The Court

The Supreme Court, like every other institution in the United States, is dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.  Oral arguments, the grist of Supreme Court action, were postponed both in March and April.  The Court is now planning to remotely meet in May, and for the first time in history, allow live voice broadcast of the arguments.  That’s because the Justices are holding arguments by phone (NPR).

Two of the cases the Court will hear are about President Trump’s financial records, and whether Congress has the power to subpoena them.  There is also an additional case, a Grand Jury subpoena of Trump’s records from New York.  All three subpoenas were upheld in the lower Courts.

Traditional Conservatives

Traditionally, American conservatives have been in favor of Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch.  Only a decade ago, Congress demanded that the Executive branch answer to subpoenas investigating the Internal Revenue Service for harassing conservative action committees, the Justice Department for a botched Mexican gun buying investigation, and, of course, the multiple investigations into what happened at Benghazi.  With one notable exception, the Obama administration responded to those actions (Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately refused to release some documents, after testifying three times to the Republican controlled committees).

Now Congress is asking the President to turn over financial records, including his tax returns.  One of those requests, made by the Ways and Means Committee of the Democratically controlled House, cites a Federal law that gives them the power to request any individual tax return, written specifically because of Executive Branch corruption during the Teapot Dome Scandals in the 1920’s.  As was pointed here in Trump World over a year ago, it’s clear law (26 US Code § 6103 (f) (1)).

Traditional conservatives, at home in the Republican Party, have always favored the balancing of Constitutional power. Common sense says then that the conservative majority on the Supreme Court will uphold that balance.  But don’t hold your breath.

Unassailable Power

The majority Justices of the Supreme Court aren’t traditional conservatives.  They have embraced a philosophy that is far from the traditional conservatism of Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan.  They espouse a theory of massive executive authority, granting the President powers and privileges that would have appalled James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, principal authors of the Constitution.  With that, and the clear partisan split of the Court with five Republicans and four Democrats, and it’s possible the President may gain the power to hide his own finances from any investigating eyes.

The Supreme Court may not be the only ones burning their conservative bridges to protect the Trump Presidency.  The leaders of the Republican Party have remained silent during the COVID-19 crisis.  The follies of the Trump daily briefing, from Lysol to Chloroquine, to the President’s claim of “total authority” have all gone on with little Republican comment.  And the Trump Administration’s amazing silence about the achievements of a fellow Republican, Governor Mike DeWine in Ohio, is deafening.

It is all about November.  Given the choice between a Democratic nominee like Joe Biden, or accepting the botched handling of this existential crisis, Republicans are standing silent.   We see it in the information void from Republican Senators, and the ridiculous “principled stands” of Congressman Tom Massie delaying House response (Politico).

Gaslighting

And we also see it in the Trump Administration itself, who have embraced a policy placing responsibility for COVID-19 testing on the states, instead of making it a national priority.  The reason is clear and political:  the tests aren’t available to determine whether to open the economy.  If we wait for testing, then the economy won’t recover in time for the November election, and there will be no path for a Trump re-election.  And even if there were the tests, the results might show that the economy cannot open.  So open the economy and accept the increased deaths and illnesses that may create, in order to win the political argument:  “it’s the economy stupid”.

This plan is backed up by a social media campaign by Trump surrogates, demanding that the economy MUST be reopened now, or America will be ruined.  This triggers millions who fear that the country will never “return to normal”.  That ultimate nightmare somehow makes the potential loss of life more palatable.

The nation is being “gaslighted”.   We are being distracted, not for economic reasons, but political ones.  And it’s not just Trump, it’s all of the other Republicans, from the Supreme Court to the Senate, who are letting him do it.  They have burned their political bridges.  They are risking American lives.   When the “butcher’s bill” is delivered, they will have no place to retreat.