In our governing system of separation of powers and checks and balances the federal judiciary and in particular the Supreme Court has traditionally been viewed as the final arbiter of public policy and the we’d guardian of the rule of law. But in these topsy- turvy times of Trumpism the Supreme Court has been co-opted by the president and his radical right allies into a politicized machine to support Donald Trump’s vision of an authoritarian state.
Since the beginning of Trump’s second term the Supreme Court has countermanded the Congress and its lawmaking authority by doing away with the Department of Education, stripping away Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, stopping $4 billion in foreign aid, firing thousands of federal employees in violation of their contracts and deporting migrants to countries that were not their original home base.
The Court has also reversed 93% of lower court decisions that limited executive powers and written 24 emergency decisions without explanation that in 90% of the cases were favorable to Trump. In many of the decisions the Court reduced the power of Congress to establish appointment and retention regulations, appropriate funds for bipartisan approved programs and protect individual rights and procedures. Added to this the Court provided the President with near uncontested power when it granted immunity from prosecution for actions taken in his role as chief executive.
The six Justices that make up the conservative wing of the Court seem to be more interested in appeasing the President than supporting the role of Congress, upholding the decisions of the lower courts and following legal precedents that have long been enshrined in the rule of law. They also appear to support the controversial and questionable theory of the unitary executive which grants the president unlimited power to make public policy decisions without limiting checks from the Congress.
In a recent book by Justice Amy Coney Barrett she said the quiet part out loud when commenting that the Court did not possess “the power of the purse or the sword,” a condition brought on by her conservative colleagues who seem unconcerned by the gross unconstitutional excesses of the President. The “conservative six” are willing to follow along as he weakens democratic values and practices and makes a mockery of the core constructs of our governing system — separation of powers and checks and balances. It is clear that the Supreme Court needs a course correction to bring it back to the original intent of the Founders.