Finding job satisfaction while unemployed

 Dear Senator;

I'm sorry you lost your job responsibilities. But you allowed it to happen. First you said nothing while DOGE fired hundreds of government employees. Now that the government is unfunded, the president is firing even more. You abandoned your right to control the purse strings. It's no wonder the Democrats haven't budged on the shutdown: they can't be certain that the money they voted to spend will actually be spent. Firing employees saves money, but it also keeps government services from being provided. Citizens suffer when governments stop providing services.

You currently control both houses of congress as well as the executive branch. And you've wasted this opportunity by allowing the president to rule by his whims instead of by respecting constitutional norms. Since you have the power, why don't you use it instead of handing it over to the executive branch without a whimper of resistance? 

By doing nothing, what gets damaged? Only the very integrity and authority of the Constitution itself. Earlier in October, the president informed Congress that the United States is at war. Only Congress, not the president, has authority to declare a war, yet you've remained silent as Trump usurps your authority. Worse than silent, in fact. When Democrats put forth a measure to block the president from sinking boats in the Caribbean Sea, the Republicans blocked it. Rand Paul was one of the only two Republican senators supporting the measure. He wondered why we sank boats instead of intercepting them, “If anyone gave a you-know-what about justice, perhaps those in charge of deciding whom to kill might let us know their names, present proof of their guilt and show evidence of their crimes.”

You know even less than names and evidence. You only have the presidents statements that he's going after drug smuggling terrorists. The problem is Venezuela plays a minimal role as a source of smuggled drugs. So why is Trump really sinking Venezuelan boats? Some argue that the president is trying to unseat Nicolás Maduro from power. So why doesn't he say so? Moreover why can't you be bothered to find out what his illegally declared war is really about?

It's a shame that flights are cancelled and delayed because unpaid flight traffic controllers call in sick. You senators do the least you can to end the shutdown while continuing to draw your salaries. Perhaps you should be investigated for impersonating lawmakers.

Quiet quitters of Congress

 Dear Representative;

On three occasions this September, President Trump authorized the sinking of Venezuelan boats. No evidence of drug smuggling was provided. There were no survivors.  In years past we've arrested and prosecuted smugglers, not sunk their boats. Guilt is established in law courts, not by lynch mobs or presidents. Our government has never before behaved like this. America can't be great again by doing what it's never done before. Killing untried alleged foreign criminals is not justice. — It's an act of warfare. Only Congress has the authority to declare war, yet Trump has silently declared war just as you have remained silent instead of confronting him. An unauthorized act of war is essentially murder. By not restraining President Trump, Congress becomes accomplices to murder.

You've also authorized spending and then allowed Trump to withhold it. Only Congress can declare war. Only Congress controls the purse strings. Although you've taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, you've sat by idly when it was violated. Failing to uphold your oath demonstrates an absence of patriotism and a surfeit of self-serving greed. Don't allow your president to bend laws. Either step up or step down.