Wittman fails to defend the Constitution and uphold his Oath of Office

Which makes him unfit to keep the job

Welcome to the Wittman Watch newsletter!

• Last week we wrote about Wittman’s silent complicity.

• We continued our Myth of the Week series: Does Wittman save you money?

• We’ve added: How to contact Wittman. Use it often!

• Scroll down to see our social media roundup for the week.

---

Defending our rights is his job. And he’s terrible at it

---

The Congressional Oath of Office that Rob Wittman has taken 10 times over the last 20 years says:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Is Wittman fulfilling this oath? Since Trump took office, we’ve seen escalating violations of the Constitution:

• First Amendment: Right to free speech and dissent

• Second Amendment: Right to keep and bear arms

• Fourth Amendment: Protection from unreasonable search

• Fifth Amendment: Right to due process

• Sixth Amendment: Right to fair and open trials

• Fourteenth Amendment: Right to equal protection under the law

• Article I: Powers of Congress to pass laws and spend funds

• Article II: Power of the Executive to execute the laws made by Congress

---

To date, Wittman has not voted even once to hold the Executive to account, pass legislation, or invoke any power of Congressional oversight in relation to clear constitutional violations.

Wittman has betrayed — and continues to betray — his Congressional Oath, and enables deadly attacks on our Constitution. Let's take a look at what he is (or isn't) doing, and what he must do in order to uphold his responsibilities as our representative.

---

First Amendment Violations: You may not speak freely or question the government

The First Amendment protects the right to speak, write, organize, and complain to and about the government without punishment. Alex Pretti, a peaceful protestor in Minneapolis, was killed by federal agents while exercising his First Amendment rights. This shocking violation demonstrates that a centerpiece of this administration’s strategy to retain power is a campaign of retaliation against critics and oppression of free speech.

The First Amendment also includes the right to assemble peacefully. The protestors in Minneapolis and across the country — the overwhelming majority of whom are neither engaging in nor inciting aggression — are exercising their right of assembly. For that, some of them are being executed, violently attacked, arrested, and detained by state-sponsored thugs.

Journalists have been banned from the White House, advocacy organizations have seen federal grants yanked after they criticized administration policies, and entire entities — universities, cities, even the Federal Reserve — have been threatened with investigation and/or funding cuts for expressing (or even permitting) views the Trump administration dislikes. These abuses thwart the First Amendment’s specific protection of free speech.

Lawsuits catalogued by legal watchdogs routinely cite the First Amendment in challenging these actions, arguing that the government is granting benefits and access, and revoking rights and allocations, on the basis of political loyalty rather than the law.

Wittman isn’t protecting your free speech. He’s actively supporting its oppression, including the use of lethal retaliation when you use your rights of free speech and assembly.

Instead, he could:

• Pass strong anti‑retaliation laws (like the proposed NOPE Act) to give people and organizations a clear right to sue federal officials who punish them for protected speech, and to recover damages and fees

• Use aggressive oversight to require Inspectors General to audit agencies for speech‑related retaliation and report to Congress, and to require mandatory discipline for officials who violate First Amendment standards

• Propose to tie agency funding to written, enforceable bans on viewpoint‑based retaliation against media, advocacy groups, and law firms

---

Second Amendment Violations: Your gun is their permission to kill you

Alex Pretti had a legally-owned, holstered weapon when he went to the protest in Minneapolis. He never touched, let alone brandished, that weapon. He was wrestled to the ground and pistol-whipped. A federal agent removed the weapon from Mr. Pretti’s holster, and after he was disarmed, he was shot to death in a hail of 10 bullets. Trump administration officials stated that Mr. Pretti’s possession of the weapon at the protest was sufficient cause for his execution by federal agents. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said:

“When you are bearing arms and confronted by law enforcement, you are raising… the risk of force being used against you.”

Their claim is that if you have a weapon in your possession and you encounter law enforcement agents — even if you never brandish that weapon, even if it’s holstered, even if agents have already disarmed you — you and your family should understand when you’re executed in the middle of an American city street.

Wittman says he’s a gun rights advocate; he even has a whole page on his website about the Second Amendment:

“As a gun owner myself, I believe that the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms must be protected. No law-abiding American should be denied their Constitutional rights without reason or due process. … Know that I will always stand up for my constituents’ rights, including the right to privacy and to bear arms.” [our emphasis]

The National Rifle Association says that what happened in Minneapolis was illegal and a violation of the Second Amendment. And what has Wittman said or done about this so far? Nothing.

Wittman is not protecting your Second Amendment rights. He may claim otherwise, but when his party or preferred President says that up is down and down is up, he’ll be silent and complicit.

---

Fourth & Fifth Amendment Violations: Illegal searches, no fair trials - when they accuse you, you’re already guilty and convicted

The Fifth Amendment says the government cannot take away a person’s life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. The Fourth Amendment provides protection against unreasonable search and seizure. In practice, that means officers need good reasons to arrest and detain people and must follow the law when stopping, searching, or making arrests.

For example, ICE cannot enter private property without legal search warrants and cannot abduct, disappear or murder anyone. Yet we’re all witnessing these actions — no matter how the administration tries to gaslight us. The revelations about the “May 12 Memo” issued to ICE agents, which falsely claims agents only need an administrative rather than a judicial warrant to enter and search homes, demonstrate how flagrantly the Fourth Amendment is being violated.

But this isn’t just about ICE. Trump’s politically-motivated executive orders and zeroing out of Congressionally-mandated appropriations have led to lost funding, jobs, and opportunities without clear justification or due process. When the administration unilaterally punishes whole programs, institutions, demographic groups, or entire states because of what they teach or say (which is a First Amendment violation as well), we have effectively lost our due process protections; any president can, with the stroke of a pen, nullify our rights, take away our property, and threaten our lives.

The administration’s actions with ICE, executive orders, and misappropriation of Congressionally approved funds are wilfully breaking the law and trampling the Constitution. Again, Wittman could be doing a whole lot. He could:

• Strengthen the laws limiting raids, data collection, and surveillance, with clear warrant and reporting requirements, and automatic consequences when agencies defy court rulings

• Remind DHS and ICE that agents and administrators will be held accountable, including in criminal court

• Engage in oversight – the job of Congress. Wittman could move to condition or cut appropriations for agencies such as DHS and ICE that repeatedly violate court rulings on due process, and require Inspectors General to audit mass firings, raids, and funding cuts for legality

---

Sixth Amendment Violations: Attacking lawyers and the right to counsel

Americans are free to hire lawyers and bring cases, even against the president. The Sixth Amendment protects the right to counsel in criminal cases, and the broader system depends on lawyers being able to represent clients who may hold political views different from those of the administration. Yet Trump has targeted specific law firms that represent his opponents, threatening government work and trying to scare other firms away from similar cases.

Wittman could author a bill making it unlawful for any federal official to threaten contracts, clearances, or grants because a firm or lawyer took a case against the administration.

What has he actually done? Nothing.

---

Fourteenth Amendment Violations: Your citizenship and equality under the law is conditional on whatever they decide

The Fourteenth Amendment says that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, and that all people must get equal protection under the law. Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship for some children of non‑citizens directly clashes with that text, and judges have already stepped in to uphold the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment also says that the government cannot punish people for who they are — everyone must get “equal protection.” Policies that single out immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, or certain communities for harsher treatment therefore violate the Fourteenth Amendment. Clearly, the news coming out of Minnesota and elsewhere shows different groups of people being treated differently, according to the whims of the administration.

What could Wittman do? Plenty! He could:

• Expand civil‑rights enforcement powers so individuals can fight discriminatory policies in court, including fees and damages

• Bar federal funds for any program that denies benefits to or disregards rights for citizens claiming birthright citizenship, as per the Fourteenth Amendment

---

Article I and II Violations: Congress and Wittman are kneeling to the Executive

Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the exclusive authority to raise and spend money; no funds may be drawn from the Treasury except as legally appropriated by Congress. As the chamber of Congress that most directly represents the people, the House holds the power of the purse. Abandonment of that responsibility shifts power not only from Congress, but from us, the American people.

In practice, Article I only works when Congress writes specific spending laws, enforces deadlines for appropriations, and punishes presidents who refuse to spend or who reallocate money without permission.

Article II of the Constitution requires the president to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Historically this clause has been understood to forbid presidents from suspending, nullifying, or selectively enforcing laws based solely on policy disagreements. Modern presidents have pushed this boundary, but Trump’s second term has paired non‑enforcement with aggressive claims that he can ignore or rewrite statutes that constrain his agenda.

Congress passes annual spending laws (that start in the House) to outline exactly how funds are allocated. The Trump administration has looked for ways to freeze, delay, or redirect money Congress already approved, especially when the funded program conflicts with the administration’s political goals. In plain language: instead of spending money the way Congress ordered, the administration treats those instructions like mere suggestions and instead illegally shifts funds to the President’s own priorities.

The courts have determined that Trump has used illegal executive orders to ignore how money was to be spent, and to revoke billions of dollars in appropriations for USAID, scientific research, and public health.

Wittman could:

• Author or co-sponsor a bill that penalizes any individual or institution that withholds or reallocates appropriated money without Congressional approval

• Use his position as Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee to demand answers on why funds are being misdirected or withheld by the Executive

• Demand (not “write a letter” or “strongly advocate,” which is what he has historically done) that funds for science research be distributed to Virginia’s universities, that coastal wind power projects not be paused, and that all allocations already made are honored.

Where is Congress? Where is Wittman, a senior member of the House? Without the participation of Republicans who control both the House and the Senate, pushback to rein in the Trump administration fails. Wittman is part of this complicit cabal.

Wittman is shredding the Constitution when he must defend it

Rob Wittman swore to uphold the Constitution, but he sits watching from the sidelines while Trump’s second term tears it up. It’s clear that Wittman has the tools to fight illegal raids, political retaliation, and the president’s power grab, but instead he leaves his constituents vulnerable and his Congressional Oath exposed as empty words. The Trump administration’s assaults on free speech, due process, equal protection, and even Congress’s own power of the purse are well documented, yet Wittman offers zero pushback — no bills, no hearings, no oversight.

He’s failing at the most basic element of the job he was elected to do: defending our Constitutional rights. It’s time for us to demand he resign immediately, and elect someone who will carry out that honorable duty.

---

What do you think Wittman should do to protect our rights according to the Constitution? Comment here or on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, or Reddit.

As seen on our socials

Our social media channels respond quickest to whatever Wittman does or says. Here’s a selection from the past week. Click on each post to see them on BlueSky (no account necessary). Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit to get immediate updates each time we post.

That’s a wrap

Please subscribe and share our (always free) content with your friends!
This November, we’ll make sure our seat is filled by someone who’ll work for us.