Jun.30

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Trump Isn't Exactly Doing a Power Grab

While it might seem that Donald Trump is doing a power grab, that isn't exactly true. The other two branches of government are handing him unlimited power on a golden platter and he is merely taking what is being graciously offered. What is actually happening is that he tries something audacious and then the other branches promptly approve what he did instead of vigorously pushing back. To wit:

• Tariffs: The Constitution specifically enumerates the powers of Congress. Art. I, Sec. 8 begins with: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States..." "Imposts" is an archaic word for "tariff," that is, a tax on imports (and possibly exports). When Trump tried this, Congress could have immediately responded by repealing any old laws giving the president some special powers during an emergency and passing a new law (over his veto) saying that the president may not levy any tariffs at all and that customs inspectors are forbidden from collecting any tariffs except in accordance with specific statutes passed by Congress. CACO here.
  
  
• War: Another power specifically granted to Congress is the power to declare war. In the run-up to the Iran bombing, Congress could have passed a resolution reminding this president and future ones that they have no power to attack other countries (which is an act of war) without the express permission from Congress and that doing so is an impeachable offense. In a pinch, secret sessions of each chamber could have been called to give authorization and have the bombing start immediately thereafter, followed by Congress making its secret action known. At the very least, Congress could have passed a resolution condemning Trump for usurping its constitutional power, but not a peep.
  
  
• Emergency Powers: There is a very old law specifying that the president has special powers when the country is being invaded. Congress could have clarified this by modifying the law to specify that an "invasion" means that a hostile foreign power has sent its armed forces to U.S. territory without the explicit permission of the president or secretary of defense. Again, the legislature just ceded the power to let the president declare anything he wants to as an invasion in order to get emergency powers. Congress didn't have to allow this.
  
  
• National Guard: A state's national guard is normally under the control of the governor. Again, Congress could have changed the law to make it completely explicit that the national guard is strictly under the control of the governors and that overriding the wishes of the governor requires Congress to vote for a national emergency. This time Congress is giving away the states' powers, rather than its own. Whatever happened to federalism?
  
  
• Birthright Citizenship: The wording of the Fourteenth Amendment couldn't have been more clear. Sec 1. starts with: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Last week, the Supreme Court caved and instead of simply stating that Trump's citizenship XO was blatantly unconstitutional and thus invalid, it said the courts can't enforce the Constitution. It could have struck down the XO 9-0 with a biting opinion saying that the Supreme Court, not the president, gets to decide what the Constitution means. It didn't. It ceded its power to the Executive Branch. Voluntarily. Maybe in a couple of years it will decide this case on the merits. Also, maybe the next Democratic president will use this precedent to sign an XO stating that the Second Amendment applies only to the smooth-bore muzzle-loading muskets available in 1789 and Congress may regulate or ban any weapons not available in 1789 and the courts have no power to overrule this.

A paucity of profiles in courage here, all around. An imperial presidency didn't just happen. The other branches simply voluntarily gave up their powers instead of coming down hard on the Executive Branch. Clearly, the Republicans are expecting a 1000-year reich and not even thinking about what the other team might do with these expanded powers should it ever get full control of the government. (V)