OPINION:
As the midterm elections approach, voters are told that this November will determine the direction of the country. For once, that familiar line happens to be true.
The result will help determine not only control of Congress but also whether official English becomes permanent law or remains vulnerable to future reversal.
On March 1, President Trump signed Executive Order 14224, designating English as the official language of the United States. It was a step toward promoting national unity, consistency in government operations and civic engagement.
It was only a first step. Executive orders can establish policy, but they cannot provide the permanence of law. What one president puts into place, another can weaken or undo.
That is why these midterms matter. The legislation has already been introduced. What remains uncertain is whether the next Congress will have the will to act.
In the House, Rep. Robert Aderholt, Alabama Republican, has taken the lead. His bill H.R. 1772, the Designation of English as the Official Language of the United States Act of 2025, provides Congress with an opportunity to codify into law what the president began with an executive order.
At a time when many lawmakers prefer rhetoric to action, Mr. Aderholt has offered a legislative path forward. His leadership on this issue carries weight because he is no marginal figure or symbolic sponsor. He is a long-serving House member, a senior leader on the Appropriations Committee and chairman of its subcommittee on labor, health and human services, education, and related agencies.
His sponsorship of H.R. 1772 signals that official English is a serious matter of national policy worthy of congressional attention.
English is the language of our founding documents, our public institutions and our civic life. It is the common language that has enabled generations of Americans from every background to communicate, assimilate and participate in a shared national culture.
Recognizing that reality in federal law does not diminish anyone’s heritage. It simply acknowledges that a nation this large and diverse depends on a common civic language to function as one people.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, Ohio Republican, has carried that same principle into the Senate through S. 542, the English Language Unity Act of 2025. Together, Messrs. Aderholt and Moreno have moved beyond general statements of support and placed legislation before Congress.
The question now is whether their colleagues are prepared to match that seriousness.
That is why every House and Senate candidate should be asked a question: Do you support making English the official language of the United States by law?
Candidates will spend the coming months talking about border security, assimilation, national identity, government efficiency and the future direction of the country. Official English belongs squarely in that debate. A nation cannot sustain unity without some shared civic foundation, and language is one of the most important parts of that foundation.
The American people understand this. In a 2025 Rasmussen Reports and ProEnglish survey, 73% of likely United States voters said they would support a law making English the official language of the U.S. government. That is not a fringe position. It is a mainstream American consensus; Congress lags behind the country.
The gap between public support and congressional hesitation is exactly why the midterms should be used to force the issue. Voters should ask candidates whether they support H.R. 1772 and S. 542.
They should ask whether candidates are prepared to codify official English into law or whether they prefer to leave such an important national question to temporary executive action.
This is a test of whether Congress still has the courage to affirm a principle most Americans already accept. If lawmakers truly believe English is the language of national unity and effective government, then they should enact that principle into permanent law.
Mr. Trump took the first step, and Messrs. Aderholt and Moreno have provided the legislative path. Now, voters must decide whether the next Congress will finish the job.
On an issue this fundamental, silence should no longer be an option.
• Ellen Hamilton-Cotten is executive director of ProEnglish.
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