Originally published at: How the Supreme Court’s Work to ‘Bolster Executive Power at Congress’s Expense’ is Coming Back to Bite - TPM – Talking Points Memo
President Donald Trump launched his second term by seeking to usurp Congress’ authority and challenge a nearly century-old legal precedent that shields independent executive branch agencies and the congressionally-confirmed officers who lead them from presidential overreach. In late January, Trump removed Gwynne Wilcox from the National Labor Relations Board and fired two commissioners of the…
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In past news stories, it has been alleged that John Roberts was concerned about the historical legacy of the Supreme Court and its rulings. The Court’s legacy has now been made known. John Roberts’ legacy has now been made known. Those legacies are wreckage.
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I guess we can thank our lucky stars that the guy this extremely conservative Supreme Court decided use to establish a more robust Executive Power is a complete moron and a convicted felon. Of course that all depends on how they decide.
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The basic notion of the conservative fascists on the court is that Donald Trump should dominate the executive branch like they should dominate the legislative branch, reciprocity so to speak. That is simply how fascists roll and pretty obvious. They rightly expect congress to check out from the scene because that is what basically congress has been doing under Republicans.
However, another obvious point, that their idea would one day bring about a serious conflict between the legislative and executive branch, in what each would want, I am pretty sure it never occurred to them. And I would use such a point to make the case that the Robert’s court fascists are some of the most dimwitted political folk ever.
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It is sad to watch the long-standing efforts of the far-right Claremont Institute bear fruit. We now have a government based on Unitary Executive Theory that treats modern federal bureaucracy as an unconstitutional fourth branch of government without accountability. We now have the incarnation of Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield’s “strong executive”. And we have an Originalist SCOTUS acquiescing to the view that Article II invests executive power solely in the President. If the president decides to change the repo rate or go to town on the citizenry or some ally … cool beans. The Claremont’s outlier interpretations of the government’s contract with its citizens for decades was mostly amusing, like something from an alternative reality cooked up by Philip K. Dick. Yet now the ultra-wealthy have gotten their wish, and none of the constitutional checks and protections seem to be working.
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Sadly, somehow I don’t think John Roberts and his toadies will disappoint TRUMP. After all, the entire reason they were put in place was to ensure (eventually) Republican Rule forever.
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I guess we’re “lucky” that the First Felon, Twice Impeached has shown such blithering incompetence in all of his “economic” decisions that even the corrupt SCOTUS is having qualms about handing him the ultimate power over the Federal Reserve.
Take heart! In spite of its recent decisions on Executive Power Uber Alles, this politicized SCOTUS also has shown
- no respect for precedent
- a predilection to craft absurdist “legal” arguments
- willingness to grab at any rationale, no matter how ancient, foreign, or religious to bolster their “arguments.”
So maybe the world financial system won’t be collapsed by the United States over the next year. At least for this reason…
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Re: platypus.
That is such an outrageously weird creature. You can’t help but love it.
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Unfortunately, that guy is backed, counseled, and abetted by sufficiently serious people that are playing right to the moving target edge and destroying everything as they go while the Roberts court gives them a perpetual thumbs up to do even more destruction. Tragedy in three acts, this being the third.
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the concept of a unitary executive, wherein the president dominates the entire executive branch.
What a terrible, terrible idea.
It effectively establishes one branch of government, because, as we see with Trump, if there’s not three branches of government, then there’s only one.
Wake up, John Roberts!
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Sadly, I’m afraid he’s been awake the whole time . . .
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Or that their ideas would bring about a conflict between the executive and the judicial branch. Robert’s legacy will have been to neuter the Supreme Court thereby fulfilling the Unitary Executive theory and rendering both the legislative and judicial branches moot.
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I think Robert’s idea was that court was going to be more of an extension of the executive branch, not neutered per se. But you are correct, the SCOTUS fascists are effectively neutering themselves, not so much completely now, more so as things go forward if things continue down this path. Because, if you become part of the executive branch, you are ruled by the executive branch.
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Something, something about Kings and a little dust up that happened in 1776.
And as far as I know that these types of folks from the various groups mentioned here have the absolute right to pick up and move to a country that already has a regent, king, or dictator.
And to be really snotty where has the Claremont Institute’s or the Heritage Foundation’s plans for writing a new Civics textbook for kids ranging from grade school through high school?
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Trump is already ignoring court orders he doesn’t like. The real test will come when he does the same to the corrupt majority on this Supreme Court. The apocryphal story of President Jackson saying “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it” will become a reality. The Six may then realize exactly what they have created.
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he [Kavanaugh] said the Fed had a “unique function … with respect to monetary policy.”
Alito will write the majority opinion upholding the independence of the Fed. He will cite the long standing legal principle that all administrative agencies are equal, but some are more equal than others, noting that this guiding principle has been deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition since 1945.
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Since the Republicans are all in on this, they really need to change their name to the New Monarchists or Yes Kings Party or something. As I undersatnd it, the whole point of the word "republican’ is to suggest your government is a stable and relatively reasonable one because it has a one-man (or two-man, if you’re ancient Rome) quick-action executive department and two deliberative, law-giving bodies, one elite and one representing the whole populace.
While i totally understand why super-ambitious jerks like Trump love the idea of the Unitary Executive, I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why so many people educated in law or political science or history – like Roberts, for example, who’s been enamored with it his whole adult life, apparently, while he pretended to be an “institutionalist” so he could get on the court – are such ardent supporters of it. I assume they somehow imagine that, while everybody else will have to cede their power to the Big Boss, they’ll get to keep theirs. But if you know anything at all about history or about human nature, that hope is obviously delusional.
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Exactly my point.
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When the history of this period of American history is written, for better or for worse, the Roberts court will be the cornerstone of the foundation that led to this moment in our country’s history.
Roberts doesn’t care, neither do the other five miscreants. They think it will be a positive note in history, but I’m not so sure.
Of course, as Bill Barr famously said, they don’t care about legacy. They’ll be dead.
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It just shows that G-d, as you understand the concept, has a sense of humor.
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