First, let’s everybody stop saying we’re “approaching” a constitutional crisis, or “risking” one, or whatever. It’s here. We’re smack in the middle of it.
Everyone’s looking to the courts to stop Trump, but Trump and his people have made it clear they’re ignoring the courts. It is the administration’s official policy that courts have no authority over presidents.
Lawyers for the Trump administration argued late Sunday that a court order blocking Elon Musk’s aides from entering the Treasury Department’s payment and data systems impinged on the president’s absolute powers over the executive branch, which they said the courts could not usurp.
This part is rich:
They argued that the order violated the Constitution by ignoring the separation of powers and severing the executive branch’s right to appoint its own employees. The restriction, they wrote, “draws an impermissible and anti-constitutional distinction” between civil servants and political appointees working in the Treasury Department.
“Separation of powers” only works one way with Trump; his way.
The filing followed warning shots over the weekend. Vice President JD Vance declared that the courts and judges were not allowed “to control the executive’s legitimate power,” although American courts have long engaged in the practice of judicial review.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump called the ruling by Judge Engelmayer a “disgrace” and said that “no judge should, frankly, be allowed to make that kind of a decision.”
Writing for The Atlantic, Jonathan Chait (yeah, I know, he’s wrong a lot) writes that Trump’s determination to simply govern by executive orders and whatever Musk feels like doing is especially remarkable considering Republicans control Congress, and Republicans in Congress have been entirely compliant to Trump’s demands (with the exception of the Matt Gaetz appointment). Trump could easily accomplish what he wants through the usual constitutional processes. He just doesn’t want to bother.
Just as Trump and Musk are refusing to submit their plans to a Congress that their party controls, they are at least toying with the notion of ignoring orders by a court they have shaped. The Supreme Court, which has final word on all constitutional disputes, has a two-to-one majority of Republican appointees. When Vance floated the idea of defying the courts in 2021, he was anticipating his party taking actions so indisputably illegal that not even friendly justices would swallow them. They are prepared to smash a system they control, simply because it won’t move at the frantic pace they demand. …
… Just this weekend, The WashingtonPost reported that the administration is asking candidates for national-security and law-enforcement positions to answer questions such as “Who were the ‘real patriots’ on Jan. 6? Who won the 2020 election?” and declining to offer jobs to those who fail to supply MAGA answers. Trump has sanctified the insurrection, has criminalized the prosecution of even its most violent activities, and is screening out anybody willing to question his belief that he is entitled to absolute power.
If you had predicted things like this before the election, most Republicans would have accused you of Trump derangement syndrome. Yet Republicans have barely uttered a peep of protest in the face of these actions.
Given his party’s near-total acquiescence in every previous step toward authoritarianism, perhaps Trump would not have to be crazy to take the next one. The entire administration is intoxicated with power. The crisis lies not in the structure of government so much as in the character of the party that runs it, which refuses to accept the idea that its defeat is ever legitimate or that its power has any limits.
Yet even Chait (who is wrong a lot) begins the essay by saying the U.S. is “sleepwalking into” a constitutional crisis, not that we’re already in one. I think some of these people are afraid to admit the system is breaking down as easily as it is breaking down. If Trump decides to just ignore the courts, who’s going to stop him and by what enforcement mechanism that Trump doesn’t control?
A federal judge on Monday said the White House has defied his order to release billions of dollars in federal grants, marking the first time a judge has expressly declared that the Trump White House was disobeying a judicial mandate.
The ruling by Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island federal court ordered Trump administration officials to comply with what he called “the plain text” of an edict he issued last month.
Judge McConnell’s ruling marked a step toward what could quickly evolve into a high-stakes showdown between the executive and judicial branches, a day after a social media post by Vice President JD Vance claimed that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” elevating the chance that the White House could provoke a constitutional crisis.
Already, more than 40 lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration, challenging Mr. Trump’s brazen moves that have included revoking birthright citizenship and giving Elon Musk’s teams access to sensitive Treasury Department payment systems. Judges have already ruled that many of these executive actions may violate existing statutes.
Maybe if Judge McConnell goes to D.C. and wags his finger sternly at Elon Musk, Elon will back down. Or not. See also The Courts Blocked Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze. Agencies Are Withholding Money Anyway. at ProPublica.
At the New York Times, Adam Liptak writes that Trump’s Actions Have Created a Constitutional Crisis, Scholars Say. So somebody’s saying it. One of the scholars interviewed said that while previous presidents have done unconstitutional things, this is the first time we’ve had a president who thinks the Constitution is meaningless.
So, yeah, it’s a crisis.
This makes me wonder how long it will take for violence to break out. We are in a crazy time, and it's not getting better any time soon.
I think the goal for Trump is to do however many outrageous things necessary to foment some significant mass protests – which he will use as an excuse to declare a "National Emergency" and employ the military to "restore order", which means attacking and removing as much of the opposition as possible, with special emphasis on the blue states.
Once declared, Trump will use any and every available excuse to maintain martial law – which very well could include arresting the governors of the blue states, especially if they try to prevent the military from operating in their states.
Of course, there will be lawsuits – just like the ones being filed now – but it requires a functioning legal system to enforce those…always assuming the Extreme Court of the US doesn't just over-rule them.
While I'd love to be hopeful that some semblance of democracy and the rule of law can be restored, I'm extremely doubtful. I'd strongly suggest that everyone who is on record as being opposed to Trump make sure they have a valid passport with at least 5 years remaining on it…and try to stockpile some cash, if possible, just in case.
Sad to realize that our history of Democracy, Separation of Powers and Law and Order was sustained by nothing more than what was basically a "Gentleman's Agreement" to follow the rules – and now we have no real effective way of restraining this autocratic takeover.
I've thought for some time that the fundamental flaw with democracy is that it only works if we all agree that following the rules is better than making up the rules as we go along.
This is not stable in the face of authoritarians who simply declare they are beyond rules. If they have enough support, and the checks and balances are under their control, what can stop them short of massive civil unrest?
Color revolution anyone? Unfortunately, they usually don't succeed unless things are really bad. So bad that even the police or army are sick of the dictator and his cronies. We're not there yet.
We are already as you say in a constitutional crisis soon it will metastasize into a full on collapse of civil order. The key tipping point will be when Bondo refuses to enforce a contempt order from a federal judge. I think that day is coming soon. The GOP of course will justify it with right-wing media leading the charge. Then we may see civil unrest followed by a military crackdown ordered by Stump and implemented by Pete Hoghead. We will see tanks in the streets similar to what the PRC did in Tiananmen Square. It's coming.
Trump is moving fast to consolidate power before the opposition gets organized. That hasn't happened – I think Trump did not expect the suits and court orders to happen this fast. There's a month for Trump's defiance to become an accomplished fact. In a month, the debt ceiling has to be raised or there is a shutdown.
I heartily endorse a shutdown because is slows Trump down. He won't have the money for much of what he wants to do. It draws Trump's resources away for their mischief to try to figure out how to afford to proceed. Trump did not want Democrats to have the power to deny him the money.
Trump's new hires won't be getting paid. There won't be money to construct interrment camps. I think it will freeze new hiring of Gestapo. It delays Trump, and that's a win.
In time, some of the critical cases will be appealed to the USSC. They have to go completely rogue to support Trump, They have to invalidate the contracts the civil servant unions negotiated with the government. They have to repudiate two centuries of precedent regarding the role of Congress.
USAID was created by Congress – it can only be abolished by Congress. It's funding can be changed by Congress but Trump can't unilaterally invalidate legislation that was passed in prior sessions of Congress and signed into law. The Supreme Court would be invalidating Article One of the Constitution, which defines Congress. And there's a reason why the Framers defined Congress first – because they were dividing the power between an empowered Congress to decide the law and the president charged with making the will of Congress happen.
Suppose the USSC does uphold the Constitution (I never thought I'd seriously write that sentence.) And suppose they find Trump's actions to be a violation of the Constitution, From that point on, Trump can only hold onto power through the military. All officers swear an oath to the Constitution, not the president. If the USSC has decided Trump is in flagrant violation of the Constitution, they have a reason NOT to follow Trump. If Trump declares a state of emergency to suspend elections, that's a valid reason for the military to refuse orders.
The states have their National Guard. Yeah, it could come to that – taking DC by force to restore elections and the Constitution.
Yep, shut down the government, it is taxation without representation. This, to me, is a mix like the fall of the Soviet Union, where all of the spoils will be distributed to the oligarchs, and the burning of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Jane Jacobs predicted before her death with a book called "The New Dark Age."
One thing I have learned from living in rural red state hell is that the main justification for backing the orange man is that they want the country to run like a business (read: they want fascism and just a more palatable way of putting it). This is this is the constitutional crisis in a nutshell. Running a government is not like a business because the question of “what is the product?” becomes key. I suspect that there are reams of paper on what a government does, good of the people, order, etc, but it looks to me like what Orangeman LLC is selling is identity. God Save the King because he makes me feeeeeel,… gets the ol’ gonads going. And all of the “rich” local mid-level oligarchs, supplement salesmen, MLM go-getters, and regional car dealers can feel like the landed gentry when they have the justification of ideology behind them. So, to me, with this line-up controlling the security services, opposition will be crushed like Tienamen Square and it will be used as a rallying cry for a new “constitution”.
I do not see any ideas that are more motivating than what I see the glint in the eye of an orange man lover when they smugly proclaim themselves so SMART and RIGHT for parroting Fox news drivel. A “constitutional crisis” is too squishy and too scary-smart a sound bite and will make most subjects of the USSA just back down.
God help us all. I hate my life.
Just a thought but I noticed when I was doing my taxes that my wife's federal withholding was almost zero. I think because she claimed too many dependents. That will change the calculation of how much money is taken out. (It also increases the amount due at the end of the year.) But what if millions of people changed their withholding so less money flows into Treaasury. And if 12 months later the taxpayer opts to pay their taxes monthly. (I am.) This will delay revenue to the feds by about 18 months. Quite a fair piece of change.
The Congress is the most powerful branch of the government, and that's by design. (Never call the branches "coequal". They aren't, and weren't designed to be.)
If Democrats don't retake Congress next year, our representative government will be effectively dead.
There's a LOT of work to do.
Gerrymandering and Fux News. Checkmate for the stupids. I mean the stupids is me for underestimating the smarts of the 50-year John Birch Society's long term plan for fascism.
What is the work and who is going to do it? The work that I saw for the last election season was to ask people for money and meme. It is going to take something so completely audaciously creative to stop the John Birchers and I do not see that coming from the party of Hillary and AOC who love to snicker at me and the (um, stupid, white) working class. I will ask again, what is the work and who is going to do it?
Gerrymandering and Fux News. Checkmate for the stupids. I mean the stupids is me for underestimating the smarts of the 50-year John Birch Society's long term plan for fascism.
What is the work and who is going to do it? The work that I saw for the last election season was to ask people for money and meme. It is going to take something so completely audaciously creative to stop the John Birchers and I do not see that coming from the party of Hillary and AOC who love to snicker at me and the (um, stupid, white) working class. I will ask again, what is the work and who is going to do it?
BTW, I hate my life.
It comes down to who will enforce the judges' rulings against Trump. Jay Kuo explains it better than I can.
One of the "checks and balances" that the founders built into the Constitution is militias owned and run by the states. The National Guard. Many of the framers were opposed to a federal army so the states could overthrow an abusive federal dictator.
What Trump is doing is "unconstitutional." I use that word not to signify "something I don't like", which is the conservative definition of the word. I mean against the words of the Constitution, the intent of the founders, and in direct conflict with 200 years of legal precedent.
Trump is in violation of the Constitution by revoking the laws passed by Congress. So I'm going to suggest something that isn't a violation but is totally outside the US Constitution. Suppose some of the Justices of the US Supreme Court, frustrated by the flagrant violations of legal court orders, and faced with a US DOJ that's been totally captured by the White House, issued an order to the states that have been singled out by Trump for harassment. (California and New York come to mind.) essentially deputizing the National Guards of those states to enforce the federal orders. (BTW, I'm not suggesting this in 2025. We need to see the full spectrum of lawlessness which may include police brutality against peaceful demonstrators and arrests without warrants or criminal charges. Real fascism.
By this time, the US military may have split into factions, one loyal to Trump and the other loyal to the Constitution. As I see it, the "blue team" of the National Guard would operate to seize the Treasury Building and restore payments exactly according to Congressional law and turn off the money to illegal Trumpian cronies.
Would this turn DC into a war zone? Probably. Could it be a way to bring force to end Trump's contempt of the Constitution? Maybe.
My constitution is not up to this diet of junk everything. What we need is someone in the white house to deliver some kicks. No one's junk should be off limits. They only breed nosepickers with chronic dis-empathy anyway, and poison America's bloodline.
Someone should have done some genetic counseling years ago.
I don't know how their ancestors passed the screening at Ellis Island. One of them should have had his visa revoked. I don't think you can make abortion retroactive, but one could revoke nationalization on a defective alien.
Sure, this is sick thinking. You can think this way too. Start by getting a MAGA hat. Watching FAUX propaganda helps too.