IN Corrosion American democracyThere is still one handrail. Court system. President Donald Trump is testing it, pushes him, but he hasn't thrown him out so far.
He encountered court orders again and again – the rulings that stopped him, limited him and told him that you could not always get what you want.
Until now, Trump has ceased to cross the democratic Rubikon with gross opposition to the court's order, a line that no US president violated within a year and a half.
“At the beginning, courts were our Savior,” said Harold Hongju Koh, a former dean at Yale Law School, a professor of constitutional law and legal advisor to the Department of State during Obama's presidency.
And yet: “We are in a state of division of constitutional democracy.”
Trump freed himself from the wave of actions that his critics call unconstitutional or unlawful, at speed and scale invisible in the recent history.
As a result, dozens lawsuits They fly in every direction. And the president suffered over a dozen Legal failures in recent days.
The courts stopped, at least temporarily, to strengthen access to US citizenshipIN refusal to spend funds approved by the Congress, firing Collaborators of mass assistance, removing public health websitesand transferring the banking data of Americans to Elon Musk.
Trump's answer? He will fight in a democratically conventional way – referring. He complains about the judges, calling them actions, but he did not cross this final limit.
“I always follow the courts,” Trump told reporters in the oval office on Tuesday, sitting next to Musk, his billionaire. “I will have to appeal.”
The well -surviving Consigliere suggested going a step further. In the internet post, Musk suggested accusing judges who oppose the “will of the people.”
Others fit the battle.
In the right-wing Newsmax network, the host asked if it was time to ignore the courts and a conservative lawyer, in response he offered alternatives to direct rebellion-impeachments, congress investigations, and even freezing financing so that judges cannot pay officials.
Other handrails fall, one by one
The reason why so many eyes stick to Trump's reaction is that other shaft Republic of the American republic falls apart.
Elections? Trump declares that they are falsified if he loses. After allies tried to steal him, he erased the consequences – pardon Over 1,500 people which attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Good luck with the penalty of political crimes. Between such More and more insolence PardonsIn combination with the latest Supreme Court decisionThe president's allies do not have to leave the card, but it is close.
Putting a state official in an accusation? This is a toothless tiger. After four presidential impecles in history, it is almost impossible to imagine an activity that would realistically gathered two -thirds of the majority of senate to remove from office.
Independent Guardians? Releasedby Trump, without following the legal process. One agency general inspector warned that freezing Trump's foreign help would cause deaths and stocks of wasted food. He is Released now.
Jaska President of the US President Donald Trump has resulted in 40 lawsuits, including one that successfully sought an emergency order to block access to social insurance numbers since the office has resulted in 40 lawsuits. Trump and his vice president say that this movement was illegal and can ignore order.
Police? Rejected two FBI Directors and one IRS A commissioner who has long conditions that will help prevent biased political pressure.
Congress? Trump Trump announced It would simply not have to submit an application for 75 days of law requiring the sale or closing of the Chinese Tiktok application. Congress did not blink. Republicans have just helped to pass this right. They let Trump ignore it.
He is also accused of breaking other provisions with spendinghasty disassembly American Foreign Agencywithout following the right one procedures Down firing impartial civilian officials and establishing new rules for who can be US citizen.
Media? They are squeezed Expensive lawsuitsincluding nuisance suitsPressing to settle and see access to access.
Associated Press Said He must start clearly referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, or be prohibited by office events.
“We have never seen comparable, program indifference or hostility towards legal restrictions that would usually apply to the presidency in the history of the US,” said Peter Shane, a scientist of constitutional law at the University of New York, who focuses on the Presidency.
“Watergate was narrower than this.”
Why Washington is watching the courts
It leaves the courts. There are many of these fights here now and so far Trump's plans are bruised.
No president opposed the court's order grossly Civil warAlthough some lawyers say that was the case even longer.
Presidents often complain about court rulings. They often look for gaps and bypass, just like Joe Biden with student loans. The Supreme Court blocked his plan to forgive tuition fees, so He redesigned it Using another program.
But one day the comments caused the chill through Washington. JD Vice Vice President, a graduate of Yale Law School, suggested Recent court rulings were illegal.
What made his post in social media particularly hit was not only his legal education. The point is that he spoke in these years, which means that it was not only hastily considered a tweet.
If the judge tried to tell the general how to carry out a military operation, it would be illegal.
If the judge tried to command the Prosecutor General how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, it is also illegal.
Judges cannot control a legitimate executive power.
– –@Jdvance
Back in 2021Vance said that he would encourage Trump to clean the civil service and replace his supporters. If the courts think illegal, Vance said, Trump should tell the courts to be stuffed Andrew Jackson did 190 years ago.
Trump did not go that far again. They insist that he wants to question his court failures in the legal system.
And for clarity, this is what it is Trump said two years ago.
In his Campaign platformTrump said specifically that he would challenge constitutionality 1974 Law This forces the presidents to spend dollars congress, as well birthday citizenship AND other things Now I'm trying.
With one sign of repentance before courts, even administrative lawyers admitted Make mistakes in an earlier notification – and apologized to the judge.
Trevor Morrison says that the general situation concerns; Unprecedented, even in how aggressively and often Trump takes actions that many consider to be external constitutional boundaries.
But is it a constitutional crisis, as some suggested? We are not there yet, says Morrison, a retired dean born in Canada at the New York university, also a constitutional lawyer and adviser at Obama's White House.
“I am not sure if I have a completely developed definition of the” constitutional crisis “and therefore I am not sure if I would say that we are in one. Because we don't have it yet, I think, he has been open an objection to the court order – he said.
“But you know, we are very, very close on many fronts and many areas of court disputes.”
Script by what-if
There are tips on the rebellion of the Trump administration.
They accused dismissed employees in USAID, in the lawsuit that Trump has decisive Court orders. Some administrative officials are accused Non -compliance with other court orders.
In another case, a judge Agreement The White House did not rewrite in the lawsuit related to the freezing of federal funds. This judge even warned that continuous rebellion could be criminal contempt and cited from the Supreme Court of 1975. decision regarding the need for immediate compliance with court orders.
And if not? Then we will enter the next phase, on the other side Rubicon; This constitutional land of no-man.
At this point, the courts may give orders – perhaps decisions. The US marshal service would be asked to enforce orders. But this service sits inside Department of Justice Trump.
Would the president order the marshals to oppose the legal obligation to enforce a court order? “I don't think we're nearby,” said Morrison. He hopes that “de -escalation” will be the first.