Choices

 

An Open Letter from Congressional Staff to Senate 2/3/21

We are staff who work for members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, where it is our honor and privilege to serve our country and our fellow Americans. We write this letter to share our own views and experiences, not the views of our employers. But on January 6, 2021, our workplace was attacked by a violent mob trying to stop the electoral college vote count. That mob was incited by former president Donald J. Trump and his political allies, some of whom we pass every day in the hallways at work.

Many of us attended school in the post-Columbine era and were trained to respond to active shooter situations in our classrooms. As the mob smashed through Capitol Police barricades, broke doors and windows, and charged into the Capitol with body armor and weapons, many of us hid behind chairs and under desks or barricaded ourselves in offices. Others watched on TV and frantically tried to reach bosses and colleagues as they fled for their lives.

On January 6, the former President broke America’s 230-year legacy of the peaceful transition of power when he incited a mob to disrupt the counting of electoral college votes. Six people died. A Capitol Police officer—one of our co-workers who guards and greets us every day—was beaten to death. The attack on our workplace was inspired by lies told by the former president and others about the results of the election in a baseless, months-long effort to reject votes lawfully cast by the American people.

Our Constitution only works when we believe in it and defend it. It’s a shared commitment to equal justice, the rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of our differences. Any person who doesn’t share these beliefs has no place representing the American people, now or in the future. The use of violence and lies to overturn an election is not worthy of debate. Either you stand with the republic or against it.

As Congressional employees, we don’t have a vote on whether to convict Donald J. Trump for his role in inciting the violent attack at the Capitol, but our Senators do. And for our sake, and the sake of the country, we ask that they vote to convict the former president and bar him from ever holding office again.

Signed,

Aaron Fritschner

Abigail Hewins

Adam Comis

Adam Veale

Alex Guajardo

Alex Karabatsos

Alex Marston

Alex Molina

Alexa Marquez

Alexa Sledge

Alexander Gristina

Alexandra Schnelle

Alexandra Yiannoutsos

Alexis C. MacDonald

Alisa La

Allan Rodriguez

Allison Blankenship

Allison Lukas

Aly DeWills-Marcano

Alyssa Mendez

Amanda J Quesada

Amanda Yanchury

Amy Fischer

Amy Kuhn

Amy Soenksen

Andi McIver

Andre Earls

Andrea N. Goldstein

Andrew Goddeeris

Andrew Myslik

Andrew Noh

Aneeb Sheikh

Angele Russell

Angelica Duque

Angie Wells

Anissa Z. Caldwell

Anne Feldman

Anne Wick

Annetta Joyce

Annmarie Goyzueta

Anthony Barnes

Anthony Lemma

Anuj Gupta

Aria Kovalovich

Artin Haghshenas

Asha Samuel

Ashlee Wilkins

Avery Bonifati

Barbara Hamlett

Beatrix M. Dalton

Ben Kamens

Ben Rutan

Ben Turner

Benito Torres Jr.

Benjamin Bernier

Brad Korten

Brandon Garay

Brandon Mendoza

Brendan Greenlee

Bridget Hogan

Brigid Campbell

Brittan Robinson

Bryce Causey

Caleigh Lynch

Carianne Lee

Carlos Murillo Villasenor

Carmen Palumbo

Caroline Ramos

Carolyn Olortegui

Cassie Winters

Caty Payette

Cesar Solis

Chandler Mason

Chelsea Alatriste Martinez

Chelsea Rivas

Chloe Kessock

Chris Gibson

Chris McCarthy

Christian Seasholtz

Christopher Nguyen

Cindy M. Buhl

Cindy Matos Beltre

Clarissa Rojas

Cole A. Baker

Colin Pio

Collin Davenport

Connor McNutt

Connor Vargo

Cori Duggins

Corinne Paul

Courtney Callejas

Courtney Hruska

Courtney Rogers

Cyré Velez

Dan Riffle

Dana Hanson

Daniel Gleick

Daniel Holt

Daniel Maher

Daniela Contreras

Daniela Valles

Danielle Fulfs

David Lucas

David Sanchez

David Todisco

Dayanara Ramirez

Denzel McCampbell

Dr. Heather O'Beirne Kelly

Drew Hammill

Eddie Meyer

Eduardo N. Lerma, Jr.

Edwin Sevilla

Eleanor Trenary

Elena Radding

Elizabeth Austin-Mackenzie

Elizabeth Kulig

Eloise Melcher

Elyse Schupak

Emily Amador

Emily Lande-Rose

Emily Loya

Emily Morrison

Emma Norman

Emma Zafran

Erin Melody

Eva Naomi Gutierrez

Evan Brooks

Evan P Dale

Fabiola Pagán Meléndez

Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampol

Frederick Castro

Gabby Richards

Gail Chaney Kalinich

George "Stephen" Williams, Jr.

George Flynn

Grace Rubinger

Greg Claus

Griffin M. Anderson

Hannah Ceja

Hannah Melissa Borja

Hannah Weinerman

Harsh Deshmukh

Heather Boyd

Hector Colón

Helen Beaudreau

Humberto Ramos

Hussain Altamimi

Jack Gebbia

Jack Stelzner

Jacqueline A. Sanchez

Jae'Von McClain

Jaime Cobham

Jaimee Gilmartin

Jamari Torrence

James E. McFeely

Jamie Smith

Jason Nerad

Jason Tufele Carl Johnson

Jed Ober

Jen Fox

Jenna Jaffe

Jennifer Chandler

Jeren Totten

Jermaine Simmons

Jesse Malowitz

Jessica Andino

Jessica Hernandez

Jessica Mulligan

Jessica Pedroza

Jessica Valdez

Jessie Durrett

Jill Hirsch

Johana Mata

John Chapa Gorczynski

John Swords

Johnathan Garza

Joicelynne Jackson

Jona Koka

Jonathan Nwaru

Jordan Dashow

Joseph Valente

Joy A. Hamer

Juan Romero-Casillas

Julia Kravitz

Julian Gerson

Julie Jochem

Justin McCartney

K'Yetta McKinney

Kaozouapa E Lee

Kat Cosgrove

Kate Brescia

Kate Stotesbery

Katharine Nasielski

Katie Worley

Katrina Martell

Kelli Scott

Kelsey Smith

Kendra Wood

Kenneth Russell DeGraff

Kevin Figueroa

Kevin ONeil

Kevin Vargas

Kiara Tringali

Kichelle Webster

Kimberly Stanton

Kimiko Hirota

Kira Floersheim

Koray Rosati

Kory Haywood

Kristi Black

Kristin Kopshever

Kristina Broadie Jeter

Kurtis Miller

Kyle McKenney

Lana Abbasi

Lana Westfall Marro

Lanette García

Larissa Richardson

Laura Brantley

Laura Ellen Schock

Laura Forero

Lauran Pauley

Lauren Covington

Lauren Geiser

Lauren Linsmayer

Lauren Meininger

LaVontae Brooks

Leslie Merrill

Leslie Zwicker

Liam McCaffery

Libby Wiet

Lillian Adelstein

Lily Fitzpatrick

Lisa Pahel

Lisa Tencer

Lucia Rodriguez

Luis Zegarra

Maggie Harden

Malcolm Yates

Mara Kelly

Marcus Garza

Maria Camila Gomez Osorio

Maria Di Leone

Maria Martirosyan

Maria Martirosyan

Maria Robayo

Mariam Jalloul

Marilyn Dillihay

Mark A. Hinson

Marlon Dubuisson

Maru Vazquez

Matt Corridoni

Matt DeFreitas

Matt Jansen

Matt Sonneborn

Matthew A. Ceja

Matthew Bonaccorsi

Matthew E. Fried

Matthew Holcombe

Matthew Morgan

Matthew Steil

Maureen Acero

Max Frankel

Maytham Alshadood

Meaghan Johnson

Melanee Farrah

Mia Robertson

Michael Harris

Michael Lawson

Michele Lockman

Michelle Sánchez

Mike Lucier

Mike Shanahan

Moh Sharma

Molly Cole

Mustafa Alemi

Natalie C. Adams

Nawaid Ladak

Nick Burroughs

Nicolás Ballón

Noah Simon

Numa St. Louis

Olga Avant-Mier

Oliver Edelson

Olivia Byrd

Pam Trinward

Patrick Carroll

Patrick Koetzle

Paula McKinney-Rainey

Philip Bennett

Pierre Whatley

Pilar Lugo

Priyanka Hooghan

Quinton Johnson

Rachel Dembo

Rachel Montoya

Raman Khanna

Randy Love

Rebecca Eichmann

Rebecca R. Kelly

Rebekah Eskandani

Reecha Patel

Remmington F. Belford

Rex Dyer

Ricardo Martinez

Rita L. Waters

Robert M. Gottheim

Robert Montgomery

Rona Sayed

Rosario Duran

Ryan A. Washington

Ryan Early

Ryan Morgan

Ryan Morgan

Rylee Stirn

Saira Bhatti

Sammi Goldsmith

Samuel R. Spencer IV

Sara Barber

Sara Guerrero

Sara Palasits

Sarah Dean

Sarah Mulero

Scott Balough

Scott Heppard

Scott R. Nelson, Ph.D.

Serena Li

Shadawn Reddick-Smith

Shalini Gagliardi

Sharon Eliza Nichols

Shawn M. Meredith

Sonia C. Norton

Sool Abdirahman

Stephany Ospino

Stuart Styron

Sullivan Gassmann

T. Scott Harris

Talia Marcus

Tamara P Zapata

Tara Jordan

Tara Rountree

Tendrina Alexandre

Thelma Teresa Carrera

Theodore Steinberg

Thomas J. Story

Todd Stein

Tommy Brown

Toni Dunbar

Udit Thakur

Victoria Bonney

Victoria Graham

Victoria Oms

Wendy Ginsberg

Whitley O’Neal

Will Barrett

William (Billy) Hennessy

Xiao Shan Susan Liu

Yael Velvel

Yazmin Mehdi

Yonathan Teclu

Zac Mitchiner

Zach Cafritz

Zach Fisch

Zoe Bluffstone