The Weekly: The Republic Doesn’t Save Itself
The Constitution is only as strong as the people—and institutions—willing to defend it.
The Constitution of the United States; The U.S. National Archives
The future of the American Republic will be determined only by the cumulative choices of citizens, public servants, journalists, judges, and legislators to defend—or abandon—the constitutional principles that have sustained the nation for nearly 250 years.
The Steady State offered readers this week a message both cautionary and hopeful: Democracies rarely collapse overnight, but neither are they preserved automatically. Our democracy’s survival depends upon countless acts of integrity performed by individuals who refuse to surrender truth, accountability, and constitutional principle. The choice between democratic renewal and democratic decline is ultimately not made in a single election or court decision, but through the cumulative decisions of citizens and institutions to defend—or abandon—the values upon which the Republic was built.
THE ESSENTIALS
QUOTED
“Technological advances and a pliant judiciary make the federal surveillance apparatus far more potent — and menacing — than it was in the immediate post-9/11 period, when ‘we were filling boxes with reams of information we could do nothing with.’”
Cash estimated at least 100 surveillance cameras tracked his movements as he drove to Capitol Hill from Maryland, each a potential data point for law enforcement.
“The world has changed.”
Steven A. Cash, Executive Director of The Steady State, quoted in The Minnesota Reformer, June 18, 2026.
Click to read the full article.
TRENDING on X and Threads
Hopeful news is trending this week. A Federal Judge ordered USCIS to resume processing backlogged immigration cases. It’s a long battle ahead, but this is a step in the right direction.
THE MISSION
This week, The Steady State filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for failing to release records about the agency’s monitoring of citizens engaged in constitutionally protected protest and political speech. Read the full lawsuit and press release below:
#HOLDFAST
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 400 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines, including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs, and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.
Great news on the suits. I've been calling my nabobs over this topic. Thanks for the encouragement.