As I write this, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has just concluded the oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case. The case they are deciding, however, is not about the constitutionality of birthright citizenship but rather whether or not local and regional judges have the authority to issue injunctions that apply nationwide. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, speaking for the Department of Justice (DOJ), argued that they do not. But New Jersey’s Solicitor General, Jeremy Feigenbaum, and attorney Kelsi Corkran, Supreme Court director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law School, both argued that they do.
Buried in the questions and answers between SCOTUS and the Solicitor General is a small aside that I believe is likely to be the most significant issue in the case. It clearly shows what Trump and the DOJ intend to do in the future:
“Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked the solicitor general if, based on the government’s arguments that nationwide injunctions encroach on executive branch powers, the Supreme Court would have the authority to issue a nationwide injunction.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the government’s stance is that the Supreme Court would not have the power to issue such an injunction.” (1)
The Solicitor General’s response is very telling. It says that the Trump administration does not consider the Court as “supreme” in any sense of the word. The implication is that only the Executive Branch has the authority to act on the nation as a whole.
This would, of course, completely negate any Judicial Branch “checks and balances” on the Executive Branch. It would leave Trump free to become the dictator that he wants to be by simply declaring that any actions he takes apply “nationwide.” SCOTUS would be powerless; unable to rule against him.
Trump has always sought to achieve total unconstrained power. The Republican-led House and Senate have shown that they’re more than willing to be mere rubber stamps for Trump (echoing the political structures in other dictatorial countries like North Korea, Russia, and China). The GOP’s cowardice effectively removes all Congressional “checks and balances” on the Executive Branch as well, so much so that it becomes a news headline if a Republican in Congress actually speaks out in opposition to a Trump policy.
I seem to recall an old saying: “death by a thousand cuts.” That is what the United States of America is being subjected to right now. Each individual cut may seem trivial in the context of so many happening at once, but, taken together, they may well cause the death of our Republic.