Less than a week out from the election, more than two months before inauguration, Trump is already making those who said he could be controlled look foolish for their optimism.
Recess appointments, acting secretaries, and other tactics to bypass the need for Senate confirmation are already in his playbook.
There was a long list of members of his first administration, political pundits, news media anchors who all warned us over and over again, that the "guardrails" would be gone this time around. There would only be the yes people with no conscience. No obligation to the Constitution or rule of law. We listened. We heard them. Those that voted for Trump just didn't care about the goverment functioning like it has for 250 years. So much for guardrails.
Checks and balances. The Constitution lays out what the executive, legislature and judicial system are supposed to do, and there are minimal qualifications for the presidency and the legislature. There are none for the judicial branch, other than that they hold their position as long as they demonstrate "good behavior." That brings us to where we are today.
Trump is once again running the government through his social media posts. This time it's on his failed Truth Social platform instead of Twitter, now X.
He's threatening Republican Senators that they won't get leadership positions unless they allow his recess appointments. That's a tactic that could work even before taking office, and that's the point. Someone must have put that recess bug in his ear. He's just not capable of coming up with it on his own. He's also declared that no more federal judges should be confirmed before he takes office. Well, the Senate is not yet Republican controlled and they have no say in the matter, without a majority. Trump could be making an implied threat at the Democrats as well.
No President since at least Bill Clinton has had to use subtrfuge to get his chosen appointments, not even Trump in his first term.
Through his Truth Social post we know that he's already shaping foreign policy by talking to Benjamin Netanyahu, Justin Trudeau, Mohammed bin Salman (I predicted this one. Probably asked for more money than the $2 billion Jared Kushner got), Emmanuel Macron, Modi, Yoon Suk Yeol (South Korea) and Zelensky. This is not out of the ordinary for a President-Elect. Only the method of announcing it is.
What can be done when the guardrails, the checks and balances are gone?
Political action committees can put out issue oriented ads that spell out bad moves by bad actors.
Fight back in the courts as the Haitians immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are doing.
You can follow Marc Elias, who does a podcast called Democracy Watch with Brian Tyler Cohen. Marc's website is called Democracy Docket. His law firm was involved in all those election cases Trump lost in 2020. He's a heavy hitter and never gives up.
The point is we don't have to fold up our tents and go home. Trump and his allies are not invulnerable. We may find that even members of the MAGA cult can realize what a mistake they made, even before inauguration. He's already showing who he is with his inner circle picks.
Using the justice system against tyranny works. Get all the federal judge vacancies filled before Trump takes office. Trump already railed about that in an unTruth, so we know it's a good thing to do.
Then take aim at judges who should not be on the bench because they have not demonstrated "good behavior" starting with Justices Thomas and Alito. AOC has already filed for impeachment it in the House. It's just for show. There's no way to remove them before Trump takes office. Trump will appoint their replacements and he'll have put 5 on the bench. Roberts is a turncoat so it's bad decisions at 6-3 from now on. If Sotomayor retired now, Biden could put a real human being in her place. That was the mistake Ruth Ginzberg made and we got Amy Barrett by Trump.
This will be a real awakener for people who voted for Trump when they get their rights ripped away by the Supreme Court. There is no recourse from their decisions. I think the first right removed will involve unions. Right to work will go nationwide and unions will find it harder to organize. Companies will just refuse to recognize them. Elon Musk may be behind it in part.
Next it may be gay rights with same sex marriage, same sex sexual relations, and protection for birth control. Justice Thomas directed his thoughts at them at the end of his Dobbs concurrence. It's only a matter of time before they take a case that allows them to do it.
We already have seen how they can go overboard with the presidential immunity decision. All they were asked to do was to rule on the merits of Trump's case. Instead they decided to make a law for the ages, which all intelligent legal experts say is completely wrong.
The Supreme Court has no guardrails or checks and balances. Sen. Durbin and Sen. Whitehouse have tried to get a binding code of ethics through Congress, but has gone nowhere just as with term limits. There's no point in expanding the court now, because it would only put more Justices on the court we'll regret.
Congress has the power to do all these things as well as controlling the Court's purse strings. There's no time for it to happen now. It had to have been started when Biden took office. He put together an investigative commission and then ignored every suggestion. Thanks Joe, you made another mistake.
