In elementary school, we learned about the three branches of the government, which were created so we wouldn’t live under one all-powerful monarch, and as we grew up, we saw examples of the interaction between these branches on how best to run the country. Recently, however, President Donald Trump has been exerting more power, acting as if his branch of government is the only one.
Since taking office for a second time, Trump has unilaterally acted on many issues that require Congress’ approval. In January, Trump refused to spend government grants and loans that Congress approved to spend. This was in spite of Congress having the constitutional right to spend money, and that withholding federal funds is illegal under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Regardless, Trump argued it was necessary to “squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy,” according to PBS. Additionally, Trump has targeted Democratic-leaning cities for political leverage, as he has against Los Angeles and Chicago by federalizing the national guard of their respective states, something which should only be done in certain circumstances, some of which include repelling an invasion and suppressing a rebellion according to Reuters.
Trump has also imposed sweeping tariffs—notably imposing a baseline rate of 10% on all countries—which normally are enacted by Congress. Trump cited a 1977 law to justify his tariffs based on the claim that the United States is facing a “national emergency” because of “lack of reciprocity” in trade relations and “persistent annual” trade deficits. While anyone can have their concerns about the economy, the issues America faces in foreign trade are nowhere near the “unusual and extraordinary threat” that the law requires—they’re just challenges that every country has to deal with.
The list goes on and on. Trump makes clear, through his presidential actions, that he believes he has the power in America to change many aspects of the country—more than allowed—with the stroke of a pen. The Constitution and separation of powers don’t matter as long as he calls everything an emergency—then he can twist the law into anything he wants it to be.
Fortunately, federal courts strike Trump’s actions down, as they have for all his actions mentioned so far, and in other cases such as those concerning his immigration policy. Trump, however, has a backstop—appeal to the Supreme Court on its emergency “shadow” docket. On the shadow docket, a legal party asks the Court to intervene in a case that hasn’t been totally resolved, normally by temporarily blocking a lower court’s order. According to NBC, in the 28 cases Trump has appealed on the shadow docket, he’s only lost two. While he doesn’t appeal every case to the Court, the ones he does are often on important policies like his “downsizing [of] federal agencies” and on immigration.
While Trump can have his political goals, if anyone wants to translate their beliefs into policy, they must do it through the legislative process. In a democracy, the people can punish representatives for misguided policies by voting them out. However, when the government decides to impose policies on important issues without the consent of the people, then it is harder to undo those decisions.
With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear arguments concerning Trump’s tariffs this November—one of the first cases they will rule on the legality of policies in his second term—it is as important as ever that we as Americans pay attention and care about our laws. If the Court rules in favor of Trump this time, it will further an already disturbing trend of legalizing the illegal, further legitimizing the increasingly growing power of the executive branch that our Founders wanted to avoid. While one, single event is rarely the death of democracy, we must keep our government as democratic as we can, so that small erosions of democracy do not snowball into a system where most decisions are made by executive fiat.
