1.1 A resolution
1.2 memorializing Congress to exercise its power and assert its authority in order to support
1.3 and defend the Constitution of the United States.
1.4 WHEREAS, the federal government is divided into three distinct and coequal branches of
1.5 government: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Those branches are designed to distribute
1.6 governing powers and authorities equally in order to limit the application of power of the other
1.7 branches and prevent expansion of power of any branch; and
1.8 WHEREAS, the ability of any democracy to survive and flourish relies on respect for the
1.9 Rule of Law by its citizens and its government, a concept that is enshrined numerous times in the
1.10 nation's Founding Documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of
1.11 Rights; and
1.12 WHEREAS, James Madison, the architect of the United States Constitution, wrote that "the
1.13 accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands [...] may justly
1.14 be pronounced the very definition of tyranny"; and
1.15 WHEREAS, since January 20, 2025, the Executive branch has usurped and exercised powers
1.16 specifically delegated to the Legislative and Judicial branches, and has circumvented and disregarded
1.17 the Rule of Law, including:
1.18 (1) depriving lawful residents of due process in incarceration and deportation hearings and
1.19 threatening to extend such unlawful detentions and deportations to American citizens;
1.20 (2) challenging the authority of the judiciary and its rulings in a succession of cases, including
1.21 calling for the removal of judges who rule against the Executive branch; arresting a member of the
1.22 state judiciary; and arbitrarily threatening the impeachment of judges who check Executive branch
1.23 power, prompting Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to respond "For more than two
1.24 centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement
1.25 concerning a judicial decision"; and
2.1 (3) impounding funds duly appropriated by the legislature for expenditures, such as emergency
2.2 disaster relief, critical medical research funding, including research into childhood cancer and
2.3 Alzheimer's Disease; the Office of Violence Against Women; and the Head Start program; and
2.4 WHEREAS, the Executive branch is failing to protect and defend the First Amendment to
2.5 the United States Constitution, and instead is infringing on academic freedom by coercing and
2.6 defunding universities, punishing law firms and lawyers for the cases they take and the clients they
2.7 represent, weaponizing nonprofit status of disfavored organizations, pursuing baseless investigations
2.8 into political fundraising platforms that oppose the President, using the Department of Justice to
2.9 pressure journalists, and detaining and revoking the lawful status of residents for protected political
2.10 speech; and
2.11 WHEREAS, the Executive branch has compromised national security by circumventing
2.12 background checks for Department of Governmental Efficiency appointees and other favored
2.13 advisors, failing to hold Cabinet secretaries accountable for gross breaches of security resulting in
2.14 unauthorized release of Americans' private data, allowing foreign incursions into our supposedly
2.15 secure federal data system, and exposing sensitive military data to our nation's enemies; and
2.16 WHEREAS, members of the United States Congress swore an oath of office to support and
2.17 defend the Constitution of the United States and faithfully discharge the duties of their office; NOW,
2.18 THEREFORE,
2.19 BE IT RESOLVED by the legislature of the State of Minnesota that it strongly urges the
2.20 Congress of the United States to exercise its constitutional powers to investigate and oversee the
2.21 Executive branch and to assert its constitutional oversight authority to the fullest extent of its
2.22 authority to protect the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people under the Constitution of the
2.23 United States.
2.24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
2.25 to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the
2.26 President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Chair and ranking member of the
2.27 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the United States House of Representatives,
2.28 the Chair and ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
2.29 of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives,
2.30 and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.
