Checks and Balances — What’s Actually Stopping Trump

One month into the Trump administration, and this is what I’ve learned about what can and can’t be a check on Trump:

1. The Office of The President

The gravity of the office of the presidency will not be a check on Trump. He has signed executive orders and launched military operations — real things that have real consequences — but has shown no signs of maturing. He signed off on a disastrous raid that led to the death of an American soldier and multiple young non-combatants, and a week later he was tweeting about Ivanka and Nordstroms. This is not a person who ever has or ever will grow.

I’m sure Reince Priebus and the rest of the relatively mainstream conservatives (and maybe Ivanka & Jared Kushner?) would like to curb his lunacy, but they’ve shown little or no ability to do so. Anyone who argues we’ll see a more “presidential” Trump soon is an idiot.

2. The Legislative Branch

The legislative branch will not be a check on Trump. The vast, vast majority of congressional republicans have shown no interest in restraining Trump, because Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have decided to make a devil’s bargain that Trump will sign off on their massive, massive tax cuts, and they’re therefore okay with his attacks on the judiciary, troubling ties with Russia and rampant corruption (this should be incredibly worrying for any citizen! Remember the time a National Security Advisor got fired for having improper conversations with Russia? THAT SEEMS WORTH INVESTIGATING). The only Republicans who have voted against Trump at all are Murkowski and Collins, who are rightly terrified of their angry constituents, and Rand Paul, who is the only lunatic ideologue in the Republican Party who actually sticks to his OWN crazy views. (Isakson and Scott joined Murkowski and Collins in saying they wouldn’t vote for Puzder, so they get grudging half-credit I guess)

Oh, and until they actually vote against a Trump priority or take some other concrete actions to rein him in, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Marco Rubio and all the other “moderate” Republicans can take their “oh I’m a good conservative but as an American I’m concerned about the Presidents’ actions” schtick and go jump down a well. I never want to read another Politico article on “McCain Issues Strong Statement Against Trump’s Actions on Whatever.” If you actually disapprove then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT YOU SLIMEBALL. Otherwise shut up and stop trying to score points with the media, you absolute weasel.

The Republicans care about angry constituents, elections and fundraising, and that’s it. None of these gutless cowards have any morals, (except for Rand Paul, who I have a weird amount of respect for because he actually sticks to his insane, wrong and bad ideas, even when it isn’t politically convenient). Anyone who argues the Republicans will be a check on the president is a moron.

3. The Democrats

The Democrats won’t be a check on Trump. Let’s leave aside the fact that they have zero power, thanks to a national strategy of “we won’t hunt women, minorities or LGBTQ people for sport like the Republicans, so all you liberals need to vote for us and shut up about corporate taxes, workers’ rights, public education or income inequality” that energized exactly zero people who don’t have tickets booked for Davos.

It’s easy to forget now that they’ve grown a spine, but Chuck Schumer’s first instinct after Trumps victory was to say “we’re looking for opportunities to work with the racist, misogynistic, authoritarian-lite president,” and Nancy Pelosi said “I don’t think the Democratic Party needs substantial change after we got dunked on at every level by a candidate whose platform was ‘Mussolini, but incompetent.’” Because of course it was.

The Democrats have been compromising for so long that they’ve forgotten how to stand up for anything. Some of them are ideological fighters (Bernie Sanders) or young, tough people with spines (Tammy Duckworth, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand) but the vast majority are bloodless mercenaries cynically positioning themselves for 2020 (Cory Booker) or old, tired, craven morons who think compromise is a good unto itself (Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi). Even progressives Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown voted for Ben Carson for HUD, because WHAT WHY GODDAMNIT.

Oh, and don’t forget the swamp creatures lurking outside the periphery of Washington, sucking up bags of corporate money and slashing social services while trying to figure out how to better message “I really care about poor people” with zero self-awareness or introspection (Rahm Emanuel, Andrew Cuomo). Finally, Joe Manchin is just the worst. You think these people know how to put up a fight? Anyone who thinks the Democrats will be a check on Trump is deluded.

4. The Courts

The courts — well, they actually can be a check on Trump! And they have been! Luckily judges care about the law, and they’re not subject to the same political pressures, so they’re looking at Trumps insane actions and they’re ruling against them! This is awesome and good, and court challenges are definitely one of the key ways people will be able to defend important parts of our society. However…that’s not going to be enough.

First of all, Trump has been systematically undermining the judiciary, setting the stage for him to attempt to override them/ignore them. Secondly, eventually Trumps team is going to find someone actually competent enough to write a good legal argument, and the courts will rule in his favor. Finally, and most importantly — the judges rule on the laws, but the actual enforcement of the law falls on agencies such as DHS, ICE and the police. Those are groups that Trump has been AGGRESSIVELY courting for a very long time, and they are heavily in favor of his agenda, which prompts the very feasible specter of federal agencies simply ignoring the courts’ rulings. Anyone who says the courts are a check on Trump is somewhat right; but they’re not seeing the big picture

5. The People

So we’re screwed, right? We’re totally and irrevocably doomed? Well, that’s not quite true. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the past month, it’s that there is one thing that can be a check on Trump. It’s us. “We the people” is more than just a preamble — it’s what this whole country with its kickass flag and objectively bad national anthem are based on. And oh man, in the past month “we the people” showed up.

People flooded phone lines and town halls in red and blue states. Protestors showed up in force around the country. Donations poured into nonprofits, emboldening them and giving them the resources to fight for the people that can’t.

And look what we did — the Democrats grew spines and stopped voting for Trumps awful nominations. The Republicans started to run scared, two even voted against DeVos, and Puzder’s nomination was scuttled. The ACA debate changed from “We’re taking away your healthcare! Ahaha deal with it” to “Could we please change some things in the law? Please don’t hurt us.” The Muslim ban was successfully challenged in court, and Trump’s cabinet of goons and sycophants is still not filled a month in.

You did this. Yes, YOU! You, when you gave $20 to the ACLU. You, when you marched in a protest for the first time in your life. You, when you joined a local activist organization. You, when you actually showed up for a city council meeting. You, when you called your representative for the first time and had a really awkward, stumbling conversation with a twenty year old staffer about your concerns. I am so proud of you and I want to hug you all.

Now, keep up the fight! They’ve got the power, but we have the numbers, the will and the speed and agility. They can sign an executive order banning Muslims, but we can mobilize protestors to every airport in the nation, pour a ton of money into the ACLU, deploy legal challenges everywhere, take over the media cycle for days and throw it all into a giant mess. We can throw sand in the gears of everything and protest everything.

We won’t always win — in fact, we’ll almost never win — but we’ll exhaust them, we’ll delay them, we’ll make them spend time and money and political capital and we’ll just make everything SO HARD, to the point where some fights just aren’t worth it for them. Its going to be a long four years, but if we do this right, it’ll be almost as frustrating for them and we’ll come out of this with our democracy intact.

And, of course, some of you reading this haven’t jumped into it yet. So do it! WE are the check on Trump, and we would love to have you. So strap in, get psyched, and get fired up. Because anyone who says the people will be a check on Trump — well, they might be on to something.

Xoxoxoxoxo,
Jefferson