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The degree to which the country is at risk from such a president cannot be overstated in a time as rife with threats and challenges as this. Other than removing him from office for high crimes and misdemeanors for his abuses of power or finding him so incapacitated as to invoke the 25th Amendment, evidence of what we long suspected — that Trump is personally incapable of defending our democracy against a potent foreign threat — should inform how members of Congress and executive branch employees conduct themselves.

First, upon leaving the administration, each and every senior official or other percipient witness to Trump’s conduct owes the country the benefit of his or her observations. Congress must demand briefings with such individuals to get a full accounting of how the president behaves and what dangers they see flowing from his self-delusions.

Second, the Senate must exercise extreme care on confirmations of top national security officials. Now is no time to give the president’s political enablers top jobs or to put minimally qualified people in office. Every senator voting on a top official’s nomination must ask: “Can this person be trusted to stand up to the president, and if need be, alert Congress to an impending disaster?”

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Third, Congress wherever possible should curtail the president’s executive discretion on matters of national security. Conservative hawks will be understandably loath to do so — I’m loath to recommend it. But Congress is now operating under extraordinary circumstances that require some extraordinary measures. When it comes to sanctions or certifying compliance with the Iran deal or other international agreements, Congress should relieve the president of the burden of decision-making.