For 236 years the United States has benefited from a government built on effective checks and balances among its three branches.

Now our system is under attack by the head of one branch, who wants to discredit another branch, the judiciary. That branch is not designed for the political and public-relations combat that President Trump relishes, because it speaks slowly and deliberately, through rulings the other branches are supposed to respect. Trump and his minions show little respect, so we should be hearing more objections from the third branch, Congress — not just about Trump’s assault on the rule of law, but his abrupt changes in foreign policy and the chainsaw approach that he and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, are taking to the executive branch.

We’ve heard little from Republicans who control Congress, because most fear Trump and Musk will fund challenges to them in the primaries of 2026. They also fear abuse that could rain down on them from Trumpist information sources, the sort of abuse that can incite violence; there’s been a surge in physical threats to members of Congress. Clearly, Republicans fear that if they confront Trump, he will end their political careers with his money and the hold he has on Republican voters.

Says who? GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. When a reporter there asked her March 18 if she had been sufficiently outspoken about Trump and Musk, though she’s been one of the most outspoken Republicans, she said some important things, even about her Republican colleagues:

“I get criticized for what I say, and then get asked, ‘How come nobody else is saying anything?’ Well, figure it out. They’re looking at how many things are being thrown at me, and it’s like, ‘Maybe I just better duck and cover. That’s why you’ve got everybody just like, zip-lip, not saying a word because they’re afraid they’re going to be taken down, they’re going to be primaried, they’re going to be given names in the media. You know what? We cannot be cowed into not speaking up.”

Leading into that, she said, “I’m not going to compromise my integrity by hiding my words when I feel they need to be spoken. I’m gonna take the criticism that comes, and it may be that Elon Musk has decided he may take the next billion dollars he makes off of Starlink and put it directly against Lisa Murkowski. … But I’m not giving up one minute, one opportunity, to stand up for Alaskans. But I’ve got to figure out how to do that, and I need Alaskans’ help to tell me what they are feeling, so that I can help deal with that.”

So speaks a servant leader, who wants to hear from voters. That’s not the approach of most congressional Republicans, whose House leaders have advised them not to have in-person, town-hall meetings that could put them on the defensive. On March 22, an ad hoc, bipartisan group in Lexington organized a town hall and invited 6th District Rep. Andy Barr. He didn’t show, and claimed without proof that it was organized and attended by paid activists, the line House leaders are using. Organizers denied that, and the crowd of 900-plus seemed to be a true grassroots uprising.

One speaker was “lifelong Republican” Edwin Gibson, 70, who recalled serving along the Iron Curtain: “Congressman Barr, you are complicit in the betrayal of our democracy.” He told me that he was referring to Barr’s “support of this rogue president and this rogue president supporting the war criminal Putin and how offensive it is to me and every other soldier.”

Barr seems to consider such events dangerous because he wants to run for U.S. senator and is desperate for the endorsement of Trump — who backed the only declared Republican candidate, Daniel Cameron, for governor in 2023 — or at least wants to keep Cameron or wealthy newcomer Nate Morris from getting the president’s backing. So, he does “tele-townhalls,” a form of conference calls (you sign up on his website), and appears before friendly audiences like the Lexington Chamber of Commerce.

A less likely Senate candidate is 4th District Rep. Thomas Massie, who exhibits no fear of Trump. After he was the only Republican to vote against the latest bill to keep the government open, Trump said “He should be primaried, and I will lead the charge against him.” Massie appealed for contributions, saying “Telling the truth can get you in hot water,” and reported a few days later that he raised $261,000 in three days, a record for him.

Massie’s strength comes from his constituents and the online supporters he has cultivated. Trump’s comes from his cultish followers and the big money allowed by the campaign-finance system that Sen. Mitch McConnell wanted. I wonder what he thinks about it now.

This commentary is republished from the Northern Kentucky Tribune,?a nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism.