Steve Schmidt's essay argues that cowards and billionaires — Republican leaders, law firms that pledged $940 million in pro bono work to Trump, media companies that settled his suits, and executives like Elon Musk — have capitulated to and emboldened a president he calls more erratic by the hour, warning that the republic will not survive Trump's obscenities looming over it. He catalogues the capitulations, from Trump cutting off a question about Putin's ignored deadlines to a ballroom looming over the White House, and urges Congress to demand records, compel testimony, impeach abusive officers, and use every constitutional power to bring the executive branch to heel.