In 2026, this is how we take back Congress and restore decency in DC

As we bid goodbye to 2025 — and all the thuggery, corruption, squalor, and cruelty it spewed — I want to thank you for standing up to it.

Thank you for your activism and your tenacity.

Thank you for not giving up hope, despite the daily horrors.

Thank you also for receiving my posts, sharing them, commenting on them, and becoming a member of this community.

My purpose in sending you at least one post a day (and sometimes more, with apologies to your inbox) has been, first, to assure you that you’re not alone and you’re not crazy.

You’ve received that assurance and run with it.

I’ve also wanted to fortify your resolve and strengthen your arguments.

You’ve excelled beyond my wildest imaginings.

My third goal has been to help you get through this nightmare without drowning in denial or despair.

You haven’t drowned. You’ve swum — sometimes against raging currents in your community and state — and you set an example for other swimmers.

One of the most important lessons of this horrendous year is that it’s been up to us — up to you and me and everyone we can reach — to stop this scourge.

Not with violence, but with good trouble.

Not just in rage at politicians who have been too willing to allow Donald Trump to tyrannize the country, but with the steadiness, stamina, and organization necessary to force them to respond to the people rather than to the tyrant or the billionaires behind him.

Not with anger at those of our fellow citizens who fell for Trump’s lies, but with an understanding that the reason those lies were seductive was because so many of our fellow citizens have been shafted by the system.

So, it has been up to us to contain this menace.

It will continue to be our responsibility.

Most of the people who in previous decades sought to justify their power by claiming they were the “leaders” of America — CEOs, Wall Street bankers, presidents of our major universities, heads of our giant media corporations, managers of the nation’s giant law firms, directors of our largest and most prestigious nonprofits — have lacked the courage to stand up to Trump and his tyranny.

Some have shamelessly sucked up to him — flattering him, presenting him gifts, enabling him, making excuses for him.

Their behavior should be a lasting reminder that we are the real leaders of America, we are the voices of democracy, we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for — not them.

Your leadership this year has included:

Organizing and mobilizing for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win in New York City, Katie Wilson’s victory in Seattle, and gubernatorial and special election wins across America.

Participating in the largest demonstrations in American history.

Bombarding your members of Congress with telephone calls and letters. Attending their town halls and demanding answers.

Boycotting big corporations that are enabling this tyranny (Palantir, Tesla, Home Depot, Amazon) and shafting their workers (Starbucks, Walmart, Amazon).

Protecting the vulnerable in our communities. Letting them know when ICE is in their neighborhoods. Demanding that local officials not cooperate with tyranny. Organizing food banks and pantries.

And sharing these posts with your friends and colleagues so they have the facts, arguments, and analyses they need to effectively resist.

Despite this squalid year, our resistance is growing. Despite the loathsome person occupying the Oval Office, we will prevail.

In 2026 — if we work hard — we will take back Congress and restore some decency to our government.

I write and post every day because I believe in your values. In your thoughtfulness. In your determination to leave this nation and this world a better place than they were before Trump.

Thank you for helping preserve what’s good in America.

Onward.

• Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
• Robert Reich's new memoir, Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org