Below is my column in the New York Post on the growing claim of a “constitutional crisis” over the Trump reforms. It is the latest political jump scare to see if it will rouse the public. It seems, again, to be backfiring as polling shows Trump with record approval levels and widespread support for reducing government.
Here is the column:
Forty years ago, a radio personality coined the phrase “jump the shark” in reference to the episode of the sitcom “Happy Days” in which the character Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a live shark on water skis. The term is often applied to dying franchises that turn to sensational language or scenes to try to revive the fading interest of the public. More often, you jump the shark and land in utter obscurity.
This week, the Democratic Party jumped the shark.
For years, Dems and their allies pushed the absurd claim that democracy was about to die if Joe Biden or Kamala Harris was not elected president. The public wasn’t buying it. In 2024, Donald Trump won a majority of the voters as well as control of both houses of Congress.
Rather than examine its messaging, Democrats decided to double down. After the election, politicians and pundits announced a new “constitutional crisis” surrounding the effort to downsize the federal government led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Kris Mayes, the attorney general of Arizona, declared this week, “We are on the brink of a dictatorship, and America has never been in a more dangerous position than she is today.”
The same media that carried the breathless accounts of the imminent death of democracy with the last election are now running “constitutional crisis” articles with many of the same “experts.”
Despite Trump repeating that he “will abide by the courts” while appealing opposing decisions, NPR insisted that Trump’s circle has indicated it is “willing to ignore court orders and defy judicial authority.”
During his first term, Trump repeatedly lost cases — as did his predecessor, Barack Obama, and successor, Biden — but he continued to comply with those rulings.
The fact is that we have the oldest and most stable constitutional system in history. It has repeatedly survived challenges from political to economic meltdowns that would have destroyed other systems. That Madisonian system relies on an independent judiciary, including Trump appointees who regularly ruled against the Trump administration, including on the Supreme Court.
For many citizens, what is most striking is not Trump’s actions, but how Democrats are seeking to prevent the very reforms that a majority of voters supported.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) warned that this “is a really, really sad day in America. We are witnessing a constitutional crisis. We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one. And here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like when you gut the Constitution, and you install yourself as the sole power. That is how dictators are made.”
Actually, that is not how dictators are made but how democracies work. Trump ran on reducing the deficit and size of the government. The public is worried about a crisis — though it is not one of democracy but debt.
In 2024, the $6.75 trillion budget exceeded our tax receipts of $4.9 trillion. The rest, $1.8 trillion, had to be borrowed. As a result, the national debt has ballooned and, if left on its current trajectory, would amount to 250% of gross domestic product within three decades.
We are becoming a debtor nation where every citizen now shoulders a $106,000-per-capita burden to pay for our out-of-control spending.
Nevertheless, in the first DOGE subcommittee hearing in the House, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) insisted that he would “defend democracy,” which is “under attack” by DOGE and the effort to carry out Trump’s campaign pledges.
What is truly in danger is the status quo. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) may have ironically had the most honest moment when he joined one of the daily protests and yelled how Musk’s government efficiency efforts are “taking away everything we have.”
By declaring a constitutional crisis, these figures are using “rage rhetoric” that gives a license for extreme conduct and messaging.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has declared a “coup” is being carried out.
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) insisted “God d—-it shut down the Senate! … WE ARE AT WAR!”
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) called on citizens “to fight back” as Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) called for a fight in the streets and for citizens “to rise up.”
Not to be outdone in the rage-fest, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) yelled, “We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it.”
Biden was repeatedly found to have violated the Constitution, including with unilateral actions through executive orders. Courts called him out for it. None of these Democratic members declared a coup or collapse of democracy. Such court challenges are common and often these early initiatives shake out with new guarantees and judicial guidelines.
The courts may oppose certain moves by Trump and DOGE, but these are decisions of process, not policy. Eventually the president will be able to pare government spending, which is what the Democrats are really upset about — not the invented “constitutional crisis.”
Judging from the polls, the public sees that. The Fonz saw it, even if he still does not get it. Just before the election, Winkler mocked Trump’s huge Madison Square Garden rally and told NBC, “That’s his life’s bread; his life’s blood is the sound of appreciation or adulation or whatever.” That “whatever” is called public support. It is a lesson that the Democrats may want to learn if they ever want to see happier days.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
Jonathan: There appear to some empty brains on your blog. One “Anonymous” says “No decision by the judicial branch that usurps the power of the executive branch is constitutional”. But this no-nothing goes on: “the president has the military power should any branch presume to usurp his executive power” (2/13@11:50am).
It’s pretty clear. “Anonymous” has never read the Constitution. He is probably a transplant from S. Africa where the apartheid government used the military to stamp out dissent by Black South Africans. This is Nazi talk, the language of dictators. There is no other way to put it–“Anonymous” is a fascist!
oh.. our resident chief troll of ’empty brains’, Mr. Big Mac, taking things out of context again…. ho hum….
Be thankful. I always skip over Dennis’ comments, but will read them on a rare occasion if someone replies. Dennis confirmed with his verbiage his identity: Peter Hill, Svelaz, Sammy, George, Gigi, Bug Elvis, et al, all same troll.
There is one DNC / Media Matters paid troll on here and only one, who uses the same repetitive, monosyllabic, sophomoric, queeny adolescent verbiage consistent with the well characterized Dark Triad online troll personality disorder.
I had always hoped we had an army of trolls but alas it is the same feminine voice over and over. So disappointing. We deserve better!
😉
One “Anonymous” says “No decision by the judicial branch that usurps the power of the executive branch is constitutional”. But this no-nothing goes on: “the president has the military power should any branch presume to usurp his executive power” (2/13@11:50am).
It’s pretty clear. “Anonymous” has never read the Constitution. He is probably a transplant from S. Africa where the apartheid government used the military to stamp out dissent by Black South Africans. This is Nazi talk, the language of dictators. There is no other way to put it–“Anonymous” is a fascist!
What is a.no-nothing? Do you no?
And Lincoln nullified legitimate existing legislation and the Constitution, decided that because secession was not prohibited secession was prohibited, commenced an unconstitutional war undeclared by Congress, illicitly deployed the military on the soil of a sovereign foreign nation, proceeded to illegally and unconstitutional deployed the military inside the U.S. as commander-in-chief, unconstitutionally suspended habeas corpus smashing printing presses and throwing opponents in prison, illegally confiscated private property, was derelict in his duty to enforce existing immigration law, etc.
Lincoln got his just rewards, unfortunately it wasn’t three years sooner. Could have saved 500,000 Americans from death.
That Which is Seem and That Which is Not Seen, an essay by Bastiat, generally helps uplift arguments making them less superficial.
Would not any branch that unconstitutionally usurped the power of the executive branch be dictatorial and fascist?
Clearly, the Constitution vests the full executive power in the president, providing no measure of executive power to any other branch.
“WE ARE AT WAR!”
– U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D, NJ)
________________________________________
“A violent “conflict” will be coming:…”
“There will be conflict.”
“We are on the verge of bloodshed.”
“Sometimes violence is necessary.”
“There is no other choice but to get violent and fight!”
“And the who — the violent — take it by force. The kingdom of God is a warzone, it is a battlefield. You did know this, right?”
– Dr. Steve Caudle, Minster, Greater Second Missionary Baptist Church, Chattanooga, TN.
Congress has the power to tax for and fund debt, defense, and general welfare only. Congress has the power to legislate. Congress has no power to execute. To spend is to execute. Only the executive branch has the power to execute or not execute. That is precisely what having the power means. Those who have the power do not take orders; they give orders.
Congress gives orders too. Thru legislation. They can specify funds to be spent within a timeframe or amounts. The executive does not pick and choose what to withhold on assumption that is what congress wanted. Trump is acting unilaterally in defiance of the intent of congress.
This is very inaccurate…. citation to a case that corroborates your baseless claim that Congress has no spending power?
The case of the U.S. Constitution:
No legislation by the legislative branch that usurps the power of the executive branch is constitutional.
No decision by the judicial branch that usurps the power of the executive branch is constitutional.
A transfer of executive power from the executive branch to the legislative or judicial branch would require a constitutional amendment.
Congress has the legislative power.
The judicial branch has the judicial power.
The president has the executive power.
The president has the military power should any branch presume to usurp his executive power.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article 1, Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress…
__________________________________________________________________________
Article II, Section 1
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Article III, Section 1
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article II, Section 2
The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States…
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. The president has the power in exclusion of every other individual. The power is the power to execute or not execute. To spend is to execute.
Congress has the power to tax for and fund debt, defense, and general welfare only. Congress has the power to legislate. Congress has no power to execute. To spend is to execute. Only the executive branch has the power to execute or not execute. That is precisely what having the power means. Those who have the power do not take orders; they give orders.
Much is being discussed about audits these days. Most of it reasoned and objective. Too much of it biased and wholly personal.
An audit is a formal review of an entity’s financial records in order to evaluate its financial health and ensure that it has handled its financial situation accurately and properly. Except for the unseemly leadership of the Democratic Party, with sordid motives known only to them, such audits of public expenditures are something to be entirely avoided and even disparaged with sensational words and actions given to the shameful causing of unwarranted fear among the citizens.
The phrase “jump the shark” applies to dying organizations that turn to such hype and deceit to try to revive the fading interest of the public. A “fading interest” is what remains of the Democratic Party. “Jumping the shark” is its leadership’s last stand against the truth it cannot abide and must for the sake of its waning existence keep hidden. It is time to open the windows and clear the air of the stale status quo. It is high time for a better way to manage and conduct America’s finances. It’s been a long time coming.
https://youtu.be/BibwGrgvuF8
With both tulsi and RFK being sworn in – sheet. This is the most bipartisan, people-oriented administration we have likely had in my lifetime. I LOVE it. Keep screeching, uniparty (Clintons, Obamas, Bushes, Cheyneys). We do not want you, and your money matters precisely – ZERO. Go be elitists overseas, where you have no legal bearing on our lives. This is EXACTLY what I voted for (and again, I am an Independent voter that very much voted for dems in the past), and it’s only been a few weeks. Wow. Wonderful. Gleeful. America really IS back. May the rest of the Western world take note. Heaven help them without our Constitution or Bill of rights. The fake progressive era fomented by Obama is unequivocally *over*.
*Tulsi
Just wait until Kash is in, either through Senate approval or through recess appointment, good for 12 months.
James,
Well said! This is what the people voted for!
NO –stop lying about what people voted for–it was the groceries. Even King Donald admits that.
YES – “the people” I know that demand our government puts America First absolutely voted for this. Your peeps, NOPE. And you and those peeps have FAFO.
Still spreading that lie? And who gave us higher grocery prices? Gas? That would be Bidenflation.
Everyone I know voted to get rid of a corrupt Democratic Party. They didn’t give two chits what a flat of eggs cost. They understood that to rid ourselves of this communist light infestation of grifters there would be financial impact to us all. They also realized to stay the course would destroy our nation and perhaps irradiate the planet. No GooGoo, I believe America saw the Grifters for who they are and said no more.
My God you are stupid. Gabbard has NO administrative experience of any kind and has NO knowledge of the intelligence community or how it works. Even if this lack of anything coming close to qualified experience weren’t enough, she has ties to Putin and Syria. Besides, she has a pizza face and skunk hair. She has no idea what she’s doing. Then, there’s RFK, Jr.–a former longtime heroin addict–someone who eats road kill, advocates for drinking raw milk, which can kill you, who performs half-assed autopsies on dead animals, who has spread vaccine misinformation that has led to deaths, and whose own family says he’s not qualified. Caroline Kennedy wrote letters to each Senator, begging them NOT to confirm him. How about Kash Patel? What a joke! Where does he think he’s going to get qualified people to be FBI agents if he fires all of them–or, do we operate on the assumption that the FBI doesn’t do anything worthwhile. Our enemies are jumping for joy–Gabbard and Patel–whoo hooo! It would be hard to come up with a cabinet of less-qualified people–but then, King Donald has to find people who are even stupider than he is but whose sole qualification is that they will do what they are told. Hegseth announced, even before any negotiations with Ukraine, that returning the land Putin stole was off the table–who gives ground before negotiations even start? He also said that even if Ukraine joins NATO, the US wouldn’t defend Ukraine–does he even know what the NATO treaty says? Maybe all that tattoo ink bled into his brain. You speak of “elitists”? Are you kidding or lying? King Donald’s cabinet is the most “elitist” in history–billionaires–and he turned over authority to his biggest campaign donor. He’s not even trying to hide the fact that Real President Muskrat purchased the authority to play POTUS for the bargain price of $250 million.
No. You are stupid. Tulsi is a military officer, having deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. She also represented Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district 2013-2021. She has served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She knows about administration, the military, intelligence. Cite your sources that she has ties to Putin or Syria. What does her appearance have to do with anything? You seem to be fixated on the superficial rather than the substance.
WH logs show many visits by billionaires during the Biden admin, e.g. Gates, Bezos.
Excerpted from “The Independent”:
“In the summer of 2015, three Syrian girls who had narrowly survived an airstrike some weeks earlier stood before Tulsi Gabbard with horrific burns all over their bodies.
Gabbard, then a US congresswoman on a visit to the Syria-Turkey border as part of her duties for the foreign affairs committee, had a question for them.
“How do you know it was Bashar al-Assad or Russia that bombed you, and not Isis?’” she asked, according to Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian activist who was translating her conversation with the girls.
It was a revealing insight into Gabbard’s conspiratorial views of the conflict, and it shocked Moustafa to silence. He knew, as even the young children did, that Isis did not have jets to launch airstrikes. It was such an absurd question that he chose not to translate it because he didn’t want to upset the girls, the eldest of whom was 12.
“From that point on, I’m sorry to say I was inaccurate in my translations of anything she said,” Moustafa told The Independent. “It was more like: How do I get these girls away from this devil?”
Even before Gabbard left the Democratic Party, ingratiated herself with Donald Trump and secured his nomination to become director of National Intelligence, she was known as a prolific peddler of Russian propaganda.
In almost every foreign conflict in which Russia had a hand, Gabbard backed Moscow and railed against the US. Her past promotion of Kremlin propaganda has provoked significant opposition on both sides of the aisle to her nomination.
Her journey from anti-war Democrat to Moscow-friendly Maga warrior began in Syria. The devastating conflict was sparked by pro-democracy uprisings in 2011, which were brutally crushed by the Assad regime. It descended into a complex web of factions that drew extremist Islamists from around the world and global powers into the fray.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground, documented the deaths of 503,064 people by March 2023. It said at least 162,390 civilians had died in that same time, with the Syrian government and its allies responsible for 139,609 of those deaths.
But Gabbard, a veteran of the Iraq War, viewed it all as a “regime-change war” fueled by the West and aimed at removing the dictator from power. She saw Assad – and Russia, when it entered the conflict – as legitimate defenders of the state against an extremist uprising.
In 2015, when Russia entered the Syrian war on the side of the dictator Assad, Gabbard expressed support for the move, even as the civilian toll from Moscow’s devastating airstrikes grew into the thousands.
“Al-Qaeda attacked us on 9/11 and must be defeated. Obama won’t bomb them in Syria. Putin did. #neverforget911,” she wrote on Twitter.
It was precisely because of her support for Assad and Russia’s war that Moustafa was keen for her to attend the congressional delegation to southern Turkey to meet the victims of the conflict.”
I know MAGA media doesn’t tell you things they don’t want you to know, but this is no secret. She has no business having access to our most-sensitive information and assets.
This is the most bipartisan, people-oriented administration we have likely had in my lifetime. I LOVE it.
James, I share in your enthusiasm. It’s hard to imagine a more fertile ground for a return to a true limited government, constitutional republic, than what the Democratic party sowed for President Trump. At some point in the very near future, Congress is going to need to codify this return to make it more difficult for Democrats to alter or demolish it…again.
Yes the administration that openly states its intention to prosecute its political enemies. That makes complete sense.
If what you’re trying to claim is true why did King Donald have to lie to get into office?
Because the price of meat has just gone up and your old lady hast just gone down! At St Alfonso’s pancake breakfast house, where I stole the margarine…
The White House attempted to fire Dellinger last week in what Dellinger argues was an illegal termination. The Senate had confirmed him in February 2024 to lead the Office of Special Counsel, an agency that enforces whistleblower protections and political corruption laws. Under existing federal statutes, he is expected to serve a five-year term and can only be removed by the president for inefficiency, malfeasance or neglect of duty.
What part of the law did trump not understand? “…can only be removed by the president for inefficiency, malfeasance or neglect of duty.”
trump offered nothing.
Nothing to see here, move along. Oh yea, can we please harp some more on Hunter Biden’s laptop?
By this reasoning, Congress could create a federal official who held office for life, and could not be fired for any reason. The President determines who can be hired and fired in the executive branch. If any other rule were established, he would not really be in control of the Executive Branch.
We regularly hear of problems with aircraft bumping into things, likely often because of aggressive DEI programs.
But DEI has infected our military as well.
Now a huge nuclear powered aircraft carrier has collided with a merchant ship.
https://x.com/CavasShips/status/1890078825033396521
How does that happen without almost criminal negligence?
Merchant ships probably don’t have more crew than necessary to run the ship but carriers have lookouts posted all around as well as very, very expensive electronics. What was the crew doing? Playing with their phones? What if Houthi terrorists packed a merchant ship with explosives and rammed one of our carriers? This DEI rush to master and achieve total incompetence must end. Yet Democrats keep jumping the shark [or aircraft carrier] to defend it.
So long, Captain.
Young, you might be interested in this video and the map. It happened near the Suez Canal where the sea traffic was huge. I cannot see how this happened, but it certainly demonstrates that we have major problems.
Young, in line with your thinking.
Coast Guard left sensitive data vulnerable to adversaries under Trump-fired, DEI-focused commandant
Trump fired Commandant Linda Fagan on his second day in office for alleged excessive focus on DEI.
https://justthenews.com/government/security/coast-guard-left-sensitive-data-vulnerable-adversaries-under-trump-fired-dei?utm_source=breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
Jonathan: Are we in a constitutional crisis? No. Not yet. As long as one of the three branches of government carries out its responsibilities under the Constitution we are not yet at that point. DJT has issued a number of EOs. Federal judges around the country have found over 12 of those orders presumptively unlawful, e.g, cancelling birthright citizenship, impounding of federal funds authorized by Congress, etc. And these orders have come from judges across the political spectrum–even those appointed by DJT.
In the famous case of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), written by Chief Justice John Marshall, President Andrew Jackson quipped: “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!”. There are some in the right-wing media, even among DJT’s advisors, who are calling for him to ignore court orders. Elon Musk, who is actually running the show, thinks federal judges are out of control and need to be “impeached” or their orders ignored. If that were to happen we would be in a constitutional crisis.
And where is the House and Senate–the other co-equal branch of government? It’s AWOL. Republicans are afraid of Musk and his power to use his billions to target any Republican who does not support his agenda. House Republicans even refuse to have Musk testify before the House Oversight Committee about what he is doing. That’s an abdication of Congress’ responsibilities. So it is now left to the judiciary to hold DJT and Musk accountable.
And what about the states? They play an important role in the the process of defending our Democracy from a dictatorship. One of the first cases brought against DJT was filed by 22 state attorneys general. So the states are playing an important role in defending the rights of their citizens.
So while the House and Senate refuse to stand up for the rule of law, the Judiciary is carrying out its Constitutional role in our system of checks and balances. As long as the DJT and his AG Pam Bondi abide by court orders the country is safe from a constitutional crisis. But we could be at a tipping should they decide otherwise.
I am all for the give and take between the Executive and Judiciary. It is what makes our country unique. Government is designed to be spirited. It will work its way through the courts and some cases will be argued before the Supreme Court.
I am also thrilled that finally, there is light being shed on the graft and waste! The cockroaches are scurrying and screaming. Time to take the credit card away.
Our biggest threat is the snowballing debt. Compounding interest in reverse will cripple this nation and could prove to be a disaster. The grownup in the room must take drastic changes. We need Dave Ramsey. Soon it will be “beans and rice, rice and beans. The only way to see the inside of a restaurant is to work there.”
You guys would give Satan a BJ in exchange for your freedom. That’s how much
integrity you have.
What freedoms have we lost?
History could be unfolding in which the Democrat party will continue to fantasize within the woke world and dance into the abyss.
Trump should never negotiate with Putin over Ukraine.
Putin is a terrorist.
We aren’t supposed to negotiate with terrorists.
To to do so would legitimize terrorism.
You don’t want to legitimize terrorism, do you?
If so, then all of your highfalutin ideas about the Founding Fathers, embodied in
the Declaration of Independence and elswehere, all go out the window,
and you are shown as being full of crap.
White Flag
The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize surrender, since it is often the weaker party that requests negotiation. It is also flown on ships serving as cartels. A white flag signifies to all that an approaching negotiator is unarmed, with an intent to surrender or a desire to communicate. Persons carrying or waving a white flag are not to be fired upon, nor are they allowed to open fire. The use of the flag to request parley is included in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907:[1]
– Wiki
You going to have a meltdown if there is a ceasefire and then a peace accord reached? I ask as there are hundred of thousands if not millions of Ukrainians and Russians who will be cheering peace on. If you hurry, you can still fly over to the Ukraine and enlist in their military to fight the Russians.
If Trump suddenly started caring about Russia building undue power in Europe and thus threatening US security, you’;d change your tune and suddenly start arguing for whatever Trump does. If Trump raped your mother you’d blame her.
UNCIVIL IMPUDENCE.
BAN FOR LIFE.
Hey Anonymous (the dumb one), should Israel negotiate the release of the remaining hostages with the group that raped, murdered and kidnapped women and babies? Simple question, now try to answer it.
Now we know where the rubber meets the road. They have sauntered to their destination throughout the world via Amazon and delivered by your friendly UPS driver. So now they can wrap it up courtesy of the American tax payer around the world. Just wondering? Has anyone out there gotten a kiss yet?
Friendly UPS driver or criminal striking union delivery boy at $170K per annum?
What’s he got a PhD in Portage?
The line for his job is a mile long while he refuses to show up for work.
No legislation by the legislative branch that usurps the power of the executive branch is constitutional.
No decision by the judicial branch that usurps the power of the executive branch is constitutional.
A transfer of executive power from the executive branch to the legislative or judicial branch would require a constitutional amendment.
Congress has the legislative power.
The judicial branch has the judicial power.
The president has the executive power.
The president has the military power should any branch presume to usurp his executive power.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article 1, Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress…
__________________________________________________________________________
Article II, Section 1
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Article III, Section 1
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article II, Section 2
The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States…
Here’s a hypo. Let’s say a future liberal President decides to pause all funding to the the entire US Department of Defense, unilaterally (i.e., without Congressional approval or any adherence to administrative law).
How many folks on this blog would say — “Well, as Commander in Chief, he has the right to do that pursuant to his executive powers! Any statutes that forbid this are clearly unconstitutional because the executive must be in control of everything his cabinet does!”
Even if you like the actions a President takes, you must make sure the proper process for taking such actions is followed. Process is important.
Process?
Biden made up his own “process” where were you then?
VDH says it better than I can.
https://victorhanson.com/mythologies-about-musk/
Let’s unpack the Biden deflection for a bit. Biden did boast that the Supreme Court’s (correct) ruling in Biden v. Missouri “didn’t stop me” from forgiving student loans. Nonetheless, when the Court ruled that he didn’t have the authority to engage in massive loan forgiveness under the 2003 HEROES Act, Biden obeyed the ruling. He did then try to engage in large-scale loan forgiveness under another statute, the Higher Education Act. But when courts predictably ruled Biden couldn’t do a massive loan forgiveness plan under the HEA, either, Biden obeyed those rulings.
Here, with Trump, and my future liberal President hypo, there is no plausible (if ultimately incorrect) statutory rationale for the spending freeze.
Student loans are unconstitutional; they do not constitute debt, defense, or general welfare, and Congress has no power to tax for or fund student loans per Article 1, Section 8.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
“loans are not debt” – now I have heard everything. REALLY? That’s your argument?
Congress has the power to tax in order “to pay the Debts” not make loans.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Article 1, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;…
Bankruptcy?
I’ll take a swing.
It’s not OK to stop spending if the law states $10B for the acquisition of 1000 hypersonic missiles under contract #XYZ unless fraud has been shown or the product does not meet the standards laid out in the contract.
It’s at the President’s or his delegates discretion if the law says here’s $50B for advanced R&D
So, if understand correctly, you would not support a blanket freeze on EVERYTHING; rather, it must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Is that the same approach that Trump/Musk is doing?
# treason and sabotage of a political or economic system has been in place. Trump must act. He has no choice actually.
ends and means, right?
Yikes
If a plant is so infested with parasites that the risk of it spreading the infection outweighs the possible benefit of allowing a couple pieces of fruit to be harvested you rip it up and burn it.
If the criminals running USAID for their own benefit and agenda cared about programs for the poor they should have kept it crime-free.
That directly conflicts with what you just posted above. So, there is no need to go case-by-case?
Your argument seems to keep…. evolving.
Not hardly. Unless some actual lawyers inform us otherwise I think there may be differences of specificity for different allocations. Some may easily fall under the discretion of the exec branch while others are not quite as flexible.
@OldFish
You are a braver man than I. I have gotten to the point where I just literally dismiss leftist histrionics because that is all it is. Like a temper tantrum. It stinks to have to deal with adult and privileged children like this, but here we are, we have to, and so we will. Robespierre without the literal beheading; that is all we are doing here, of COURSE they will hate it. We are taking away the candy. I hope they don’t prefer we literally cut off their elitist heads and throw them into the street, and the cries of ‘oligarch’ are freaking hilarious. Pfft.
If a President arbitrarily paused all funding for the Department of Defense, the president would most likely be impeached, and likely convicted and removed from office.
The president has the executive power; he has the power to execute or not execute.
No other branch has any aspect, facet, or degree of executive power.
The president would be acting correctly under the Constitution.
His actions would not constitute “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
You are arbitrarily amending the Constitution to your liking which is invalid, illegitimate, illicit, and unconstitutional.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Article II, Section 1
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
Here is the answer to your “hypo”. When the president defunds the military the congress can IMPEACH him or her. How is that? Now if you say it isn’t a “high crime or misdemeanor” they can just call it what it is, treason.
Stop trying out your gotcha questions on your cat.
That is not actually an answer to the hypo, unless you are saying the justification for impeachment is the President’s abuse of power. Is that what you are saying?
Do you think the Executive power includes that ability to freeze any spending appropriated by Congress for any reason the President deems fit? If so, then why is this hypothetical freeze of DoD assets an abuse of power, while the freeze of all federal funds to US states, US AID, etc. not a similar abuse of power?
Read up there, comrade.
“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”
Turls: do you have a specific federal judgeship in mind that you’re jonesing for or are you holding out for the SCOTUS? You keep repeating the MAGA line that the American people want King Donald to do the outrageous and unconstitutional things he is doing and that Courts keep enjoining him over. You have yet to address the number of injunctions courts have already issued against the King—it must be a record for such a short period of time.
You pretend that the American people want King Donald’s biggest campaign contributor to purchase the power to demand that every federal employee either quit, retire or be fired without any vetting as to the merits of their job or analysis of how the loss would affect the American people they serve. The operational philosophy must be that no one who works for the federal government does anything worthwhile.
There are ways to trim the federal bureaucracy but freezing all spending and demanding that everyone quit or be fired is not what the American people want or voted for.
You ignore the fact that King Donald does not have the power to simply close down the Department of Education and USAID with a Sharpie. Only Congress can do that. Where does King Donald get the authority to freeze government spending, let starving children die, allow food purchased by USAID to rot on loading docks, let sick people who need the medicine Congress appropriated money for to suffer and/or die or withdraw job offers to nurses and counselors hired by the VA, that has been chronically understaffed for years?
You also are being disingenuous about how King Donald cheated his way back into power with the slimmest margin in the past 55 election cycles. King Donald was able to obtain the votes of a sufficient number of Americans who otherwise would not have voted for him by LYING about immediately bringing down the cost of groceries. HE ADMITS THIS. He also LIED about knowing nothing about Project 2025 after discovering widespread objection to it. Now, Project 2025 is being implemented and one of its main authors is head of the OMB. But for the lies King Donald told he wouldn’t be wreaking havoc—- that’s not what the American people voted for. But Turls never passes up a chance to attack Democrats—-that’s what he’s paid to do.
The American people are up in arms—Congressional offices are overwhelmed with calls. Members of Congress are holding town hall meetings that are overflowing with constituents upset with King Donald’s antics. Town hall meetings have record numbers of participants. There are protests in several cities, at government buildings and at Tesla dealerships across the country.
Sorry Turls, we’re not buying what you’re selling. The issue isn’t reviewing the federal government to cut waste—it’s arbitrarily closing down agencies, freezing funding, demanding that all federal employees quit or be fired, allowing unqualified Musk employees access to confidential information that they downloaded on their PCs and the unprecedented number of dangerously unqualified people the King is pushing to head up agencies . Even Republicans know that these people have no business heading government agencies but they put their own interests above the oath to the Constitution.
Sorry Gigi, the American people are buying it but we know that you don’t much care for the American people. What part of 86% approval of looking into waste in government do you not understand? Thank you for your let them eat cake moment. According to the approval of Trumps action you are one of the 14% who do not approve. That number probably coincides pretty closely with the number of people in America who are unable to be educated.
TiT,
Well said and spot on! Would also note polling shows 42% of Democrats think their own party has gotten worse since the election. Losers like Gigi are the leftist sane and normal Democrats want off their side and out of their party. I say carry on!! You are going to be the cause of your own parties destruction!
How does arbitrarily shutting down USAID and the Department of Education and freezing all federal spending equate to “looking into waste”? How does allowing 19 and 20 something computer geeks to download confidental information on their PCs and running the information into an AI program amount to “looking into waste”? WHO is qualified to “look into waste”? What is waste? How is it defined? You would need CPAs and other experts to determine what is or is not wasteful. And, MAGA media and the King’s “press secretary”bleached hag try to equate funds allocated to DEI that the King froze to eliminating “fraud, waste and abuse”. DEI programs are not inherently fraudulent, wasteful or abusive–that’s another King Donald lie. Real President Musk is just taking a sledge hammer to the federal governement and trying to arbitrarily fire everyone who works for the federal government without any plan or analysis as to the agency’s mission and each employee’s role. What about this don’t YOU understand?
Critics decry Musk’s influence with Trump, ignore billionaires’ influence in previous White House
“The Biden administration worked closely with billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, but Democrats and the media warn Elon Musk’s cooperation with Trump is unprecedented despite the fact that Trump announced Musk’s involvement long before the election.”
“What a difference a change in administration makes. Billionaires having access to government was no big deal in the Biden years. Now, it’s a ‘constitutional crisis.’ The double standard is glaring,” Michael Chamberlain, Director of Protect the Public’s Trust
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/critics-decry-elon-musks-influence-trump-ignore-billionaire
Which of Biden’s billionaires was deemed a “special governmental employee”?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-special-government-employee-what-does-that-mean/
Why is that significant you ask? Well, SGEs also are prohibited from working on issues that impact their financial interests, as well as their spouses, children or organizations in which they work or serve as a director or trustee.
Trump has of course ignored ethics obligations here by stating that Musk will police his own conflicts of interest. That apparently did not lead to his recusal with respect to the CFPB, given his new XMoney fintech product (a competitor of PayPal, Venmo, etc.) would be subject to CFPB regulation.
There is absolutely no justification for comparing this to any billionaire that does not have the same official designation.
But I am guessing “JustTheNews” left out that vital part of the story. Can you cite where in that sorry excuse for an article JTN actually clarifies why Biden’s billionaires should be compared to Musk?
For any logical argument trying to draw a comparison between two things, this would be an obvious first step, no? Biden and Trump both have sons, but you wouldn’t justify Hunter’s shenanigans by saying, “Trump also has sons! Baron is his son so everything Hunter did is fine!”
That is the actual equivalent argument to this drivel from JTN.
Oh and then there’s announcing that the Palestinian people will be forcibly removed from their homeland to make way for a Trump real estate development, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, taking over the Panama Canal, trying to bully Denmark into selling Greenland, trying to force Canada to become a US state and announcing that Ukraine isn’t going to get back any of the land Putin stole from it. Yeah, Turls, that’s what we voted for all right.
Gigi, you keep using the talking points of bug elvis. Or is it that you are truly a miserable, empty, mentally ill sad sack with no life to offer except to troll on line?
Egypt Backs Trump Gaza Reconstruction Plan Minus Palestinian Removal
Cairo said it will work with President Donald Trump’s administration “to achieve a comprehensive and just peace in the region by reaching a just settlement of the Palestinian cause that upholds the rights of the region’s peoples,” the statement posted to X on Tuesday said.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/egypt-offer-trump-gaza-reconstruction-plan-without-palestinian-displacement/story?id=118725644
Egypt who?
# When will they give YHWH back his land? Jerusalem’s synagogue?
I think we should resettle all the Gazans in Mozambique, where they can get jobs manufacturing condoms for the world, and running printing presses to put out Tranny Comics for indigenous peoples across the world!
If the Democrats were smart they would embrace DOGE and want the scrutiny of government agencies but smart left town a long time ago. The only reason that they resist is to try to keep all the government money that has been given to their leftist allies in the press from being dug up from under a rock. If they’re not guilty why are they so afraid of transparency. The question answers itself.
The democrats are illegal and unconstitutional foreign invader parasites sucking the blood of the Americans of the Founders.
It’s kind of weird that Trumptards say things like, “We are becoming a debtor nation where every citizen now shoulders a $106,000-per-capita burden to pay for our out-of-control spending,” in their argument that Trump’s going to do something about it. Before his first term he said he’d eliminate the deficit and it would be so fast and so easy to do. What did Trump do? He went on a spending spree that outdid Obama. Trump ballooned the deficit more than any president in US history. Now, Trump wants the debt ceiling eliminated. Why? Because he has the same cockamamy philosophy he used which led to 6 catastrophic bankruptcies. He thinks if you build a luxury hotel, you just spend, spend, spend tom make it over-the-top great… and then sit back and watch the money roll back in. That’s his fly-by-night scheme with tariffs. He tells us, “just wait and see, tariffs are going to make us so rich those other problems will just go away.” Trump has no plan. He’s incompetent and most likely mentally ill.
“Now, Trump wants the debt ceiling eliminated. Why? Because he . . .”
That’s not why.
Raising (not eliminating) the debt ceiling is necessary because of a bizarre, government accounting rule that books cuts as spending.
How in the world does anyone (sans a brain full of poop, or a wallet full of kickbacks?) advocate spending millions on condoms for anywhere in the world – Gaza, Giza, Mozambique, Carmina Burana – whereevah??? There has got to be some kickbacks and money laundering going on in the background!- This screams for an Irish Poem!!!
Where The Rubbers Meet The Road???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
When waste, fraud, abuse – we do seek
We must not forget Mozambique!
Where foul money scrubbers
Spent millions on rubbers –
Exposed, they went into a pique!
There once was a man with a tan,
Who paid off a slut ‘cause he can.
Even though he had fun,
He banned everyone
From condoms in faraway lands!
I like that! Not really accurate, but you tried! Here, let me do you a Response! You do know that Mozambique has Hevea brasiliensis, don’t you???
A Lass, and A Lack of Condoms???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm
Alas, and alack! Those poor lubbers!
Who can’t f-ck without some FREE rubbers!
But Mozambique??? Please!
Rubber grows on their trees!
Sooo, now you can stop all your blubbers!
I had to go to wiki to look that up:
Hevea brasiliensis, the Pará rubber tree, sharinga tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now pantropical in distribution due to introductions. It is the most economically important member of the genus Hevea because the milky latex extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber.
and yes, Mozambique does have rubber plantations:
Rubber plantations in Mozambique
The Mozambique Holdings company operates rubber plantations in central Mozambique.
The Lugela district of Mozambique has a rubber manufacturing plant that began operating on a trial basis in 2014.
Good find!
Here ya go Squeaky
In days of old
When knights were bold
and rubbers weren’t invented
Many a knight spent many a day
with a leaf wrapped round his beef!
Has anyone figured out how many condoms $50M pays for and are there that many sexually active men even in Haza?!
Excuse me, whatever did happen to law.
That man with a tan was not admitted to become a citizen by the American Founders.
To wit,
Naturalization Acts of 1790, 1795, 1798, and 1802 (four iterations for clarity)
United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” March 26, 1790
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof…
Turley is as ignorant of the US monetary system as Musk and Trump. When you write this, “In 2024, the $6.75 trillion budget exceeded our tax receipts of $4.9 trillion. The rest, $1.8 trillion, had to be borrowed. As a result, the national debt has ballooned and, if left on its current trajectory, would amount to 250% of gross domestic product within three decades.”, it means you don’t understand how the federal govt funds its spending, you don’t understand the US monetary system. Puts into question your whole point. The federal govt is monetarily sovereign, meaning, it has the ability to create as many new dollars as it deems necessary, with the only constraints being inflation/currency depreciation. This was the whole point of going off the gold standard in 1971. People like you that don’t understand the monetary system will, of course, state their knowledge of the gold standard but not apply it to the real world. The US dollar is no longer backed by any asset (silver stopped in 1873), but by the “full faith and credit of the US”. Nixon and Kissinger took the dollar off the gold standard because of rising costs (Marshall Plan recipients seeking to convert dollars to gold, Great Society, Vietnam War, etc.) and at the same time negotiated with OPEC to price oil in gold to create a global demand for a US dollar not based on an underlying asset. These actions were the conclusion of a decades long movement to move the dollar to its current fiat status (started with FDR’s Executive Order 6102 in 1933). The US federal govt doesn’t tax (federal) or borrow (treasuries) to fund its spending, so why would it need to “borrow” as Turley suggests? States and cities are not monetarily sovereign, however, and must abide by the state constitutional requirements to have balanced budgets. States/cities tax and borrow to fund their spending because they do not have the ability to create US dollars. If you were to ask Turley what the debt is, I doubt he could answer, so let me. The debt is the total outstanding US treasury securities (interest not principal), which could be paid off with the tap of a computer key. The ignorance of Musk and Trump will create a recession/depression if left unchecked. Balancing the federal budget, as Musk has suggested is one of his goals, will inevitably create such a recession/depression because needlessly taking dollars out the economy will shrink the economy. Why would a monetarily sovereign country, that has the ability to create its own currency, need to balance its federal budget when it doesn’t tax or borrow to funds its spending? Basic stuff.
Whack job.
Illiterate Trumptard.
You should stop calling yourself names.
We do borrow against US assets and citizens (inflation)
Just because you say so doesn’t make it so sweetie.
Treasury bonds
You said, “The federal govt is monetarily sovereign, meaning, it has the ability to create as many new dollars as it deems necessary, with the only constraints being inflation/currency depreciation.”
That’s the point. We are getting the inflation, some of it from the deficit, and some of it from sheer greed, and some of it from “artificial” costs, such as regulations, and some from tariffs, and some from stupid laws that mandate more expensive alternatives, and a whole bunch of it from ridiculous medical costs.
Cutting the deficit will help.
Cutting the deficit will not help. Sorry champ, but you are as ignorant as Turley, Trump and Musk. Why would a monetarily sovereign country, that can create its own currency, need to balance its federal budget (deficit)? You say you understand but you contradict yourself because you are ignorant of the basics. Once again, going off the gold standard has meaning. You either understand what a fiat currency, as opposed to an asset backed currency, is, or you don’t.
IF, cutting the deficit would not help, then why did you say that the only restraints are inflation/currency deflation??? Do you not even read your own statements, Precious???
My goodness you are not smart. What I have said, REPEATEDLY, is that the only constraints are inflation/CURRENCY DEPPRECIATION not deflation. You people can’t even read sentences and understand them before responding. So sad. Stay precious.
Same thing, Ding-a-ling.
My goodness you are dumb. Stay precious.
Stagflation
Have another prozac…
Well it moved to the bitcoin standard.
Theft is stopped because it’s immoral. Trafficking is stopped because it’s immoral. Murder, perjury, defamation are stopped because they’re immoral.
How is bitcoin even legal?
Oh ok, and what are your credentials besides suffering from TDS?
Same old pie in the sky BS.
Anonymous, what you forgot to put into your little diatribe is the government bonds being purchased by China. This is the borrowing money that Professor Turley is talking about. It seems that you’re all in favor of having China loan us the money to keep our overspending government afloat. You stated that printing money might cause a little inflation. You know that little thing that sucks the life blood out of a family budget. Are you really that ill informed or are you just that malevolent. You previously exposed that you work for the government so we understand where you’re coming from. Hmm, you sit in your government chair all day and have the time to comment several times per hour. My advice to you is take the buy out.
Lovely name sweetie. It’s amusing how you people cannot grasp the basics of what I wrote. THE BASICS. Countries buy US treasuries because they are the safest investments for their currencies, as the US dollar is still the big dog. There is no borrowing, because again, the US dollar is not asset backed, so there is no need to find assets to back the US dollar. Think it through champ. If a country is asset backed and it runs out of said asset, then it would tax/borrow to funds its spending. The Brits went off the tally stick and then the asset backed Pound, partly, because of war costs. FDR’s Executive Order 6102 soon followed the Brits move to a fiat currency. You people are not smart. And when did I say I worked for the govt? Stay precious.
Anonymous, so now you’re saying that China will never cash in those bonds but will just hold on to them out of the kindness of their heart. Gold has gone from $2200 dollars per ounce to almost $2900 per ounce since February of 2024. The smart move is for China to divest from bonds to gold and that is exactly whats happening. Get a clue.
When did I say “China will never cash in those bonds….”. You people are either ignorant of the basics, can’t read and understand or just make stuff up. Sad and pathetic. Once again genius, US treasuries are the safest investment for US dollars, and countries around the world have been buying treasuries for decades for that very reason. If you think China is divesting from bonds to buy gold you are even dumber than I thought.
Huh??? You said this, “There is no borrowing, because again, the US dollar is not asset backed, so there is no need to find assets to back the US dollar. ”
Oh My, but borrowing is exactly what it is! There may not be any specified collateral, like a signature loan, but the whole point of the Federal Reserve was to “borrow” money into existence, as opposed to just printing it into existence. That is why there is a T Note, or T Bill – they are debt instruments, and interest is owed on the money.
Now, could we scrap that system, and just create money out of thin air? Yes. And eventually, that is what we will have to do, I think.
Agreed. If we keep running up the debt, we will have those 500 million dollar bills like Zimbabwe has. It’s time to derail the gravy train in Washington.
Haha, you agree because you are as ignorant as she is. As ignorant as Turley, Musk, Trump etc……. Stay precious.
anony at 12:54 doesn’t seem to understand the role PPP is playing in all of this (Purchase Power Parity). He or she just likes to pretend that he or she knows more than we. (PPP=particularly paradoxical person)
PPP=Putrid, propaganda pimp???
And another genius that hasn’t a clue how the US federal govt funds its spending. You Turley fans are a dumb lot. Stay precious.
BINGO!
Squeaky collects the prize!
Sounds like the same economic policy of Venezuela which has an inflation rate of 150%. Just keep printing money because its backed by the “full faith and credit of the US.” That’s laughable. That’s like a bank going to a business that is grossly in debt and lending them money on the “full faith and credit of the business.”
And another genius that lacks basic comprehension skills. Truly astounding how uneducated you sycophants are. I stated, REPEATEDLY, that the constraints on a monetarily sovereign country creating its country’s currency would be inflation/currency depreciation. Your profound ignorance is such that you think Venezuela is monetarily sovereign when a simple google would prove otherwise. Stay precious.
“. . . the constraints on a monetarily sovereign country creating its country’s currency would be inflation . . .”
How’d those “constraints” work out over the last 4 years?
Behold the Keynesians — destroying economies wherever they appear.
Not a Keynesian, snowflake. Do you have a point or are you just ignorant? Stay precious.
“Not a Keynesian . . .”
Your petulant insults notwithstanding, you’re advocating government “priming the pump.” That’s textbook Keynes.
If you walk like a duck . . .
Yet again: Where were those “constraints” over the last 4 years?
Simpleton, you can call me a keynesian all you want, but it doesn’t make it so. You pathetic sap. How many times do I have to tell you IDIOTS that monetarily sovereign countries are constrained by inflation/currency depreciation. You f’in moron.
Nice rant of vulgar, schoolyard insults.
Always a sign of intellectual bankruptcy.
“monetarily sovereign countries are constrained by inflation/currency “
That’s generally true, but some countries weren’t effectively constrained and ended with hyperinflation and economic collapse. Are you stating this as a neutral fact, or are you implying that these constraints are enough to keep monetary policy in check?
I made it to the fourth or fifth line, got bored, and stopped.
You Turley readers are an impressive bunch. Stay precious snowflake.
Anonymous, Turleys blog is one massive Kruger-Dunning cesspool.
Poor georgie, does it again. Tries to use big words he learned but doesn’t understand. FYI, it’s Dunning-Kruger, little georgie.
Sure thing precious, but George’s point is valid……
Haha, I’m realizing.
First, you’re anonymous, so, yeah, a coward. Second, the wealthiest man in the world an a twice-elected multi-billionaire president would seem to be in a better position to understand the US monetary system than some angry turd with piercings, tattoos and a porn on his computer (just speculating). Third, ya kinda missed the larger point. Fourth, you seem angry.
Great rebuttal cherry blossom, and the best part, is that you are anonymous too. Stay precious genius, errr, coward….
The hysteria and hyperbole of the Democratic Party, like its trolls on this website, are its defining characteristics. It is hard to see how that will change, since all the reasonable people have left its upper echelons. We will need to hope that the Democratic Party falls apart, leaving two or more splinter parties. This might be a fortunate development; we would benefit from a multi-party system, as in almost every other advanced democracy.
edwardmahl,
Well said. It does seem the Democrat party is in disarray. They cannot find a way to legitimately counter Trumps agenda as he campaigned on things Americans actually care about while they went with at first “Joy.” Then when that fell flat, they resorted to the Hitler and democracy is on the line. Meanwhile they went with the progressive and identity politics which most sane and normal Americans are tired of and are not a priority for them.