Open Letter to Republicans in the 120th Congress
An Open Invitation to Republican Members of the 120th Congress: Why Accountability Is a Conservative Cause
By Corey J. Biazzo, Esq., Biazzo Law Government Oversight Program · November 8, 2026
To the Republican Senators and Representatives who will serve in the 120th Congress: congratulations. Whether you are returning or newly elected, you were chosen to represent all of your constituents, and I write with respect for that trust.
I also write to the voters who sent you there, including the millions of MAGA voters who believe deeply in this President, and to every American who simply wants a government that follows the rules. This is not a letter about which party wins. It is about whether the Constitution keeps working for all of us. Country over Party. Patriot over Partisan.
In short: On November 3, 2026, voters chose divided government. The 120th Congress, which convenes January 3, 2027, has a clear mandate to restore Congress's constitutional role as a check on the executive branch. That work cannot succeed, or last, if only one party does it. Republican members have every reason to join: the powers at stake (war, spending, tariffs, subpoenas) belong to Congress as an institution, not to a party. Defending them protects the rule of law, national security, and the economy, and it binds future Presidents of both parties. Our free model bills, investigative plans, and legal research are available to every office, Republican and Democratic alike.
Key fact | Detail |
120th Congress convenes | January 3, 2027 |
Election result | Voters changed control of both the House and the Senate |
Votes to override a veto | Two-thirds of each chamber, about 290 House members and 67 Senators at full attendance |
Votes to end a Senate filibuster | 60 |
Reforms already with Republican sponsors | ARTICLE ONE Act (Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Chip Roy); Trade Review Act of 2025 (Sen. Chuck Grassley with Sen. Maria Cantwell) |
Historical precedent | In 1974, 7 of 17 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted for at least one article of impeachment against President Nixon |
Our proposed effective date for reforms | January 20, 2029, so they bind the next President of either party |
Cost of our materials | Free to any office |
What mandate did voters give the 120th Congress?
Voters cast ballots for many reasons, and for many families the cost of living mattered most. The new Congress owes every family real, bipartisan relief on groceries, housing, health care, and gas.
But voters also chose divided government, and that choice carries meaning. Over the past two years, federal courts, including judges appointed by Republican Presidents, ruled repeatedly against executive actions on tariffs, domestic troop deployments, due process, and the use of federal law enforcement. Congress largely left those questions to the courts.
Divided government is not a rebuke of any one party. It is the check the Framers designed. When one party controls Congress and the White House, oversight tends to go quiet, whichever party it is. When control is divided, oversight returns. Voters asked for that check to work again.
That mandate belongs to the whole Congress, not to the majority alone. A Republican Senator from Iowa or a Republican Representative from Texas swore the same oath as every Democratic colleague: to support and defend the Constitution. Restoring Congress's role fulfills that oath. It does not require anyone to abandon their policy views or their party.
Why is congressional oversight a conservative principle?
Conservatives have long argued for limited government, a written Constitution read as written, and power held close to the people. Congressional oversight serves every one of those goals.
Article I comes first. The Framers put Congress in the first article of the Constitution and gave it the most important powers: to declare war, to raise and spend money, to lay taxes and tariffs, and to write the laws. James Madison explained in Federalist No. 51 that liberty depends on "ambition... made to counteract ambition." Each branch must defend its own powers, or the balance fails.
These powers belong to the institution, not to a party. When a President acts alone on war, tariffs, or spending, the loss is Congress's, and it falls on Republican members as much as Democratic ones. A power Congress gives up today will be used by the next President, who may not share your views.
Republicans have led this fight before. Sen. Mike Lee's ARTICLE ONE Act would end national emergency declarations after 30 days unless Congress votes to continue them. Sen. Chuck Grassley's Trade Review Act of 2025, written with Sen. Maria Cantwell, would require Congress to approve new tariffs within 60 days. Grassley has said Congress "made a mistake" in handing so much trade authority to the President. These are conservative ideas about Congress reclaiming its own job.
A test worth applying. Picture any power claimed by the executive branch today in the hands of a future President you strongly oppose. If you would object then, the principle is the same now.
How does accountability protect national security?
A strong national defense depends on lawful orders, professional judgment, and public trust. Oversight protects all three.
War powers. The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war so that the decision to send Americans into combat has the backing of the people's representatives. Wars with that backing are wars the country can sustain.
A professional military. Service members swear an oath to the Constitution, not to any person. Commanders, Judge Advocates General, and intelligence professionals must be able to give candid advice without fear of retaliation.
Civilian control, under law. Clear rules on domestic deployments of the National Guard and active-duty forces protect the military's standing with the American people, which is a strategic asset in its own right.
Security of information. Investigating how sensitive operational details are handled protects the people who carry out those operations.
As a Navy veteran, I can say plainly: oversight of the Pentagon is not an attack on the troops. It is how Congress keeps faith with them.
How does the rule of law protect the economy?
Markets run on predictable rules. Families and businesses need contracts enforced, property protected, and disputes decided fairly.
Tariffs are taxes. The Constitution gives Congress the power to lay duties. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (February 20, 2026), the Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize tariffs. Farmers, manufacturers, and importers deserve trade policy set through a stable, accountable process.
Sound money. An independent Federal Reserve protects the interest rates on your mortgage, car loan, and savings. Political pressure on monetary policy, from either party, raises risk for everyone.
Spending discipline. The Appropriations Clause requires that no money leave the Treasury without a law passed by Congress. That rule is the taxpayer's first protection against waste and favoritism.
Clean markets. A ban on individual stock trading by members of Congress, senior officials, and federal judges, an idea with strong Republican and Democratic support, protects ordinary investors.
What does history say about Republicans who put country first?
The most respected chapter in the history of congressional oversight was written with Republican votes.
In February 1974, the House voted 410–4 to authorize the Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry into President Nixon.
Rep. Edward Hutchinson of Michigan, the committee's ranking Republican, said that executive privilege "in an impeachment inquiry must fail."
On July 27, 1974, the committee approved the first article of impeachment 27–11, with six Republicans voting yes. In all, seven of the committee's 17 Republicans voted for at least one article, including Reps. Tom Railsback, Hamilton Fish Jr., Lawrence Hogan Sr., and M. Caldwell Butler.
In August 1974, Sen. Barry Goldwater, the conservative standard-bearer, led a delegation of Republican leaders to the White House to tell President Nixon he had lost the support of his party.
Those Republicans did not abandon their principles. They acted on them. They followed the evidence, honored their oath, and helped the country through a crisis. History remembers them well.
That is what being on the right side of history looks like. It does not require agreeing with Democrats on policy. It requires insisting that every official, in every administration, answers to the law and to Congress. Members who take that stand now will be able to tell their children and grandchildren that when it mattered, they chose the Constitution.
What would bipartisan accountability actually look like?
Republican members are right to worry that oversight can become retribution. The answer is not to skip oversight. It is to set the rules for it, and Republicans are in the best position to insist on them.
Guardrails worth demanding:
Evidence first. Start with court records, inspector general reports, and Government Accountability Office findings before any subpoena.
Due process. Everyone named is presumed innocent. Witnesses get counsel and a fair chance to respond. Evidence that clears people goes in the record too.
Rules for offices, not people. Reform bills should apply to every President and official, never single out an individual.
Prospective effect. Our model reforms take effect January 20, 2029, so they bind the next President of either party, not the current one alone.
No prosecution by Congress. Congress finds facts and writes laws. Charging decisions belong to prosecutors, applying the same standards they apply to anyone.
Bills Republicans can lead or join. Many of our eight model bills for the 120th Congress build on ideas with Republican roots: emergency-power limits (ARTICLE ONE Act), congressional approval of tariffs (Trade Review Act), a ban on stock trading by members and officials, protection for journalists' sources, and inspector general independence. Each can move separately, so members can vote for the pieces they support.
The math. Ending a filibuster takes 60 Senate votes. Overriding a veto takes two-thirds of each chamber. Neither party has those numbers alone. That means the durability of any reform passed in the 120th Congress depends on Republican votes. Republican members are not bystanders to this work. They hold the deciding votes on whether it lasts.
A word to MAGA voters and every American
To the voters who support President Trump: I respect your vote and the reasons behind it. Many of you voted because you felt Washington had stopped listening, that the system protected insiders, and that the rules applied to you but not to the powerful. Those are fair concerns, and they are exactly why these checks matter.
The tools I am asking Congress to use are not aimed at you or at your President alone. They are the same tools that protect you when a future administration, perhaps one you strongly oppose, decides to use the IRS, the FBI, the military, or the Treasury in ways you think are wrong. A rule that does not bind the President you like will not bind the one you don't.
And to every American, whatever your politics: you do not have to choose between your policy views and the Constitution. You can support lower taxes, a secure border, and a strong military, and still insist that officials follow court orders, that Congress controls spending, and that no one is above the law.
Here is what you can do:
Call your Representative and both Senators, whatever their party. Ask them to support preservation of government records, fair investigations, and reforms that apply to every future President.
Thank members who cross party lines to defend Congress's powers. That takes courage, and it should be noticed.
Read the materials yourself. Everything we have prepared is free on our Government Oversight Program page.
Patriotism is not loyalty to a party or a person. It is loyalty to the country and to the Constitution that holds it together. Country over Party. Patriot over Partisan.
The same materials, offered to every office
We have shared the following free resources with incoming members of the 120th Congress. They are offered on the same terms to every Republican and Democratic office:
Reform legislation
Impeachment and investigations
Investigative Plan: Witnesses and Evidence, which is designed to surface evidence on both sides
Building the record
These are drafts and research, not findings. Each says plainly that a congressional investigation must confirm the facts, and that everyone named is presumed innocent.
Let's Talk
If your office would like a briefing, drafting help, or a nonpartisan review of any proposal, including one that improves on or challenges ours, we would welcome the conversation. Contact us or call (703) 297-5777. There is no charge.
Frequently asked questions
Why should Republican members support oversight of a Republican President? Because the powers at stake belong to Congress as an institution. War, spending, tariffs, and subpoenas are Article I powers. Defending them protects every member's constituents and binds future Presidents of both parties.
Isn't this just partisan retribution? It should not be, and guardrails can prevent it: evidence first, due process, rules for offices rather than people, prospective reforms, and charging decisions left to prosecutors. Republican participation is the best guarantee those guardrails hold.
Have Republicans supported limits on presidential power before? Yes. Sen. Mike Lee's ARTICLE ONE Act and Sen. Chuck Grassley's Trade Review Act of 2025 both reclaim congressional power. In 1974, seven of 17 House Judiciary Republicans voted for at least one article of impeachment against President Nixon.
Why does Republican support matter for reform laws? Ending a Senate filibuster takes 60 votes and overriding a veto takes two-thirds of each chamber. Neither party has those numbers alone.
I voted for President Trump. Why should I care? Because any power this administration uses will pass to the next one. A check that protects against a President you oppose has to apply to the one you support.
Are these materials available to Republican offices? Yes. Every resource is free to any office, regardless of party.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Biazzo Law Government Oversight Program is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates or parties. Model articles and investigative plans are drafts based on the public record, not findings of wrongdoing; all persons are presumed innocent. Biazzo Law, PLLC publicly opposed Todd Blanche's nomination as Attorney General.
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