On Feb. 14, 2025, the 105th anniversary of its founding, The League of Women Voters of the United States of America sent a letter to Congressional leadership regarding the organization’s grave concern over the state of our nation. In this letter, the League urged Congress to exercise its authority to protect the rule of law, defend the constitution and end the overreach that the Executive Branch has been asserting.
Our government was designed with a system of checks and balances. This system aims to ensure that no single branch of government or individual can gain too much power. The three branches of our government have distinct powers and responsibilities. Each needs to do its job for the checks and balances to be effective.
A quick refresher course in U.S. government: The executive branch (President & administration) enforces the laws, the legislative branch (Congress) makes the laws and the judicial branch (courts) interprets the laws. The separation of power prevents any one branch from becoming too powerful. When you have branches not fulfilling their obligations, the government becomes weakened. It also becomes a government not responsible to its citizens.
The following is an excerpt of the letter sent to Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives). To read the entirety of the letter go to: LWV.org
“The League is a 105-year-old nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to ensure that everyone is represented in our democracy. We are a grassroots organization comprised of over one million members and supporters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands, with more than 700 local and state Leagues.
“The League uses advocacy, education, litigation, and organizing to achieve our mission to empower voters and defend democracy. We base our work on our policy positions developed out of multi-year studies and derived through consensus by League membership to ensure our advocacy reflects best practices and a nationwide perspective.
“So far, the League has seen limited action or response from members of Congress to assert its constitutional authority under Article I to protect our system of checks and balances, the rights of Americans, or democracy itself. Congress must do its part to ensure that our great democracy is preserved and safeguarded.
“The outcry by Americans who are speaking out against the impact of the Executive Orders, including those who voted for President Trump, should be all that is needed for Congress to stand in its authority, legislate on behalf of the American people, and restore stability to the country.”
The letter goes on to lay out the ways in which our checks and balances are not being exercised. Our democracy is stronger when all branches of government function as our constitution intended. We need to hold our elected officials accountable to the job they have been elected to.
If these checks and balances are bypassed or ignored the potential for power to be amassed by another branch of government becomes a reality.
