The Honorable Senator, Charles Grassley
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Ashley Hinson, US Representative
2458 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

On Tuesday, January 22, 2025, a Service of Prayer for the Nation was held at the National Cathedral of the Episcopal Church in Washington, DC as has been the tradition the day after the inauguration since 1933. It is part of the stated mission of this cathedral church, and also an important responsibility of the Church through the ages to speak truth to power.
During her sermon, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde spoke about our prayers for unity, acknowledging the challenges of finding unity amidst division. At the end of her sermon, she directly addressed President Trump, asking him to “have mercy” for vulnerable ones in society who are now living in fear for their future. Her remarks were entirely respectful toward the President and firmly grounded in the Christian tradition.
I am told that Mr. Trump released an angry tirade against her remarks, accusing her of being a radical left wing Trump hater, of being ‘nasty’ and ‘not very smart.’ Incidentally, Bishop Budde earned a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude (meaning ‘with great honor’), a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees. She has been the Bishop of the Washington DC diocese since 2011, properly chosen and installed, there is nothing ‘so-called’ about her status as Bishop. His remarks about her are insulting and completely incorrect. One should expect more from the highest elected official in the Country.
Mr. Trump also apparently said he found the service ‘boring.’ I watched the service; I found it anything but boring. I found it deeply reverent, steadfastly focused on worshiping God. The service included music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Buxtehude, Rutter, Dvorak, Aaron Copeland and others, performed by organ, symphonic band, and chorus with breath-taking effect. If Mr. Trump was bored, perhaps it is because he misunderstood who was being worshiped.
It has been reported that Republican House member from Georgia Mike Collins threatened that she should be deported for criticizing the President. Bishop Budde was born here in the USA; her mother was an immigrant from Sweden, just as Mr. Trump’s mother was an immigrant from Scotland and his grandparents were immigrants. Have we reached the phase of fascism in this country where those in power deport anyone who speaks criticism?
Has the Republican party so completely handed over their spines and souls to Mr. Trump that there is no one left in your party to speak a restraining word when its leader runs dangerously close to despotism? Is it fear of retribution? Cowardice?
Senator Grassley, Representative Hinson, your legacy is being written now. History will describe your service by what you do or fail to do in these next days and months. How do you want history to remember you? Will you be remembered as the voice of courage who stood up to a dangerous would-be tyrant or as one of the cowards who slunk away and shirked their duty to country out of misplaced fealty or fear of a despot’s revenge?
One of the memorable phrases from the Bishop’s words are to remind us that God does not spare us from the consequences of our actions. Sin includes both the things we do that we ought not to have done, and also the things we should have done but failed to act.
I urge you to find your courage to defend the Country and Constitution above political party and personal threat. The nation and the world need your courageous action now. History will record which side you chose.
Sincerely,

Brice Martin Hughes