Where is the Pushback?

Where’s the pushback from Congress in response to President Donald Trump’s defiance of the courts and disregard for the Constitution?  While actual Republican pushback has come from Elizabeth Chaney and Adam Kinzinger, and a few active Senators, most elected senators and representatives in both parties appear to have little appetite for pushback.  Democrats, where are your leaders?  OAC, Pete Buttigieg, a few others, and independent Bernie Sanders should be supported by more of you.  Where are the real Republicans?  Your party has been taken over by Trump supporters.  The executive power that Trump claims is not real.  His “MANDATE” is far from a mandate.  A full 36 percent of eligible voters did not cast a ballot.  That is a larger percentage than either Trump or Harris received.  Push back!! Don’t let the judicial branch attempt to carry the load!  Trump’s actions are not something new.  Consider Andrew Jackson, known as the people’s president, and the pushback from his political opponents.

In 1834, Henry Clay led a revolt against President Andrew Jackson.  President Jackson had started defying court directives and Congress.  In 1832, Jackson defied Chief Justice John Marshall in the case of Worcester v. Georgia.  In this case the state of Georgia attempted to impose laws on the Cherokee Nation.  The Court upheld the sovereignty of the Cherokees.  Jackson did not like the decision and refused to accept its directive.  Most often Jackson is quoted as saying, “Jon Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!”  Jackson personal stance was part of his broader Indian policy which eventually led to the Trail of Tears. 

Then in 1834, Jackson opposed the Second Bank of the United States as presented by Congress.  Jackson viewed the bank as unconstitutional and corrupt, favoring state banks and a decentralized financial system. His stance led to the infamous “Bank War,” where he vetoed the renewal of the Bank of the United States’ charter and redirected federal funds to state banks, often called “pet banks.” Jackson claimed that as president he could judge the constitutionality of a central bank, ignoring the 1819 Supreme Court ruling in McCulloch v. Maryland, which held that the Bank of the United States was legal. This was a defining moment of his presidency.  Senator Henry Clay viewed Jackson’s actions as outside his executive authority.  Clay moved to have Jackson censored by Congress.  In 1834 the Senate formally censured Jackson.  In 1837 the Senate, now dominated by Jackson supporters, voted to remove the censure from the Senate record.  Although Clay’s efforts failed, his argument helped shape limits on executive powers.  Jackson’s personal beliefs regarding the central bank are the likely cause of the Panic of 1837, our first major depression.

Where is the Henry Clay or Daniel Webster of our generation?  Webster said, “I am committed… to the Constitution of the country…. And I am committed against everything, which, in my judgment, may weaken, endanger, or destroy it…; and especially against all extension of Executive power; and I am committed against any attempt to rule the free people of this country by the power and the patronage of the government itself.” Which Senators today will protect the separation of powers as enshrined in our Constitution?