There is no way to adjudicate our way out of another Trump presidency. The issues we face are just too fundamental to be handled through the courts alone. Once an individual has the kind of grip Trump has on his base, it is very difficult to restore and maintain democratic guardrails. Much more than just lawyers and precedents will be needed if we are to do something meaningful and get to the heart of Trump’s executive overreach.
There really are not three co-equal branches of government. The constitution makes it clear that the legislative branch is the most significant, because it most directly represents the will of the people. The forefathers simply did not intend for the courts to have this kind of role in democracy under these kinds of circumstances.
The Supreme Court may be wrong about presidential immunity, but they have a perverse point. The Justice Department going after a former president is not the way the founding fathers would have preferred us to deal with a man like Trump. Not to say that Jack Smith’s work wasn’t important, but it was an imperfect way of addressing the problem. Trump should have been impeached.
The question is what to do when members of congress forgo their constitutional responsibilities. America is facing a constitutional crisis that the forefathers anticipated but knew could be very difficult to advert. Government simply cannot function without congress’s oversight role. However, critically, simply because Democrats are narrowly in the minority doesn’t mean that they cannot fulfill their role as direct representatives of the people.
Trump is convinced that he has a broad mandate for radical change. This “mandate” is a smokescreen. Trump won the popular vote by a whopping 1.5%. It is not that the entire American population has given Trump permission to do whatever he wants. The people who sent Trump to the White House asked specific things of him. So far he seems to be delivering on those promises.
However, it is an issue of just how extreme Trump has become. One of the things about surrounding yourself with yes men is that you lose perspective about how extreme you have become in relation to the outside world. Trump will go too far for that 1.5% of voters who maybe wanted economic change but didn’t necessarily vote for radical overhauls. When the effects of Trump’s policies hit home some critical group of voters will regret Trump. One of two things is going to happen: either the negative consequences of Trump’s nihilistic approach will become untenable, or Trump will be forced to back off. At that moment, progressive legislators must be there.
There is a role for the judicial branch when it comes to the threat Trump represents, but it is far more important for Democrats in congress to keep fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities, despite being in the minority. Legislatures do more than just vote, they also give voice to the American people. Never has that sacred duty been more important.
Progressive Without Apology 