Editor’s note: Below, you will find a statement from Senator Sanders on the bill introduced in the Senate to prevent sitting presidents from naming buildings after themselves during their tenure, followed by a statement on the dangers of authoritarian rule.  The SERVE Act is cosigned only by Democrat senators and is unlikely to proceed even to the debate floor, as the Venezuelan war powers resolution also failed.   Both were made prior to the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE officer, which now, according to the Department of Justice, will not be investigated at all. Not for excessive use of force, not for failing to assist as law enforcement is required to, nor for anything at all.  There will be no accountability for her death. Instead, the military may be called in to begin battling American citizens exercising their right to peacefully protest.  Top officials in the DOJ have resigned over this decision, as it was not only to reject an investigation into the murder but to investigate the woman who was killed and her female partner for alleged activist ties.

Sanders, Van Hollen, Alsobrooks Introduce Bill to Ban Presidents from Naming Buildings After Themselves

WASHINGTON — After the Trump administration illegally attempted to put the president’s name on federal property including the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Kennedy Center, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), alongside U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), today introduced a bill to prohibit the naming of federal buildings after sitting presidents.

Joining Sanders, Van Hollen, and Alsobrooks as cosponsors on the Stop Executive Renaming for Vanity and Ego (SERVE) Act are Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).

“It’s no secret that President Trump is undermining democracy and moving this country toward authoritarianism. Part of that strategy is to create the myth of the ‘Great Leader’ by naming public buildings after himself — something that dictators have done throughout history,” Sanders said. “For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal. We must put an end to this narcissism — and that’s what this bill does.”

“Donald Trump doesn’t get to slap his name on any public institution he chooses. We don’t have kings or dictators in America, and this legislation stops him or any future sitting president from creating monuments to glorify themselves – because these landmarks belong to the people, not to self-worshipers,” Van Hollen said.

“Our country desperately deserves leaders focused on working for the people – not their own ego or narcissism. This necessary legislation prohibits the naming, or renaming, of any federal building or land in the name of a sitting president. And even more importantly, at a time when Americans can’t afford to put food on the table, pay their rent, or afford health care, this bill prohibits the use of any federal funds for these meaningless vanity projects,” Alsobrooks said

On December 4, 2025, the State Department announced it was renaming the U.S. Institute of Peace after President Trump. Two weeks later, President Trump’s appointees to the board of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts voted to add the president’s name to the website and the front of the building. Both actions violate the federal laws that created these institutions.

The SERVE Act would:

1. Prohibit the naming or renaming of any federal building, land, or other asset in the name of a sitting president;
2. Prohibit the use of federal funds to do so; and
3. Ensure this applies retroactively to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace by returning any federal assets named for the current sitting president to the name given under United States Code.

Sanders, Van Hollen and Alsobrooks also filed this legislation as an amendment to the government funding minibus being voted on this week in the Senate.

Read the bill text here.

Sanders Statement: This Is Where Authoritarianism Leads

Editor’s note: Senator Sanders has often discussed this particular debate between executive power, authoritarianism, and the importance of democracy and personal freedom, particularly as it relates to wealth inequality and the enrichment of a small group.  

WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)  issued the following statement warning of the dangers of unchecked executive power and the catastrophic consequences of authoritarian rule:

Authoritarianism is not just the loss of democracy, freedom of expression, or civil liberties. It can also mean horrific wars and massive loss of life. When we defend democracy, we are fighting not only for our personal freedoms but to prevent autocratic leaders from dragging us into bloody and unnecessary wars.

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine offers a painful example of what happens when leaders have unchecked power. In February 2022, the Russian dictator ordered an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. No public debate. No support from legitimately elected officials. No objective media reporting. Putin, based on his own whims, simply plunged his country into war. The Russians who dared protest were jailed, opposition media was silenced, and an estimated 1 million people fled the country.

The human toll of Putin’s decision has been catastrophic. While not widely reported, the war has led to roughly one million Russian military casualties, including an estimated 250,000 deaths, in less than four years. Ukraine has suffered 400,000 casualties, including about 100,000 deaths. In other words, an entire generation has become cannon fodder for one man’s imperialist ambitions.

To put that carnage into context: the United States, with twice Russia’s population, lost 59,000 soldiers over eight years in Vietnam. Putin did this not because Russia was under attack, but because he could. He does not answer to voters, to a free press, or to a functioning opposition. He has destroyed democratic institutions and crushed all dissent. As one of the wealthiest people in the world, he and his oligarch friends are shielded from the horror of the war, living in extreme luxury as a generation of young Russians die for the delusions of empire. That is what authoritarianism and oligarchy are all about.

And we must learn that lesson here in the United States, where the president shows his contempt for democracy and concentrates more and more power in his own reckless hands. It’s not just that he wants to usurp the powers of Congress and the courts. It’s not just that he wants to intimidate the media, law firms and universities. Now, he wants the power, in a grossly unconstitutional way, to take this country into war without the approval of Congress.

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In this critical moment in American history, Congress and the American people must make it very clear. No, Mr. President. You don’t have the right to attack boats and kill people who you think may be drug dealers. No. You don’t have the right to bomb Iran. No. You don’t have the right to enter into military alliances with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, putting American lives on the line to defend dictators. No. You don’t have the right to go to war with Venezuela.

Because if we allow one leader — any leader — to take this nation into conflict without oversight, without restraint, without the consent of the people, then we have forgotten the lessons of history. And we will pay the same terrible price.

NO WAR WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE AND APPROVAL.

Sanders Releases New Report Delineating Trump’s War on Free Speech on College Campuses

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today released a new report revealing that President Donald Trump has violated or likely violated the First Amendment in 17 cases related to college campuses, according to federal courts.

“The Trump administration is moving this country very aggressively into an authoritarian society. Trump’s attempts to control what colleges can say is a direct attack on the First Amendment and the U.S. Constitution,” Sanders said. “That is not just Bernie Sanders talking. Courts across the country have warned about the Trump administration’s rising authoritarianism.”

Among the 17 cases the report examined:

• A Trump-appointed District Court judge in Maryland found that the Trump administration “initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished.”
• A District Court judge in California held “the Administration and its executive agencies are engaged in a concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘left,’ and ‘socialist’ viewpoints from our country’s leading universities.”
• A District Court judge in Massachusetts noted that “core constitutional rights” are an “essential hedge against authoritarianism.” The judge warned, quoting George Washington, that “if freedom of speech is taken away, then ‘dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

The report, Trump’s War on Free Speech, also finds:

• The administration has illegally cut nearly $3 billion to institutions of higher education. The Trump administration distributed nearly $3 billion less in his first nine months in office in 2025 than was distributed during same period in 2024, despite no change in funding levels from Congress.
• The administration has pushed out faculty and students. At least 50 university faculty and staff have resigned, been fired for their views or fled the U.S. since Trump was elected, according to public reports. At least 6,000 students have had their visas revoked, according to the U.S. State Department.
• The administration is preparing to further consolidate control over higher education by weaponizing the accreditation process — which determines whether students can use their federal student aid at colleges and universities. Since returning to office, Trump has taken steps to transform the traditionally nonpartisan accreditation process to control colleges’ curricula, administration, hiring and enrollment practices.

Sanders called on colleges and universities to stand up for the First Amendment.

“Colleges and universities must not relinquish their constitutional rights to Trump’s authoritarianism,” Sanders continued. “In America, the president should not get to decide what professors can teach, what research is conducted or who universities can enroll.”

Read the full report here.

Banner Image:  President John F. Kennedy, after whom the Kennedy Center was named by Congress. Image Credit – Florida Memory