Dear Colleague,

President Trump’s emergency declaration proclamation undermines the separation of powers and Congress’s power of the purse, a power exclusively reserved by the text of the Constitution to the first branch of government, the Legislative branch, a branch co-equal to the Executive.

I write to invite all Members of Congress to cosponsor Congressman Joaquin Castro’s privileged resolution (text attached) to terminate this emergency declaration using the termination mechanism within the National Emergencies Act (NEA), which will be introduced Friday. The House will move swiftly to pass this bill, reporting it out of committee within 15 calendar days and considering it on the Floor within 3 calendar days following that, pursuant to the NEA. After House passage, the resolution will be referred to the Senate and then sent to the President’s desk.

All Members take an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution. The President’s decision to go outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process violates the Constitution and must be terminated. We have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution, and defend our system of checks and balances against the President’s assault.

Please contact Ben.Thomas@mail.house.gov in Congressman Castro’s office if you agree to cosponsor or have questions. The deadline to be an original cosponsor of this resolution is Thursday, February 21 at 3 p.m. EST.

Thank you for your immediate consideration.

best regards,