Letters to Senator McCormick beginning in Spring 2025, list with the most recent letter first. Most of these letters address threats to our system of checks and balances, and to the general rule of law.
July 16
I have my doubts that the Senator will do what is right and reject the nomination of Emil Boves to the Appeals Court of the Third Circuit. I understand the vote is tomorrow, Thursday July 17. But I feel the need to testify that his actions are being followed by his constituents.
Mr. Bove is a Trump loyalist, not an advocate of the court. At a minimum, the Senate should have investigated reports that he told his DOJ attorneys to say “f* you” to the courts in the immigration litigation fiasco, violating the judiciary’s duty to protect due process.
Senators have six-year terms so that they may take the long range view, and to protect them from immediate political pressures. Senator, show some integrity and some courage. Protect our constitutional order. Don’t let President Trump get any further in transforming our nation of laws into a Trump fiefdom.
I say this as a believer in our system of governance, and as a lifelong Independent voter.
Don’t Senators take an oath to protect the Constitution? Don’t you have any reservations about Mr. Bove.
For your reference, I cut and paste the oath, taken from the U.S. Senate website. Please fulfill your attested duty.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
July 9, 2025
Senator McCormick is responsible, as a member of the Republican caucus, for this administration’s multiple infringements on our civil liberties. I am frustrated and so deeply disappointed that the Senator and his Republican colleagues have acquiesced to President Trump’s seizure of executive power to corrupt our governing institutions.
I am a lifelong Independent, so please don’t discount my view here as some leftie rant. I won’t go through the list. The latest outrage I’ve encountered is the posting of federal agents in a city against the wishes of the local authorities. Whatever argument you may make about the original justification, the situation now is that ICE agents are not needed in L.A., and the mayor wants them out. BUT in response to Mayor Karen Bass’s statement that they need to leave now, El Centro Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino told Fox News at the beginning of this week, “Better get used to us now, because this going to be normal very soon.”
This is not a local issue. It is real. Just wait and you’ll see the Trump administration finding a justification for sending federal troops to Philadelphia.
Senator, shame on you for betraying the Constitution.
Congress needs to assert itself in defense of liberty, not a Trump fascist dictatorship.
What are you going to do about it?
May 28th, regarding the House Bill #1
Can the Senator explain whether or not this section in the House passed budget bill is illegitimate, and a derogation of Congressional authority to the Executive? This seems to be, and is being publicized on social media, as a Congress giving the Executive complete power to ignore the Judicial. Doesn’t this represent a violation of the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances?
Taken from the HOUSE website, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text,
SEC. 70302. RESTRICTION OF FUNDS.
No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce
a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or
temporary restraining order if no security was given when the
injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date
of enactment of this section.
May 1, 2025
Senator McCormick.
In his executive order of March 13, President Trump mandated the reduction of support for the Institute of Museum and Library Services to the bare minimum allowable by law. See the American Library Association website explanation of the impact of this executive order:
https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls
President Trump is trying to dismantle so many of the institutions that support our democracy that it is hard to pick just one to stand firm on. So far I have been disappointed so far, Senator, in your office’s boilerplate responses to my communications. So, to anticipate your unsatisfactory response, yes, I agree that it is important to bring efficiency to our federal government and work to the same in areas that the federal government funds. But it seems clear that efficiency is not what President Trump is about, so giving lip service to noble intent is worse than disingenuous.
Senator, where do you stand? My understanding is that Congress intended to help fund libraries as a primary institution supporting democracy and quality of life in the United States. Local governments can and do support libraries. Is the federal government saying it has no interest in supporting them? As a senator, you are positioned to help reassert Congress’s interest in funding essential public services. Please take a stand and reverse President Trump’s destructive actions.
I am an independent voter who in deciding who to vote for looks to the character of candidates and the quality of their policies.
April 2025
What can the Senator do to counter President Trump’s outrageous violations of our system of government? He is targeting freedoms of speech in education and the press, extorting Washington law firms, reneging on government contracts based on Congress’s funding decisions, and creating a culture of fear due to his weaponizing every instrument of government he can think of. Do I really need to cite examples? His actions are brazen.
Any voice of opposition is quickly made the target of the federal government’s significant powers of coercion by cutting off Congressionally approved funding, restricting access to the White House or security clearances, revoking visas, enabling civil rights violations by our federal law enforcement personnel. Make no mistake, the federal government is becoming a terroristic organization against American citizens. These truly are high crimes and misdemeanors. Won’t the Senator work against this threat to our precious heritage of a government of laws?
We didn’t elect President Trump so that he could turn our government into one big instrument for grift and power mongering. He is undermining what has made America great.
You should add a topic “democracy” or “ethics in government” to collect your constituents’ concern about President Trump’s corruption of government. Please, please honor your pledge to uphold the constitution and work against his malevolent machinations. Don’t let him bankrupt our institutions of government.
Perhaps the Senator can begin by joining with his fellow representatives to reassert Congress’s Article 1 prerogatives .