On Saturday, April 11, the annual Rockport, Massachusetts, Town Meeting voted 86-14 for a resolution that “calls upon the Congress of the United States to exercise its legislative branch authority and oversight powers to provide a check on unlawful or unconstitutional actions by the President of the United States.”
The wording is similar to resolutions being considered in other North Shore communities, including Manchester-by-the-Sea, Beverly, and Marblehead, and is on the warrant for the Ipswich Town Meeting on Monday, May 12, 2026.
ARTICLE P, CITIZEN PETITION FOR 2026 ROCKPORT ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Requested by: Christine Downing
To see if the Town will adopt the following resolution, viz:
A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING OUR U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE SEPARATION OF POWERS, AND URGING CONGRESS TO EXERCISE ITS LEGISLATIVE BRANCH AUTHORITY AND OVERSIGHT POWERS TO PROVIDE A CHECK ON UNLAWFUL OR UNCONSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
WHEREAS, the U.S. Constitution is the basis for our democratic republic and civil society; and
WHEREAS, the first three articles of the U.S. Constitution establish three separate but coequal branches of government, and this separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches was designed to ensure a system of checks and balances; and
WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump and his Administration have shown a blatant disregard for the separation of powers by withholding Congressionally approved funds, dismantling Congressionally created departments and agencies, unilaterally imposing tariffs and duties, deploying military troops on American soil against civilian populations, attempting to deny birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Constitution, ordering investigations of political enemies and unlawfully replacing U.S. Attorneys who fail to carry out said orders, launching military operations against sovereign nations without Congressional consultation or approval, threatening military action against a fellow NATO member in violation of Congressionally approved treaties, and deploying armed federal agents to states without consent or coordination to carry out unnecessarily broad and aggressive immigration enforcement actions that have resulted in the unlawful detention, injury, and death of U.S. citizens exercising their basic Constitutional rights; and
WHEREAS, in the judgment of this assembled Town Meeting, President Trump has repeatedly usurped legislative and judicial branch authority in direct violation of the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution; and
WHEREAS, as James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No. 47, “The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny;” and so now therefore;
BE IT RESOLVED: That this duly assembled Town Meeting, as the legislative body of the Town of Rockport, Massachusetts, respectfully calls upon the Congress of the United States to exercise its legislative branch authority and oversight powers to provide a check on unlawful or unconstitutional actions by the President of the United States.
Historic Ipswich 