Finish strong, Mr. Tillis

Last week, 12 US senators, six Republicans and six Democrats, sent President Trump a letter. They asked him to withdraw from his Oct. 9 agreement with Vladimir Putin, which reopens global markets to Russian diesel. They also asked him to enforce the sanctions Congress passed just last month against the enablers of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Sen. Thom Tillis signed it, alongside Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. The president answered on Oct. 16 with an executive order waiving most of those sanctions.

Tillis did not soften his response. He called the decision “beyond irresponsible” and “unconscionable” and said the administration was “capitulating to a Russian dictator” who “illegally invaded Ukraine.” Earlier, on Meet the Press, he went further. Tillis said there is “a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law,” and that his support for the administration’s legislative priorities depends on the White House changing course.

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act was not a suggestion. It passed both chambers of Congress and was signed into law by this president. It carries the name of a senator who spent his career insisting that America stand with free nations against aggression. When a president signs a law and then sets it aside weeks later, the damage reaches well beyond a single foreign policy decision. It strikes at the basic bargain of our constitutional system: Congress makes the laws, and the executive carries them out.

That bargain is what separates a republic from the regime in Moscow. Putin governs by decree. He rewards loyalty, punishes dissent, and treats the law as whatever serves him on a given day. The strength of American democracy has never come from the will of one person. It has come from institutions that check one another, including a Senate willing to say no when no is the right answer.

Tillis has said no. Now he should make it count.

When Congress returns after the Nov. 3 election, leadership is expected to push another reconciliation package through a lame-duck session. Reconciliation is a powerful tool. It bypasses the filibuster and limits debate, which is exactly why it demands discipline. A rushed, catch-all bill assembled behind closed doors and passed before the new Congress is seated is not how a self-governing people should make decisions that will outlast this term. It would also add to a national debt already surpassing $40 trillion.

Tillis has made clear that his vote is not automatic. He should hold to that. He should insist that the administration enforce the laws Congress has already passed before Congress hands it more. Tillis should demand a reconciliation process that is transparent, paid for and open to real scrutiny. And he should use the coalition he helped build on the Russia letter to bring colleagues along.

Tillis is not running again. He owes nothing to the next news cycle or the next primary. That gives him a rare freedom, and a rare responsibility. The final months of a Senate career are often when a legacy is decided, and his can be defined by a simple principle: the law means what it says, and no president is above it.

He has started down that path. I hope he sees it through.