A contributed perspectives piece by Timothy Stoltzfus Jost
Our 18th Century founders were very familiar with absolute monarchy. When drafting our Constitution, they rejected it in favor of our model of checks and balances and separation of power. This model has served us well and been respected by a long line of leaders for over 230 years. The Trump/ Musk administration has broken with this tradition, claiming absolute authority and rejecting the separation of powers. This threatens an unprecedented Constitutional crisis.
The first article of the Constitution provides, “all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.” Article 2 states, “the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America.” Article 3 creates a judicial branch to decide all cases and controversies “arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United states, and treaties made . . . under their authority.” Since the early years of the Republic, it has been accepted that the Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution. The remainder of the Constitution, in particular the Bill of Rights, limits the power of the government this Constitution establishes.
Although article 2 vests the executive power in the president, it also provides that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”. The President also takes an oath to faithfully execute his or her authority and to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.” The President is, like the rest of us, subject to the law.
Congress has over the years adopted many laws intended to ensure that the president does not assume absolute authority and that the power of the presidency is shielded from corruption. For 140 years, the civil service laws have prevented the president from arbitrarily firing federal employees to further the president’s own political or financial interests. Presidents are no longer permitted to fire the postmasters and hire their political contributors after every election. For nearly 100 years, we have had independent administrative agencies to provide consistent and informed guidance to important sectors of the economy without excessive political influence. For over four decades, we have had independent inspectors general to root out fraud, waste, and corruption in the executive branch. and for the past half century, laws have prevented the president from arbitrarily refusing to spend funds appropriated by Congress.
In their quest for absolute executive authority, Trump and Musk are ignoring these constraints, firing agency board members, inspectors general, and federal employees generally; and defunding Federal agencies without regard to the law. They are neither taking care nor being faithful to the Constitution and laws.
But Trump and Musk are going beyond merely claiming absolute authority over the executive power of the United States. Through his endless executive orders, President Trump has taken upon himself the legislative power of the United States as well. Vice President Vance and co-president Musk have also challenged the authority of the judicial branch. Although President Trump has not yet explicitly defied the courts, neither is he obeying court orders that have been entered.
Trump is also running roughshod over our constitutional rights, suing news broadcasters or threatening their licenses when he doesn’t like their coverage. He is barring one of our foremost news agencies from the White House press room because they do not fully accept his silly renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. He is threatening immigration raids at churches, schools, and medical facilities.
Although the Trump presidency is not yet a month old, it is already having a dramatic effect here in Harrisonburg and Rockingham county. Hundreds of federal employees here live in fear of termination, and some have already been terminated. Others have been told that they must return to offices in Washington or they will lose their jobs. (just what we need–more commuter traffic on I-81). Federal grantees and contractors here have also seen their funding disappear. And, of course, the administration’s immigration policies threaten a serious blow to our local economy which depends so heavily on immigrants’ initiative and labor. Soon, hundreds of our neighbors will lose their health coverage and see reduced access to food through SNAP.
As Trump and Musk arbitrarily shrink the federal government, we will all soon notice that federal government functions that we accepted as routine are missing. Our national park and national forests will suffer as their workforce is reduced, and we will see longer waits for Veterans and Medicare benefits. As CDC staff are fired, bird flu is spreading rapidly, already dramatically affecting the price of eggs and possibly spreading to the human population.
To repeat the observation of Thomas Paine almost 250 years ago, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” We must, like the founders, reject tyranny and uphold constitutional order.
Timothy Stoltzfus Jost is retired from teaching health care law at Washington and Lee University law School. He lives in Harrisonburg.