stated, “My big takeaway was that there is a lot of frustration regarding the rhetoric toward and vilification of the federal workforce. The First District has one of the highest numbers of federal workers in the nation and that is something I very much appreciate and value.” So did he address it? Did he call out Musk? Did he promise to do all he can to hold him in check? After all, he is the vice chair of the DOGE caucus. He should have a voice, right?

No, he did not. He never mentioned Musk. He said, “I understand their frustration,” followed by, “this will be a period of angst and even contention.” Not very reassuring to the thousands and thousands of federal workers in this district and to the hundreds of thousands of his constituents, whose personal information is now in the hands of Musk and his army.

So what do we conclude? Well, in these two examples, Moore’s silence indicates support for the pardons and empathy for those that attacked the officers. In the case of Musk, his silence indicates support for a man who has demonstrated sympathy for neo-nazism and who has acted without congressional or constitutional authority to do irreparable harm to agencies and individuals. For someone in his position, silence is complicity.

The issues of our time transcend political parties. It is not about Republicans or Democrats. It is about standing up for right in the face of what is wrong. For our elected representatives, it is about showing political courage and doing the right thing, no matter the consequences. In the case of Moore, the record shows he is, sadly, lacking that political courage.

Michael Bowcut is a resident of Pleasant View.