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I wrote about one of @realDonaldTrump’s fundamental flaws as president—that he doesn’t understand his job. You’d think by his fourth year in the White House, he would have learned some basic things about the document he swore to uphold, the Constitution. But obviously he hasn’t. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
. @realDonaldTrump made that clear on Monday with some extraordinary statements about presidential power. He claimed “total” and “ultimate authority” to force the entire country to back to work, and that state or local officials “can’t do anything” without his approval. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
As a supposed “conservative,” @realDonaldTrump ought to know better. In our federal system, the states aren’t under Washington’s control, the way a corporate subsidiary might be owned by, say, the Trump Organization. Real conservatives believe in upholding the 10th Amendment. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
But it’s not just federalism that @realDonaldTrump misapprehends. It’s grade-school civics that president carry out laws, not whims or desires. Presidents swear to faithfully execute the law, which means not only enforcing it, but abiding by it—including its limitations. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
And there’s no exception for emergencies, as President Truman found in 1952 in the “Steel Seizure Case,”𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵 & 𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘊𝘰. 𝘷. 𝘚𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳. Law students and lots of middle and high school students have learned about that SCOTUS case ever since. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
“In the framework of our Constitution, the President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker,” the Court explained in𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯. Congress makes the laws. The President must follow them. Always. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
. @realDonaldTrump would do well to learn these basic tenets of American constitutional law, because it’s his job to follow them, and because doing so would make him a more effective president. But Trump still thinks that he, alone, has ultimate authority to call all the shots,... https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
... as he did on the 25th floor of Trump Tower. And it’ll never be otherwise. Because the one thing @realDonaldTrump will never be able to accept about the exalted office he holds is that, unlike his company, it doesn’t belong to him. https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1250359136388124674
