As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been providing “Constitutional Minutes” to Women4Change; for the past few weeks, I’ve been sending a brief description of a constitutional provision, and an explanation of how Trump is violating it, to the organization for posting on its webpage. It occurs to me that I should share a couple of those explanations here, in support of my assertion that we are in the midst of a grand-daddy of a Constitutional crisis.
Let’s look, for example, at Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship.
Section One of the 14th Amendment reads as follows: 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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Trump’s Executive Order, in pertinent part, reads: It is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
The law is clear. A president cannot repeal part of the Constitution by executive order. Congress cannot repeal a Constitutional provision by passing a new law. Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, and subsequent ratification by three-quarters of the states.
Or let’s look at Elon Musk’s rampage through the federal government.
In our constitutional system, power comes from We the People. Only officials selected through constitutional methods may wield power in our name. Past Supreme Court cases have make it clear that individuals who serve in “continuing” positions and who exercise “significant authority” on behalf of the United States must be appointed consistent with Article II’s Appointments Clause. That clause sets forth two methods to appoint “officers of the United States.” “Principal” officers must be nominated by the president and are subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
With respect to “inferior officers,” the Constitution allows Congress to give the appointment power to the president, to the head of a department, or to the courts. However, inferior officers must be subject to the supervision of someone other than the president. Those who report directly to the president are by definition principal officers.
The Appointments Clause subjects individuals wielding significant authority — principal officers — to Senate confirmation. Elon Musk is clearly wielding significant power (as evidenced by growing references to him as a “co-President.”) His activities through DOGE—a “department” that does not exist—are wreaking constant havoc with the operations of critical government agencies, threatening everything from FEMA’s responses to South Carolina’s fires to the timely delivery of Social Security checks.
There are at least two pending lawsuits alleging that Musk’s power cannot be squared with the Appointments Clause—that to exercise the authority he is exercising, he must be appointed as provided by the Constitution. (One such case, in Maryland, was filed by current and former federal employees and contractors; another, in Washington, D.C., was brought by a number of states.) The judge in the Maryland case said that he was “highly suspicious” of the administration’s (phony) explanation for Musk’s role. The judge in the Washington case has found that Musk has “rapidly taken steps to fundamentally reshape the executive branch,” with no apparent “source of legal authority” and that his actions appear to describe “precisely the ‘executive abuses’ that the Appointments Clause seeks to prevent.”
Over the past few weeks, I’ve identified several other obvious and egregious violations of America’s founding charter. There are numerous lawsuits pending, and growing public anger, but there is no guarantee that Trump will obey the courts, and thus far, no indications that Congressional Republicans will locate their spines.
Meanwhile, Trump and Musk are busy destroying the federal government’s ability to operate domestically, and betraying our allies abroad.
As the saying goes, we aren’t in Kansas anymore….
Comments