The constitutional crisis that many have feared is officially here. The Trump administration has willfully disobeyed judicial court orders from Judges Boasberg, Xinis, and Murphy — which the Constitution does not allow.
In addition, on May 4, Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker that he didn’t know if he were obligated to follow the Constitution. He must. The Constitution’s Take Care Clause (Article II, Section 3) imposes a constitutional duty on the president to ensure that all laws — including constitutional rights and judicial decisions — are carried out faithfully.
The House’s “big ugly” budget reconciliation bill — which every Utah congressman supported — is the biggest transfer of wealth in our nation’s history, taking $1.2 trillion from the middle class and the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich. The bill cuts $698 billion from Medicaid, $267 billion from SNAP (food assistance), and $490 billion from Medicare.
The bill adds $3.8 trillion to the federal deficit, which has already increased long-term interest rates. This increases the cost of servicing the national debt, as well as the cost of everything from mortgages to auto loans.
But the House bill is even worse. A poison pill provision buried in it would restrict the authority of federal courts to hold government officials in contempt when they violate court orders. Without the contempt power, judicial orders are meaningless and can be ignored. As it is the federal courts that are checking Trump’s many unconstitutional orders and dictatorial ambitions, this authoritarian power grab should be stripped from the bill in the Senate.
Finally, we, unlike Utah’s congressional delegation, must not tolerate Trump’s unprecedented corruption.
Join me on “No Kings” Day, June 14, in a day of national protest. We must emphatically tell Trump that in the United States, the rule of law — not any man — is king.
Justin F. Thulin, Salt Lake City
