Politely, I think this comment is unhelpful. What do you propose that they do? Our government is based to a large degree on the assumption of good faith. The Supreme Court, for example, has power because the constitution says it does. They don’t have the capacity to actually enforce the rulings they hand down.
The current president has basically said that he doesn’t care about the constitution, and is just concerned with stealing power for himself and his cronies. Elections are supposed to be our mechanism for dealing with that.
There are a lot of things they can do, but also if they are breaking the law and blatantly ignoring the constitution I would argue basically anything is on the table to stop this, even if it is “extra legal” or whatever.
Because if they don’t the entire system of laws and rules and everything is fucked beyond repair.
At the least they could obstruct, using any means at their disposal, be them legally dubious or not. The repugs would do the same.
Republicans did the same, both “legally dubious” and blatantly illegal.
What do you propose that they do?
Impeach and remove Trump. Yes, a Vance administration might do the same things but Congress would make it clear they’re not willing to allow such bullshit.
Or subpoena Musk and others, which I know recently failed a vote to do exactly that.
Congress CAN do a lot of things, they were designed to be a powerful pillar of government. They have ceded much of that power through inaction over the years but they can take it back.
As you pointed out, they attempted to subpoena Musk and the republicans voted it down. They’ve also introduced articles of impeachment, which they successfully put through last time only to have senate republicans refuse to convict on the basis that trump was no longer president.
Yes, what congress WILL do versus what they SHOULD do are different things.
If you look at things like the recent Gaza statements by Trump I think it’s clear Trump is going to continuously step over the line and others will need to walk it back. Eventually that someone will be congress, I just hope it’s sooner rather than later, although I fear it will be later rather than sooner.
True, but I’m asking what they can do, and that’s far from clear. What do you suggest?
zarkanian@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
What’s the point of rules if the president can just ignore them? Were they just counting on the president not being the sort of person who would break the rules? That seems like a bad plan.
splinter@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I agree completely. It’s clear we’re in need of much stronger constitutional safeguards.