NYT rips GOP Congress as Trump poisons American democracy

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso arrive for President Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

In a piece published Wednesday morning, the New York Times editorial board reserved particular criticism for the GOP-led Congress as it tracked President Donald Trump's efforts to poison American democracy, ripping the lawmakers for backing off when they could be doing things to stop it.

In the new piece, the board explained that the war with Iran is "the most significant military action in American history that a president has undertaken without any form of congressional authorization," marking a significant acceleration of Trump's "erosion" of democracy and disregard for Congress.

"Mr. Trump has received no approval whatsoever from Congress, the only branch of government with the constitutional authority to declare war," the board explained.

The piece included a chart with 12 metrics measuring Trump's damage to Democracy, graded on a scale of zero to 10, and based on the current state of the Iran war, the board confirmed that it was increasing the grade for bypassing the legislative branch by one notch, up to five.

"When a democracy slides toward autocracy, the leader often finds ways to neuter the legislature," the board explained. "Mr. Trump has done so in many ways: by usurping Congress’s power of the purse and imposing widespread tariffs (which courts have often deemed illegal; gutting congressionally authorized agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development; withholding approved funds for schools, libraries and scientific research; using private donations to pay for his White House ballroom during a government shutdown; attacking boats in the Caribbean and invading Venezuela; and more."

The board added: "Over the past two and half months, Mr. Trump has ordered thousands of strikes against another country and killed its leader. The war has roiled global energy markets and drained American munitions stockpiles. Yet despite its scope and stakes, the president continues to show disdain for members of Congress who ask questions about the war and has not even provided a coherent rationale for it."

In making this determination, the board added that Congress, which Trump's Republican Party controls both chambers of, bears considerable blame for the president's conduct, given its refusal to step up and rein him in.

"Congressional Republicans deserve significant responsibility for the situation," the board explained. "They could and should do much more to constrain him. Congress could pass a resolution expressing its disapproval of the war and hold hearings investigating it, raising the political pressure on the White House. It could refuse to confirm nominees or fund Mr. Trump’s military priorities until he adheres to his constitutional duty to work with the legislature. Otherwise, members of Congress are participating in America's slide from democracy."

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