A Constitutional Crisis: Can the Rule of Law Survive This Presidency? |
Photo by Sebastian Pichler
“Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest — forces that look like sheer insanity, if judged by the standards of other centuries.”
—Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
This has all the makings of a constitutional crisis.
According to law professor Amanda Frost, “a constitutional crisis occurs when one branch of government, usually the executive, ‘blatantly, flagrantly and regularly exceeds its constitutional authority — and the other branches are either unable or unwilling to stop it.’”
Consider for yourself.
The president has gone rogue, doubling down on his belief that “I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”
The vice president believes the president should be a law unto himself, i.e., unaccountable to the other branches of the government.
The Republican-controlled Congress appears to be deaf, dumb and blind to the Executive Branch’s blatantly unconstitutional overreaches.
The courts, which have in recent years largely rubberstamped the government’s power grabs, are ill-prepared to rein in a sitting president who is determined to do whatever he wants, the Constitution be damned.
In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court preemptively gave future presidents the green light to engage in all manner of criminal activitieswhen it ruled 6-3 that presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution, provided the lawbreaking is related to their official duties.
Meanwhile, the Constitution is still missing from the White House’s website.
This last point is not an oversight.
Rather, it speaks volumes about the priorities of the current presidential administration, which operates as if the rule of law does not apply to itself.
Indeed, while President Trump’s predecessors paid lip service to the rule of law while sidestepping it at every opportunity, Trump has been unapologetic about his intentions to set aside whatever legal, moral or political barricades stand in the way of his end goals.
Rule by fiat—when presidents attempt to unilaterally impose their will through the use of executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements—is an offense to the Constitution.
It was offensive when Biden did it. It was offensive when Obama did it. And it is just as offensive when Trump does it.
Already, Trump has signed more executive orders in his first month than any other president in their first 100 days.
This is not a sign of strength and leadership. This is a red flag.
In bypassing Congress in order to carry out his ambitious agenda to “make America safe again,” “make America affordable and energy dominant again,” “drain the swamp,” and........