In Peril

Balance of Power

Back in “the day”, I taught my classes about the “checks and balances” in the US Constitution.   We discussed which branch; the Congress, the President, or the Courts, had the most power.  And we talked about the practical power of the President.  There is a single “mind” to determine what actions to take, versus the Congress, where at least half of the House and half of the Senate, 267 total legislators, must agree to move forward.  What Congress does have is the power of the “purse”.  They control how government money is spent.  As long as they have majorities, they can act.  The Executive might do anything, but if Congress won’t pay for it, then it won’t happen.

The ”power of the purse” still exists.   Congress can determine what money the government spends, and, through established law, how it is spent.  So it’s not like the Trump Administration, with their massive cuts and firings, is operating in a vacuum.  The United States Congress is tacitly agreeing with DOGE; the cuts, the firings, and the altered spending plans.  Congress isn’t standing up for the “power of the purse”, they willingly  are giving it to the President.

Powerless 

Why is Congress abandoning its main source of power?  First, the operating majority of both Houses of Congress are committed to the ideals of Project 2025, the “disestablishment of the administrative state”.   They are willing to allow extra-legal means, seemingly rogue actions by the Administration in violation of existing law, in order to rapidly achieve the goals of the 900 page report. (That’s the same report that candidate Trump didn’t know much about). 

Second, they are driven by fear; fear of being targets of Donald Trump.    I made a most disheartening discovery in the last fifteen years.  I thought that the leaders I disagreed with were still honorable with the best interest of the Nation at heart.  They really aren’t.  They are driven by simple political survival,  and are doing whatever is required to stay in office.  (Not all; Ohio’s Rob Portman is a great example of a Republican politician who “chose not to play”. He retired from the Senate). 

Speedbump

And third, many are driven by simple cash.   Not bribery necessarily, but the reality of modern campaigning.  The average winning House campaign cost $2 million in the 2020 election cycle (Good Party).  Senate campaigns are much, much more.  Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s former Senator, spent over $100 million campaigning over his last term in office. And he lost.  When Elon Musk offers millions either to a sitting legislator, or to their next challenger; it’s a very real threat.  The carrot is large, but the stick is even bigger.

So Congress abrogated its power to control executive actions.   And, frankly, the minority, my political party, hasn’t even managed to “get in the way”.  We aren’t even a speed bump on the road to Presidential domination.   It’s true that speed bumps regularly get run over,  but they do slow traffic down.  Last week, Senator Schumer determined to not even try.

Let Him Enforce It

 As far as the Courts are concerned, my students talked about their power over the other two branches as symbolic.   I often brought up the example of President Andrew Jackson, who determined to ignore a Supreme Court order that would have interrupted the “Indian Removal” (the “Trail of Tears” was part of that removal).  Legendary Chief Justice John Marshall led the Court in ruling against Jackson’s actions.  But Jackson famously retorted:  “John Marshall made his decision, let him enforce it”. 

US Courts have no “enforcement arm”.   The police, the Marshals, Agents, Officers, all work for the executive branch, at the behest of the President; not the Courts.  Andrew Jackson knew well that HE controlled the army that was marching the Cherokee to Oklahoma, not John Marshall.  And like Donald Trump today, Jackson was totally confident that the Congress was behind him.  Certainly the wealth in land sales that removing the Indians allowed, encouraged Congressional support .  

So the current President of the United States ignores Court decisions, defies Court orders, and literally laughs when defying Federal judges.   When a judge ordered Trump’s ICE to return hundreds of Venezuelans  from being deported to El Salvador; the planes still landed, and the prisoners transferred to El Salvadoran “care”.   Even the President of El Salvador was “in” on the joke, tweeting “oops – too late”.

When another Federal Judge ordered the reinstatement of USAID funds, the Trump Administration refused.  The same MAGA-Republicans chortled when their own “pet judge”, Federal District Judge Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, stopped one Biden initiative after another. They now claim; “A single judge in a single city cannot dictate the movement of a plane filled with foreign terrorists who have already been physically removed from U.S. soil,” (Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt).

Final Actions

All of this will end in the US Supreme Court.   And nothing is sure there.  Three of the Justices will stand for the Constitution.  Three or four will clearly follow the President.  The middle two or three will determine the future of our Democracy.  And even if they rule against Trump’s actions, there’s no guarantee he’ll obey.

If Trump doesn’t follow the Court, the only recourse is back to Congress.   A majority of the House, and two-thirds of the Senate would have to agree to impeach and remove him.  And that is as likely as Trump himself saying “I’ve gone too far”.  So what will happen to our country, our carefully balanced Constitutional Republic?  Do we survive until the election of 2028, or even the Congressional elections of 2026?  

When there is no balance, we are a boat listing to one side.   Disaster is just a single wave away.   We, the People of the United States, are in peril.