Letters to the Editor | Nov. 26, 2024
Inquirer readers on Fetterman's U-turn on Oz, long-range missiles for Ukraine, and the Senate avoiding Trump's cabinet picks.

Feeling betrayed
On his official campaign website, Sen. John Fetterman says, “You’ll always know exactly where I stand.” That no longer seems to be the case, as shown by his announcement that he’ll vote to confirm Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. During their 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, Fetterman argued that Oz posed a threat to those health-care programs, joining science and health-care experts in decrying Oz’s false and misleading positions. Nothing we’ve heard from Oz since then makes him any more credible. Fetterman has made a big deal of his unpredictability and individuality, but now he’s crossed the line into unreliability.
Beth Z. Palubinsky, Philadelphia
Missile gamble
When President Joe Biden approved Ukraine’s use of long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike deeper into Russia, he placed in jeopardy the national security of the United States, the safety of our troops abroad, and violated the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, which provides that only Congress can declare war. Biden has decided to insert the U.S. into an unambiguous, escalatory phase, using Ukraine to attack Russia directly with missiles that can reach 190 miles into Russian territory. This is an illegal act by the president that puts our nation on a path to war with Russia. The American people voted for Donald Trump to end the wars.
Andrew Mills, Lower Gwynedd
Do as I say
News about right-wing attempts to require teaching the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, in public schools routinely fails to explain how “Thou shalt not kill” will be interpreted and taught. After all, many of those who demand such religious education in schools also tolerate and promote the death penalty, climate-disrupting fossil fuels, deadly abortion laws, gun proliferation, and the lethal consequences of some immigrant policies — for starters. Likely they would use the Lord’s name in vain if required to add those exceptions, which would reveal their hypocrisy, to the commandments.
John Jonik, Philadelphia
Advice, consent
During an NPR interview, Leonard Leo, cochair of the Federalist Society, postulated that the U.S. Senate’s advice and consent role would ensure appropriate checks-and-balances protection from unconstitutional authoritarianism by Donald Trump’s executive branch. Unfortunately, incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already conceded that an extended congressional recess is an option on the table that would enable Trump to appoint unvetted candidates to his cabinet.
Thune justified the recess as a workaround for Democratic resistance to approving some cabinet appointees. The Republicans will have a Senate majority when Trump takes office, along with JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote, so there is no way the Democrats alone can prevent Senate approvals to the cabinet. Yet, it looks like Thune is already looking for ways to shelter Republicans in the Senate from the risks associated with voting against Trump nominees. There appears to be little reason for confidence in the Senate exercising its constitutional advice and consent responsibilities. Senators like John McCain are sorely missed.
Craig McBride, Coatesville
Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 200 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.