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Guards stand next to the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.Credit…Ron Edmonds/Associated Press
To the Editor:
The preamble to the United States Constitution teaches us that among the foundational goals of the American government was to “promote the general welfare.” The Trump administration and Congress have lost sight of that straightforward guiding principle.
The administration now demolishes foundational institutions; cruelly disregards human needs; betrays long international alliances; unconstitutionally attacks lawyers, universities, medical researchers and public servants based on personal vendettas; rejects science; and dismantles the extraordinary tapestry of services that have benefited our country and the whole world.
But, equally disturbing, Congress supinely surrenders its role as a coequal branch of government.
The Senate has confirmed patently unfit and dangerous nominees for leadership roles and abdicated its authority over irrational tariffs that already wreak international and domestic havoc.
Not a word is heard about the grotesque due process violations of shipping immigrants off to foreign jails — or about indiscriminate disregard for citizens’ basic privacy rights and government employees’ union contracts and expertise, as the Trump-Musk administration eviscerates institutions that may be imperfect but have generally served our people well.
Do any of these ongoing predations “promote the general welfare”? Can’t our representatives, at least, do better than this?
Terri E. Simon
Scarsdale, N.Y.
The writer is a retired lawyer.
To the Editor:
Re “The Fight Against Trump Isn’t Yet a Movement, but It’s Starting to Gain Strength” (news article, May 2):
I’m heartened by the voices rising to oppose the Trump administration’s assault on democracy, decency and functional government. Next, these voices must converge.
