Hey Congress,

I don’t think you’re safe.

For years, I’ve watched you run the table in politics—legislating new policies, gatekeeping executive appointments, and effectively restraining the other branches of government from doing too much. But now, I think that’s changing. The President is calling the shots. He ignores judicial rulings and influences your fellow congresspeople to speak with his voice. That’s fine for now if you’re part of the in-group, but how long until the party line shifts? How long until you’re on the outside and swept up in even more dramatic changes?

You gave past Presidents the Supreme Court Justices they wanted. Those Justices, in turn, gave the Presidency unilateral powers at the expense of theirs—and yours. Still, you didn’t worry, because when the wrong President was in power, you could just stall their advances until the next election. But with every power you relinquished for whatever gains you sought, you moved headlong into this position where you are now outflanked.

What happens when the Capitol Police stand down while another group of angry Americans storms your halls? Who will you turn to when executive orders become the law of the land, not just its execution? How will the Justices who remain loyal to the Constitution help you when the departments that manage your emails, your infrastructure, and your military are headed by loyalists to this President of the United States? Will you have any real power left?

I am under no delusion that politics is a game. Democracy isn’t an experiment, either. Congress has always been an expression of American pragmatism—a compromise between us and you that lets you govern how you see fit, with us deciding every two years whether to keep you or cut you loose. That deal is going out the door unless you save it. Reassert yourselves as the voice of the American people and cement your authority to balance the powers of the other branches of government—lest you lose it entirely in the coming months and find yourselves jobless, powerless, and at the mercy of an ultimate authority, much like us.

You will not have another chance, and the will of the people will not be strong enough to afford you one.