Follow the Rules

Spectator

There is not a section, paragraph, sentence, or word in the United States Constitution that says the Legislative and Judicial branches of the government are subservient to the Executive branch. Not one. The Founders conceived of three equal branches of government checking and balancing each other.

This would be clear to anyone who has actually read our Constitution or took a high school government or civics class but, alas, many MAGA Republicans clearly neither read the documents nor attended the classes, because they do not understand how the system is supposed to work at all. The result is a cacophony of complaining every time a judge makes a ruling that the MAGA world doesn’t like.

The White House Press Secretary, Vice President J.D. Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, and President Trump himself have all made the bizarre and bizarrely wrong claim that federal judges have “no right” to undo orders of the Executive Branch. They then attribute these rulings to “activist” judges or “radical activist” judges or their ultimate insult, “rogue radical left-wing judges.”

In fact, the federal judiciary has every right to determine the constitutionality of presidential executive orders. They are the check that helps create the balance.

All of this comes to mind as the president claims the right to summarily deport some illegal immigrants allegedly involved in other criminal activity to a notorious prison in El Salvador. More than one judge has tried to at least temporarily halt this program, resulting in caterwauling and unbridled whining about judges depriving the president of his presidential powers.

Of course the judges have done no such thing; they’ve merely insisted that the Constitution and statutes be followed and that due process exist, as required, before anyone is deported. You know, follow the damned rules for a change, and then deport to your heart’s content. The president’s response? “We cannot give everyone a trial.” Geeze, read the Fifth Amendment.

What is troubling about all of this isn’t just Trump’s behavior but the complete surrender of Congress to the whims of a mercurial president. They have abdicated their role and responsibility as constitutional equals of the executive—some would say they are first among equals, which is why they are mentioned first in the Constitution.

Congress’ total surrender to a presidential agenda is not how it is supposed to work. Congress has become pathetically weak, with sycophantic ciphers unwilling to do much of anything but quiver in fear whenever the president speaks. Our own northern Michigan congressman seems to have disappeared altogether.

When the White House and Congress are controlled by the same party, it is the norm for legislators to champion the presidential policy agenda. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the president shall “recommend” to Congress for their “consideration” measures he “shall judge necessary and expedient...”

You should note, and so should members of Congress, it does not use words like “order” or “obey.” The president makes recommendations, which a fully functional Congress shall then consider. They can create their own legislation without regard to presidential directives, though the president has his own check on Congress, the veto.

What we have now is a Congressional majority about as far removed from independence as possible. They mostly just legislate in lockstep to whatever the president wants regardless of the efficacy or legality. They are responsible for a budget but appear to be asking the president’s permission to create one. The Democrat minority simply opposes everything proposed, good or bad, by the president or his party, so we have an ineffective Congress being steamrolled by a president with autocratic instincts.

The days of the political parties working together to achieve objectives that help everyone are, at least temporarily, over. We don’t have leaders of either party seemingly capable of working together for the common good. No Tip O’Neill sharing a drink with President Reagan, no Newt Gingrich working together with President Clinton to actually balance the budget, which they did multiple times.

Part of the problem here is a lack of understanding of how our system actually works. Both sides appear to believe it’s all linear—legislation leads to some kind of court action which leads to more court action which leads to a Supreme Court ruling, which is the end.

But our system is not linear, it’s circular. Legislation rejected by the courts can be rewritten to pass constitutional muster. If new legislation isn’t sufficient to satisfy a court ruling, the Constitution can be amended, as has happened 27 times previously.

The complaining about activist judges will likely continue as long as the president is willing to ignore statutes and the Constitution and the judiciary continues to overturn his extralegal decisions. Yes, so many injunctions because of so many unconstitutional orders and decisions.

Follow the rules, obey the law, respect the Constitution, and stop whining.

View On Our Website