Several of this morning’s tv talk shows referenced the balance of power in our government with its co-equal branches: executive, judicial, and legislative.
CO-EQUAL: Three equally powerful branches providing a system of checks and balances, a separation of powers.*
Except they are neither equal nor separate. Not under Trump. He thinks he’s a king, the one with all the power. He acts as though the other two branches are subject to his will and have no power over him or his decisions. Certainly not the courts. He routinely ignores their directives and rulings. In his first term he appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices. That Court, in 2024, gave him virtual carte blanche by declaring that he has absolute criminal immunity for official acts under core constitutional powers.
The biggest problem, however, appears to be total inaction from the legislative branch. Congress kissed the ring, bent the knee, and approved virtually all of Trump’s cabinet nominees, including such grotesquely unqualified individuals as Kennedy to HHS and Hegseth to Defense. It sits silently and cedes its lawmaking power to a president who signs executive orders by the dozen, creating and enforcing those “laws” in lieu of any action from Congress and despite contrary orders from the courts.
From Ballotpedia:
As of April 24, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) had signed 139 executive orders, 37 memoranda, and 39 proclamations in his second presidential term, which began on January 20, 2025.
Mid-term elections in November 2026 might bring about a change in Congress. If Democrats can win a majority in both the House and Senate, Congress might finally start blocking some of Trump’s actions and initiating some of its own. They can start by impeaching and, this time, convicting Trump for his overbearing, overreaching, unconstitutional actions and removing him from office.
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*”The first article of the Constitution says ‘ALL legislative powers…shall be vested in a Congress.’ The second article vests ‘the executive power…in a President.’ The third article places the ‘judicial power of the United States in one Supreme Court’ and ‘in such inferior Courts as the Congress…may establish.'”
-30-
There is a saving grace . . . with control of all three branches, he could have been enacting long-term legislation.
Instead, he wants the glory of executive actions . . . which hold no special place and can easily be overturned. Sure, they suck, but they are term-limited.
. . . although the consequences will echo on for years.
Good point. And thanks for reminding me. Still, seeing the damage being done and knowing how long it will take to repair it (if it can be repaired), is both heartbreaking and infuriating.
I think there will be big change coming in 2026. At least I’m hopeful.
Me too. Some days that hope is about all that keeps me sane.
I’m going to do my part to bring the changes in 2026 if not before
I wish I could do more between now and the mid-terms besides seethe and froth. It would feel good to join others in one of those big rally/march events. That aside, I can’t wait to vote!
I’m with all of you, in a helpless kind of way.
Down here we have our own Federal elections next weekend; and I wouldn’t give CPR to either party’s leader. 🙁
Sorry to hear that. Didn’t you tell me you are required to vote? That sounds like a lousy situation to be in. Incidentally, I apologize for our president who seems determined to alienate all of our allies. Aussies certainly don’t deserve that.
Yes, voting is mandatory – and I believe in that. It makes one seek out the Independents.
As for tRump, we were made pretty damned aware of him once, and now we can only commiserate with you guys. But we don’t care about his contempt for us because we have it in spades for him.
You guys are in good company. Trump seems to have contempt for almost everyone except the super rich.
I see the founders’ system of checks and balances working. Unfortunately, it entails a 2 or 4 year period of pain. The challenge I see is for the Democratic Party to somehow shed it’s extreme leftist ambitions. That’s what turned off many independents, IMO.
I see the judicial branch sort of trying to control the executive branch, but with no way to enforce its rulings and Trump determined to ignore them. I don’t see the legislative branch doing much of anything, and I’m very concerned about Michael Bennet running for Colo. governor in the mid-terms and leaving the Senate if he wins (while naming his own successor to his vacated Senate seat, which will probably leave one of CO’s house seats vacant when the incumbent gets moved to the Senate). Bennet’s a smart guy and has probably calculated that this is a smart thing to do, but I don’t see it. Not yet, anyway.
From what I’ve heard, the extreme left is hurting the Dems, but I honestly can’t tell you what their “extreme” positions are. Hate to say that, being an independent myself. I confess I can’t see much past “stop Trump.”
Imnsho, there is a whole big lot of blame for all this to be laid at the feet of the Dems, with their lack of willingness to change|adapt|focus on problems.
They need to remember Ben Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”