Donald Trump: Subject to the Law, or a Law Unto Himself?

The following quotes from the New York Times article, “Vance Says ‘Judges Aren’t Allowed to Control’ Trump’s ‘Legitimate Power’,” got me thinking about another moment in our nation’s history:

Vice President J.D. Vance declared on Sunday that ‘judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,’ delivering a warning shot to the federal judiciary in the face of court rulings that have, for now, stymied aspects of President Trump’s agenda.  The statement, issued on social media, came as federal judges have temporarily barred a slew of Trump administration actions from taking effect.  They include ending birthright citizenship; giving associates of Elon Musk’s government-slashing effort access to a sensitive Treasury Department system; transferring transgender female inmates to male prisons; and placing thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development employees on leave...

The second Trump administration’s brazen pattern of blowing through myriad apparent legal limits has prompted debate about its intentions.  One theory is that it is deliberately setting up test cases that would ultimately pave the way for the Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed supermajority to expand presidential power by striking down the statutes as unconstitutional.  But the escalating pace of courtroom clashes has raised the question of what would happen if Mr. Trump simply started ignoring decisions he did not like, rather than appealing them.  The result would be a constitutional crisis.

Donald Trump says his favorite President—aside from himself, we must assume—is Andrew Jackson.  If we take a brief look back at one particular action taken by the 7th President of the United States, it’s easy to understand why.

In 1832, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Worcester v. Georgia, that the Cherokee people were a sovereign nation with territorial rights to their ancestral lands.  The state of Georgia disagreed and ordered the Cherokee removed from those lands anyway.  Andrew Jackson sided with Georgia.

Jackson is widely quoted as saying, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”  However many scholars believe his actual words were:  “The decision of the Supreme Court has fell still born, and they find that it cannot coerce Georgia to yield to its mandate.”

Whatever his exact quote, Jackson sent units of the U.S. Army to forcibly march the Cherokee to a new reservation “home” in Oklahoma. According to the missionary Elizur Butler, who accompanied the Cherokee and served as their doctor, over 4,000 people—20% of the Cherokee population— died along what became known as the Trail of Tears.

What’s important is that Andrew Jackson took it upon himself to openly defy a ruling by this nation’s highest court.  Now 193 years later, J.D. Vance is suggesting the Federal courts have no jurisdiction over the Executive Branch of the government.  He is inferring that Trump would be right to follow the example of his favorite President, and simply ignore court rulings he does not like.

As we all know, the Federal government is divided into three coequal branches, each of which has a measure of control, or at least oversight, over the other two.  This is meant to ensure no one branch can force its will upon the country beyond its legitimate authority as spelled out in the Constitution.  In that context, it is literally the job of the Federal judiciary to decide what is or is not legal and Constitutional.  Despite what Mr. Vance might claim, this includes actions taken by the Executive Branch.

Considering the nature of the felon who currently occupies the Oval Office, and the omnipotent-god-complex of his “advisor” Elon Musk, it is not unreasonable to believe a day will come when Trump declares, “The courts have ruled. Now let’s see them enforce it.”

With Trump at the helm, the U.S. is in trouble right now.  If/when he decides to ignore Federal court rulings, this nation will be in crisis:  A true and truly dangerous Constitutional crisis, which will test us like we have not been tested since the Civil War.

How do you enforce the law on a lawless President?

We certainly cannot count on the Republican Party, which has turned itself into a useless appendage dangling from the bloated ego of Donald Trump.  Elected Democrats will do what they can, but their options are limited.  That leaves us, the citizenry who realize we must stand up for the courts so that they can continue to stand against the forces of authoritarianism which would grind us down.

What that “standing up for the courts” looks like will vary for each of us.  It could involve work stoppages and economic boycotts, otherwise known as voting with our wallets.  It could come down to us taking to the streets in organized mass demonstrations that would shut the country down until changes are made.

If, because of Trump’s actions, our nation does fall into a Constitutional crisis, we will all have to decide how to react, both individually and collectively.  But we WILL have to respond. Otherwise, like the Cherokee victims of Trump’s favorite President, we could find ourselves embarked upon our own trail of tears for the America that could have been, had we acted…