Donald Trump has set out on a course to radically reshape our government and our democracy. In doing so, he is and will be violating many laws, both those passed by Congress and those in the Constitution.
With a compliant Congress, more than 100 suits have been filed in Federal court to stop what Trump is doing. Many judges have issued temporary retraining orders advising Trump to stop his actions. It is unknown to what extent Trump is respecting those orders. In at least two instances, the court has found that Trump has not followed the orders and has restated very clearly that he must do so.
The normal process in civil cases like these is that the lower court order would not be stayed while the matter is being appealed. And appeal Trump certainly will, as he has recently said that if he is acting to save the country, he is not breaking any law—even if, in fact, he is acting contrary to the law.
The first two cases have now been appealed to the Supreme Court; one concerns Trump's wanting to fire the head of the Office of General Council, an independent watchdog agency with a term set by Congress and not serving at the President's pleasure. The other concerns Trump's freezing $2 billion in foreign aid payments.
One would hope in these and other power-grabbing cases, both Justices Roberts and Barrett, and perhaps Gorsuch, would join the 3 liberal judges in declaring that Trump had broken the law and acted illegally.
The question then is, "What will Trump do?" In the first case, he would have no choice but to abide by the Court's ruling because he has no way of forcing the person out of office. But in the second and other cases, although he has said that he will abide by the Court's ruling, his other recent statement noted above and those of Vice President Vance raise a question regarding that.
What happens if he doesn't abide by the Court's ruling? The possible scenarios are not pretty. If the Executive branch does not submit to the Judicial branch of government as foreseen in the Constitution's checks and balances, we would indeed be in a crisis. It could come down to the same question as in other dictatorships—the military. Does the military support the President or does it support our democracy and Constitution?
One can only hope that Trump is not so full of himself that when push comes to shove, he will relent and not foment a civil war.
