Letters to the Editor | Dec. 16, 2025

When any one branch of our federal government gains power, another loses some. For several years, the Supreme Court has expanded the power of the executive branch to the detriment of the legislative. President Donald Trump’s implementation of tariffs and his refusal to provide information to Congress about the military operations in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and off the Venezuelan coast are recent examples in which the White House has pushed the limits of its authority and sidestepped lawmakers.

The Supreme Court seems poised to expand the president’s power even further early next year by giving the Oval Office control over government agencies that have always been independent.

A 90-year-old Supreme Court decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States upheld the independence of these executive branch agencies, the justices seem to be signaling that they intend to reverse this long-standing precedent.

Our founders wanted governing and decision-making to be done collaboratively with Congress, where the three branches work together, and no single individual wields too much control. We need to resist this ongoing shift in power and demand a return to a balance that best serves our ability to self-govern.

Joseph Goldberg, Philadelphia

There are many flaws in Rabbi Linda Holtzman’s op-ed which advocates limiting military aid to Israel, but the overriding flaw in this piece is its dishonesty. By using the buzzwords “Palestinian liberation” and “anti-Zionist,” she is cleverly avoiding stating the real aim of her organization and its allies, namely, the destruction of the state of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people.

She recognizes, of course, that saying this out loud would not fly with most readers of the Inquirer, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. The fact that the author is a rabbi and teacher at a Jewish institution gives no special credence to this extreme position, but may fool some readers to think that she speaks for mainstream Jewish opinion.

And speaking of liberation, my hope is that the Palestinian people will be liberated from the corrupt and hateful leaders whose rejectionist position over the years has denied them the opportunity to have a state of their own.

Henry Maurer, Cherry Hill

Thank you for your continuing commitment to publishing news reports and op-eds about what is happening to our immigrant communities locally and across the nation. Your news articles, such as the one about activists in Montgomery County, as well as your broad-based Opinion coverage — with Will Bunch covering ICE raids in Louisiana and Luis Carrasco writing from the border — are very much appreciated.

In the face of a fractured Congress and a seemingly complicit Supreme Court, it’s up to the free press to inform and empower everyday people to step up and denounce the inhuman and unjust treatment of our immigrant neighbors. Citizens have an important role to play in defending neighbors who contribute so much to our communities and our economy. Let us hope our fellow Americans will become as concerned with the deplorable treatment of other human beings as they are about the economy.

Sister Veronica Roche, Westmont

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