By Carol Lucas
“No one is above the law.”
How many times have we heard this uttered, sometimes with certainty, or, as of late, with a sigh of longing? And how many times must it be repeated to make it a truism because, unfortunately, the Constitution that upholds this is ignored almost daily by the present administration.
But first, let’s take a look at how Republicans used to think. A man by the name of Turnbull posted online what he says the Republican party used to stand for but no longer believes in. He began with limited government and added states’ rights. The list also addressed citizen rights to protect themselves. But perhaps the one that stood out for me was “respect for the judiciary.”
I have said more than once that there is a huge gap between “real conservatives,” and those of red-hat infamy; between the John McCains and the Lindsey Grahams. I have also made it clear I have voted for Republicans in the past when I agreed with what they stood for.
My contention now, however, is this: the law has no political affiliation and adherence to the law isn’t to be argued.
How have we, once a nation of laws, come to the point where this administration blatantly ignores what the courts have decreed or at the very least bends those laws to their advantage?
We need only look at the immigration situation to see how the laws have been twisted for convenience, purposefully distorted or simply ignored. On May 16, SCOTUS handed down a significant order regarding the administration’s efforts to seize immigrants and deport them to foreign prisons. The court reaffirmed that these people needed a reasonable amount of time to challenge their deportations.
Apparently, this mattered very little to those in charge as the masked, poorly trained goon squads emerged like fire ants with the same amount of venom. The court opinion was the first time the justices — all but two — acknowledged that when it comes to the Trump administration, they are not dealing with a compliant litigant.
One observer stated, “the Trump administration’s actions have served as proof; the Supreme Court seems to have grasped this new reality of a government gone rogue.”
It can be hard to spot this defiance, because the administration typically acts as if it will follow court orders. In hearings and briefs, even when it is stretching the truth or misrepresenting the law, Justice Department lawyers behave as if everything is normal. In their defiance of the lower courts, this is especially true.
I could reference so many specific cases. Instead I will ask you to remember the first such instance when Kilmar Abrego Garcia was sent in error to El Salvador’s infamous Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), a wartime law Trump (illegally) invoked.
Eventually Garcia was returned, but not before Congressional representatives went to El Salvador and came back with such damning evidence that the administration had no choice. By their deliberate slowing of the process, it became their modus operandi to make a thousand small cuts into the rule of law. To this day Garcia still isn’t guaranteed his life in this country, having become the whipping boy for the administration’s ego.
And now to the most recent ruling. Once again, the Supreme Court has ruled against Trump’s Administration on the issue of tariffs. And once again, I refer you to our Constitution.
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, Commerce: The Constitution vests in Congress expressly “the power to lay and collect taxes duties imposts & excises;” and “the power to regulate trade.”
The Supreme Court last week ruled that President Donald Trump violated federal law when he unilaterally imposed sweeping tariffs across the globe, a striking loss for the White House on an issue that has been central to the president’s foreign policy and economic agenda. (ABC News)
So sayeth the law.
Yet it appears the law be damned because less than 24 hours after the court rendered its decision, 47 came out with a blistering commentary on the members of the court who voted against his actions and indicated there are ways to get around this. That night he announced he would sign an executive order imposing a 10% global tariff, and in his child-like manner, raised that figure to 15% the next morning.
These tariffs have generated a mountain of revenue — more than $289 billion last year — all paid by American importers “and consumers.” Now, Trump faces the prospect of repaying over $175 billion in tariff fees to injured parties, according to a Penn-Wharton Budget Model analysis.
In his dissent, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that refunding taxpayers would be nothing short of a logistical mess. Perhaps this is true, but it is a mess of 47’s making, and it is about time he starts cleaning up the screw-ups he has heaped upon the U.S. This one is as good a place to start as any.
Of course, that would require Congress to grow a spine and reassert itself as a coequal branch of government. We all know where Speaker Johnson is- squarely embedded in 47’s pocket. And you thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you dear reader?
But I digress.
It’s worth noting Johnson actually tried to formally surrender Congress’s tariff powers to Trump, and was derailed by three members of his party.
We must get back on track, first and foremost, by adhering to the Constitution which clearly delineates the three separate but equal branches of our government.
However, I have to say that I am not holding my breath until this happens. Sadly enough, I expect chaos-as-usual.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”