I spent 21 years teaching college students about law and public policy–about the limits that a country’s legal framework imposes on the policies that legislators can legitimately consider. For a significant portion of those years, I was also an annoying scold, ranting about the undeniable fact that most Americans were uninterested in and unaware of the provisions of the constitutional framework that constrain what American government can legally do.
We are now reaping the consequences of that massive constitutional ignorance.
A would-be dictator has taken residence in the Oval Office, and has proceeded to ignore the legal restraints on presidential power. Given his intellectual deficits and manifest ignorance, it is very likely that he is as unaware of those restraints as he is of the American Idea–the underlying philosophy of the Constitution–and of the basic operations of government. (I doubt he could even spell philosophy, given his third-grade vocabulary.)
I have previously cited the constitutional provisions vesting Congress with exclusive authority over many of the areas Trump purports to “rule” with his firehouse of Executive Orders. Such orders have a limited provenance; as Josh Marshall explained on Talking Points Memo a while back explained more clearly than I have.
Most people, including a lot of journalists, don’t understand what an executive order even is. It’s not a law or even a quasi-law. An executive order is really just a memo from the president to his staff (in this sense, his staff of two million civil servants) to take certain actions. Do this and don’t do that. Enforce this law in that way. Those can be actions the Constitution empowers him to take or ones Congress specifically assigns to him through laws. I interpret the law this way, so take this action, etc. In areas where presidents have a lot of power — say, in border and immigration enforcement, for instance — executive orders are a big deal. Courts can say: no, the law or the Constitution doesn’t empower you or allow you to do those things. But executives act and courts mostly react. So in this area of broad executive power, they’re a big deal. That’s also where you get into the territory of genuine constitutional crises and potential presidential dictatorship, because the outer limits of some of those powers aren’t clearly charted.
In other areas–very much including election administration–an Executive Order is flat-out unconstitutional.
But presidents have little to no power over election administration. States administer American elections, for state and federal office. Congress is empowered to create certain baseline rules for how states administer elections, in addition to those enumerated in the Constitution. But that’s the federal role — a critical fact under present circumstances, as I noted a week ago. The president has very little power beyond having the Justice Department bring lawsuits over claimed constitutional infractions or failure to follow federal law. In other words, an executive order on election administration is mostly meaningless — and this is the case for multiple reasons…. Elections are administered by state officials and they are part of a separate, untethered sovereignty. The U.S. president can’t fire a governor or a mayor, ever. Federal law is supreme over state law. That makes states subordinate to but still not at the command of the president. They’re separate sovereignties. It is as though the tendons or draw-wires that connect a head of state down to local government in a unitary state have simply been severed in a federal one. He doesn’t just lack the authority. He lacks the power. As I explained Monday, the real issue is going to come when the president tries to use his unauthorized power to extort compliance by withholding money.
As Marshall notes, it’s one thing when most Americans don’t understand this; it’s close to unforgivable when most journalists don’t–when they cannot even offer clear descriptions of how the mechanics of government are actually supposed to work.
We are, as he says, “ten years in,” and yet Trump is still able to project an authority he very clearly does not possess. His ability to do so is a direct consequence of civic illiteracy–not just the public’s lack, but that of a worrisome percentage of the media. And when cowardly Republican office-holders are joined by cowardly law firms and universities that have bent to financial extortion, and by plutocrats willing to trade the stable governance that made their riches possible for an autocrat’s promise of special treatment…constitutional limits evaporate.
Civic ignorance has consequences, and we’re experiencing them.
Those constitutional limits are evaporating before our very eyes. The rule the law gone. Freedom of speech gone. Habeas corpus gone. The”checks” that the country’s founders put into place to keep this from happening are not working. And they are not working due to the incredible spinelessness and power greed of Republican judges and legislators. Trump should have been checked when he was first impeached; certainly the second time should have put him into the dustbin of history. Now, not only has he regained the White House, he has put into place a regime of lawlessness not seen in the world since the rise of Hitler.
I do not see how this ends without violence. I weep for my country and all that I hold dear. I doubt that I am alone.
Oh, I think the monster knows perfectly well what the “limits” are. Note that he has basically stacked the Supreme Court. Note that he appointed a federal judge who is the spouse of someone who used to work for him. Note that he was “educated” for his grifting mentality and power lust by none other than Roy Cohen. Note that as a “businessman”, he was protected and enabled for the grift from people who DID know what they were doing.
He just doesn’t care and he’s happily daring the courts to stop his bullshit orders. Will they? Will Congress? I doubt it. Will he allow elections in 2026? We’ll see.
Unsure if they still do, but the ACLU used to mail out a free pocket-sized version of the Constitution and Amendments. Very handy for both journalists and anyone that supports democracy. Last Saturday, the rallies showed an estimated 5 million people who want to keep our government functioning and intact. It was heartening to be out with so many people who also want to “make good trouble.” The next Hands Off protest is on April 19th, 2025. Letʻs get 10 million of us out there!
President for life Trump? President Musk? I don’t think anyone’s laughing!
And don’t forget, Vern, Roy Cohn was a lawyer who mentored Trump in his early days as a ‘businessman.’ How many people got screwed by his six bankruptcies? Wikipedia has a page devoted to all his lawsuits and criminal behavior. It begs the question, does he not care, or is he a protected asset?
Before officially pausing the tariffs, Dear Leader told everyone who follows him on social media, “Now was a good time to buy.” He signed it DJT, or the name of his company. That is a pure violation of Securities Law, but will there be consequences?
Dear Leader is a product of his privileged upbringing, which carried over to his so-called business career. His parents protected him from negative consequences, and so did his inner circle. When people can escape the consequences of their decisions, they will not change their behavior or decisions. Dear Leader should be called ‘King Baby’ because that is his syndrome. He’s a 13-14-year-old trapped in a grotesque orange-faced body.
Talk about “The Emperor Who Has No Clothes.”
There are very few “journalists in our media. ” They are highly paid entertainers in a corporate profit machine. Anyone who threatens the bottom line is kicked out. Dear Leader insisted a few journalists be fired, which was arranged. Do you think the other reporters weren’t watching?
As I’ve mentioned before, journalist students from Ball State have asked about paid internships at Muncie Voice so they can apply the skills being taught. They are storytellers and public relations peeps with English language skills. That’s not journalism to me. In the 1930s, it was called “yellow journalism.” I still refer to it as the same, so I hold the media as accountable as the government.
An excellent example was the old Gannett-owned IndyStar. The only way to gain access to public officials in Indy was to kiss their asses. You had to play their game so they would answer your emails or allow you to interview them. If you didn’t, you lost access, and as a “government reporter” with no access, you were worthless to Gannett.
Needless to say, I destroyed the phony reporters at Gannett in Muncie and Indy. It wasn’t hard. However, the readers of both newspapers thought they were getting the inside scoop from these writers. It wasn’t even close. If you get your news from the TV, you’re getting business propaganda. Period.
The Dems had the chance to limit this little massacre when they had the White House, the Senate, and the House in the first half of Biden’s term. When you hold all the cards you have to play your hand. We the people needed to put some muscle behind the Constitution. If there are no consequences for violating your oath of office, for ignoring Constitutional requirements, or using the office to enrich yourself, well, why not do it?
Obama wasted his first term as well. He spent all of his political capital trying to get Republicans to accept a Republican health care bill. If you missed it, Obamacare was the Heritage Foundation (yes, that 2025 Heritage Foundation) plan that Mitt Romney used to get healthcare for all when he was Governor of Massachusetts. He should have spent some capital on immigration too.
Clearly what we have today could have been foreseen. But let’s learn from our mistakes and from Orange Jesus. If you have a plan, whether or not your candidate knows what’s there, you have to have the bills you care about ready to go on day one.
Here I go again, off topic: In her testimony before Congress Pam Bondi said, under oath, that there wouldn’t be an enemies list at the DoJ. That can only be true if the list is kept exclusively in the White House. She should be referred for investigation, but she would have to order the investigation of herself. Seems unlikely.
Certainly, a revolution like the first one and the Civil War is coming. The energy, courage, and organization to do that are growing. The time for pontificating is over, and it’s time to do.
Everyone regrets the need for this and its upcoming consequences, but they pale compared to the consequences of not doing it on our children, grandchildren, and their children.
We, the people, brought it on ourselves because we got too comfortable and entitled. As Mom used to say, “You made your bed, now lie in it.
I have repeatedly read the banner stating the Supreme Court has ordered Trump to “…facilitate” the RELEASE of the immigrant MISTAKENLY deported to El Salvador…” Was that the exact order? If so, was it DELIBERATELY worded to cover only the “release” of the victim and omit the order to include “to return him to his home in Maryland”? We are now seeing the excuse that he is currently in the full control of El Salvador and Trump’s Executive Orders and Supreme Court decisions have no powers over the MISTAKENLY DEPORTED Maryland legal immigrant resident.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMMIGRANTS TODAY IS ALREADY BEING REPORTED THAT THE SAME FATE CAN BE MET BY AMERICAN CITIZENS.
“Civic ignorance has consequences, and we’re experiencing them.” Do you suppose if we would inform Trump, Musk and the entire Executive, Legislature and Judicial branches of our government that we are now aware they are breaking all of our laws; would they immediately cease and desist from their lawbreaking and we would all live happily ever after?
I’m sticking with you, Theresa Bowers: “I do not see how this ends without violence. I weep for my country and all that I hold dear. I doubt that I am alone.”
Back to one dog’s bark on “what to do” beyond parading….target the November 2025 elections. Steps already presented:
1. Learn what local elections are being held where you live. You can find them here: https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_municipal_elections,_2025
2. Then get more specific: for example:https://ballotpedia.org/Indiana_local_election_coverage,_2025
3. Next – the best shot are “competitive races”, so…use your search engine to look at the 2023 election results for your county and/or city. That should give you an idea of what races/offices were “competitive”.
More to come. Harder work than “showing up”, but better chance of real results.
J. Smith Jones. Is that date for Hands Off protest official? I see nothing about it on their web site. Anyone else know for sure? I want to rally my friends but don’t want to give them inaccurate info.
Trump signs executive orders, and then parades them in front of the cameras, essentially saying “See what I can do?” And he pushes the boundaries all the time, to determine what he can get away with.
What he gets away with is grifting, scamming and intimidating.
In the past those Executive Orders would not be treated as ‘Gospel’ but Congress has been slowly giving up their power and now the GOP treats these orders as law. I have been stunned how these ‘orders’ have been implemented as ‘gospel’. Our judicial system is so slow and these ‘orders’ are coming so rapidly that the system can’t keep up. Plus, I don’t think the Fore Fathers of the Constitution thought an entire party (a group of people) would partake in this level of corruption. They seem to understand some basics of human nature but didn’t foresee ‘group’ thoughts and dynamics thus no guard rails on an entire party. The GOP does not believe in democracy and have not believed in it for a LONG time. There would be no Trump if it wasn’t for the GOP
JoAnn,
If Trump or Bondi claim they don’t have any authority over El Salvador and their corrupt president, they are LYING. I believe the amount we are paying El Presidente to house the prisoners is $2+ million annually. They can withhold payment until Abrego Garcia is released.
They also know MS-13 leaders have blackmailed material on El Presidente for bribing the gang members to throw their support behind the president while halting gang violence in return for preferential treatment in prison and once out. El Presidente didn’t want them to have due process in a court of law because their testimony would become a matter of public record. The entire deportation was a scam, and there is more than Abrego Garcia sent to prison in error.
I’m wondering about the administration of the Electoral College. I read somewhere that this is done by the National Archives, and that has been taken over by Trump appointees. Is this right and what are the consequences?