Three Branches Of Government Or Just One?

For the first time in our history, a President appears ready to reduce the other two branches of our government – Congress and the Judiciary – to mere arms of the President and Executive Branch.

President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want.”

This is not how a democracy is run. It’s what’s known in other countries as an autocracy or a dictatorship.

Here are some clues to look for.

➡️ Is a would-be autocrat turning the nation’s law enforcement into a tool of vengeance and retribution?

➡️ Is a would-be autocrat trying to strip Congress of its greatest power?

➡️ Is a would-be autocrat getting ready to ignore rulings by the nation’s Judiciary and thereby destroy the third branch of government?

You don’t have to look far.

President Trump Is Weaponizing The Justice Department, FBI, And Law Enforcement

Trump is letting convicted criminals out of prison, including Jan. 6 criminals who violently attacked police officers; ending criminal investigations; stopping enforcement of anti-corruption laws; firing law enforcement officers, agents, and lawyers, in order to replace them with Trump loyalists; removing security from those who have been threatened by terrorists; and turning our nation’s law enforcement into a tool of personal vengeance and retribution.

President Trump Apparently Is Out To Emasculate The Most Important Constitutional Power Given To Congress, The Power Of The Purse

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 establishes procedures to prevent the President and other government officials from unilaterally substituting their own funding decisions for those of Congress, which has the constitutional power of the purse.

But Trump and his OMB Director Russell Vought consider the Act unconstitutional and are withholding funds appropriated by Congress.

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Impoundment Control Act in 1975. If the Court now rules that the President can override Congress’s spending decisions, the most important power of Congress will be lost.

President Trump And His Administration Are Seeking To Override The Judiciary

In 1803, Marbury v. Madison established that the Supreme Court has the final word on the meaning of our laws and our Constitution.

This landmark ruling has meant that the courts are empowered to review the actions of Congress and the Executive Branch and determine if their actions are constitutional and comply with federal law.

Under Marbury, the Supreme Court and lower federal courts have served as the final arbiter of the law and the Constitution for 222 years.

And everyone has gone along with it.

Until now.

President Trump and his minions are calling Marbury and the idea of judicial review into question with the apparent aim of ultimately ignoring court decisions they don’t like.

Trump’s agenda is already being challenged in more than 50 lawsuits and multiple legal actions have blocked Trump executive orders that appear to violate laws and the Constitution.

For example, federal district Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, found Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship “blatantly unconstitutional,” writing, “It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals.” (Three other judges also have found the executive order unconstitutional.)

Earlier this week, a federal district judge found that the Administration failed to comply with his order to release billions of dollars that had been frozen by an executive order. This was the first case where a Judge found that the Trump Administration had failed to comply with an earlier court order.

After another federal judge blocked access for Elon Musk and DOGE to the Treasury Department’s payments system, Musk called for the judge’s impeachment and for “an immediate wave of judicial impeachments.”

President Trump chimed in: “No judge should frankly be allowed to make that kind of a decision.”

Vice President JD Vance added: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said federal courts should back off.

On Wednesday, Musk called another federal judge “evil” for ordering the Administration to restore data on the CDC and other health websites.

Clearly, Trump and his allies don’t care that our nation’s Constitution was crafted to give the Judiciary, as a co-equal branch of government, the power to make the final decisions on whether actions of the Executive Branch are constitutional and legal.

One or more of the cases dealing with the Administration’s effort to restrict government spending that Congress has appropriated will ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court rules against Trump and his Administration and they refuse to comply with the Court’s order (despite Trump’s recent comment to the contrary), we face losing the judicial branch as a crucial check on the President and Executive Branch.

Trump, the would-be autocrat, is a dangerous threat to the democracy our country has stood for since our founding. This must be fought.

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