A Nation Cannot Be Judged by Ethics Hearings When Congress Itself Endangers the Public

There is a painful contradiction at the heart of American governance: Congress holds ethics hearings, conducts investigations, and publicly questions the integrity of individuals — while its own collective actions have repeatedly endangered the lives of the very people it claims to serve.

At what point does a government lose the moral authority to screen others for ethical fitness?

A Congress that can shut down, halt basic services, suspend food assistance for millions, and allow children to go hungry does not stand on ethical ground. It stands on a platform built from political bargaining, corporate influence, and systems that prioritize donors over the public good. When one in eight Americans relies on federal nutrition programs to eat, the ability of elected officials to halt those programs is not just irresponsible — it is a direct threat to life and survival.

Ethics is not a performance. Ethics is the protection of human life. Ethics is ensuring stability for the people who depend on you. Congress has repeatedly failed this test.

While children rely on SNAP, WIC, and school meal programs, lawmakers have allowed shutdowns to dangle these lifelines over their heads. While families work full-time and still cannot afford groceries, lawmakers debate abstract policies instead of addressing root causes. While Americans struggle with rising costs, wages that do not keep up, and healthcare that bankrupts families, Congress continues to operate in a system where the highest bidder shapes the outcome.

How can a body so deeply influenced by private interests claim the moral standing to judge the ethics of anyone else? How can a government that knowingly places millions at risk through preventable shutdowns claim to uphold standards of integrity?

A system that can turn off food, healthcare, housing, and disability support is not an ethical system. It is a fragile mechanism that treats human survival as negotiable — a lever to be pulled in political games.

Ethics cannot coexist with a structure that allows millions of Americans to wake up each year wondering whether Congress will fund their ability to eat. Ethics cannot exist in a system where powerful corporations and private equity firms influence legislation that determines whether people live in poverty or dignity. Ethics cannot exist where political fundraising outweighs the moral responsibility to protect human life.

If Congress wishes to hold ethics hearings, then the first place it must look is inward. The first testimony should be from those who have suffered because of political inaction. The first questions should confront why, in the wealthiest nation on Earth, millions depend on programs that can be shut down by disagreement.

A Congress that lets children starve does not have ethics. A Congress that threatens food assistance for one in eight Americans is not upholding standards — it is violating them. A Congress that endangers survival has lost the moral authority to judge anyone else.

True ethics begin with accountability, humility, and the recognition that human life must never be used as leverage. Until Congress reforms itself, protects the public from political harm, and stops treating survival as a bargaining chip, it cannot credibly evaluate the ethics of another individual. A government that threatens life in practice has no right to lecture anyone on ethics in principle.