Dear Members of Congress,

We write to you not as partisans, but as citizens who revere this institution and the Constitution it serves. At this moment in history, the House of Representatives, the People’s House, stands on the brink of self-suspension. Through deliberate manipulation of the legislative calendar and misuse of recess authority, Speaker Mike Johnson has effectively silenced the very branch of government entrusted to speak for the American people.

During an active government shutdown, the Speaker has canceled scheduled session days, redefined statutory timelines to prevent oversight votes, and refused to convene the House even as federal workers go unpaid and national operations stall. This is not political strategy, it is legislative paralysis. It violates the letter and spirit of Article I of the Constitution, House Rules I and XXIII, and the ethical standards that demand Members behave in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.

I. Constitutional Duty

The Constitution vests all legislative Powers in Congress, not in a single individual. Under Article I, Section 5, Clause 4, neither chamber may adjourn for more than three days without the other’s consent. This clause presumes that Congress remains capable of doing business and was designed to prevent exactly what is happening now. The Framers, scarred by colonial governors who dissolved assemblies to stifle dissent, wrote these safeguards to ensure that no Speaker or President could suspend the legislature’s function.

Justice Joseph Story, in his Commentaries on the Constitution, warned that permitting a single actor to silence the legislature was repugnant to republican liberty. That is precisely the danger now confronting the United States.

II. Pattern of Misconduct

Speaker Johnson’s actions form a clear pattern of obstruction and consolidation of power:

1. Canceled Legislative Days: The official calendar published by Rep. Steve Scalise showed sessions through October. The updated House.gov calendar quietly erased them, leaving the House not in session during a funding crisis.
2. Manipulated Calendar Days: In April 2025, the Speaker redefined the statutory meaning of calendar day to avoid a required vote under the National Emergencies Act, preventing Congress from reviewing presidential trade actions.
3. Early Adjournment: In July 2025, he ended proceedings early to block a bipartisan vote on releasing Epstein-related investigation files, silencing Members’ rights to transparency.
4. Pro Forma Recess During Shutdown: In October, the Speaker substituted brief ceremonial sessions for genuine legislative work, exploiting a constitutional technicality while the government remained closed.
5. Frozen Oversight and Discharge Petitions: By refusing to reconvene, he paralyzed committee operations and neutralized the minority’s power to compel votes or file discharge petitions.
6. Refusal to Swear In a Duly Elected Member: Reports confirm that Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva has been denied her oath of office until the government reopens, disenfranchising thousands of constituents.

Each of these actions chips away at the separation of powers and the principle of representative government. Collectively, they render the House inert, unable to legislate, deliberate, or even speak for the nation.

III. Ethical Breach

Under House Rule XXIII, Members must adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules and behave at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House. The Speaker’s conduct does neither. By keeping Congress dormant during a national shutdown, he has damaged the credibility of the institution and undermined public confidence in the rule of law. The Antideficiency Act bars executive agencies from spending without appropriations; thus, the House’s failure to meet violates its most fundamental constitutional responsibility, the power of the purse.

The Committee on House Administration’s 2025 report affirms that Congress must remain operational during a funding lapse. Yet the Speaker’s schedule has made that impossible, silencing oversight and enabling unilateral executive power. The Founders designed Congress to prevent precisely this kind of drift toward autocracy.

IV. Human and Democratic Cost

The cost of this paralysis is measured not just in unpaid salaries or shuttered offices, but in the erosion of faith in self-government. The people we represent have no voice if their House cannot meet. No war, pandemic, or national tragedy has ever fully shuttered the legislative branch, but this procedural coup has done so quietly, under the pretense of scheduling.

Every Member of Congress, Republican, Democrat, and Independent, swore an oath not to a person or party, but to the Constitution. That oath demands that you act when power is abused, even by one of your own. Silence is complicity. Action is fidelity.

V. Resolution

We therefore urge the Committee on Ethics and every Member of this House to: 

1. Initiate a formal investigation into whether Speaker Mike Johnson’s use of recess authority, manipulation of legislative days, and refusal to convene the House constitute violations of Rule XXIII or other standards of conduct;
2. Determine whether the Speaker’s conduct constitutes an abuse of power under Article I, § 5 and Rule I;
3. Recommend corrective action, including censure or public admonishment;
4. Issue guidance reaffirming that the Speaker’s discretion under Rule I must not be used to obstruct the House’s constitutional duty to legislate, appropriate, and conduct oversight; and
5. Clarify that adjournment practices (including pro forma sessions) cannot be used to paralyze the legislative branch during a funding lapse. 

VI. Conclusion

This is not a partisan grievance. It is a constitutional emergency. When the House cannot meet, America ceases to be a government of, by, and for the people. The Founders entrusted the collective body of Congress, not a single Speaker, with the legislative power of this Republic. It is your solemn duty to ensure that power is never surrendered to convenience, coercion, or command.

History is watching. So are we.

Respectfully submitted,

Concerned American Citizens For the Preservation of Constitutional Governance

To read the entire complaint in full (with references) click the link below.

Formal Complaint Linked Here