The Founding Fathers of the United States set in a place a system of checks and balances to ensure the smooth running of the American system of government. The Legislative Branch, the Judiciary and the Executive branch are supposed to counterbalance each other when one is malfunctioning. In the midst of the current crisis in the Executive Branch the Judiciary ensured respect for the Constitution, but so far, with some exceptions, the Legislative Branch is struggling to confront its constitutional responsibilities.
From Moslems to Flynn
When President #Donald Trump signed the executive order setting in place the Moslem ban a set of actions began where the checks and balances were brought into play.
Within a few short days the order was blocked by the Judiciary because Judges believed that order was in breach of the right of religious freedom contained in the Constitution.
In this way the Judiciary acted in accordance with the standards expected within the Constitution and in all probability the final decision will go up to the Supreme Court to determine whether the two levels of Judiciary were correct in their call.
Yet, even before the Constitutional feud over the ban had begun, the White House was already under a shadow due to accusations of Russian interference in the presidential election won by Donald Trump. Despite these accusations, the White House then nominated the controversial former four star general #Michael Flynn to become its National Security Advisor and head of the National Security Council.
Despite some misgivings and reports from the New York Times and Washington Post revealed that the Attorney General at the time warned of grave doubts over Flynn regarding contacts with the Russian Ambassador, the nomination was confirmed.
Twenty four days later Flynn was forced to resign as a result of leaks over his contacts with the Russian Ambassador and specifically for having provided “incomplete” information to the White House about the contents of those meetings.
The ongoing scandal is such that at the present time the matter of the Moslem ban has been put on the back burner.
Failed House motion
As this scandal has developed the Legislative Branch has been relatively quiet. The two Republican controlled Chambers have gone into damage control to limit the fallout of the numerous daily revelations over not only Flynn’s activities, but now over allegations that other members of the Trump campaign team and maybe of the new Administration may have had contacts with America’s biggest rival on the international political stage.
While some Republicans, notably in the Senate, have begun putting in place investigations, yesterday the Republicans of the House Judiciary Committee knocked back a motion by the Democrats to include these allegations in its plans for the year. In an admittedly political motion by the Democrats, the vote by the Republicans made the point that the Democrats were seeking to make, it highlighted the Republican reluctance to confront the security issues coming out of the White House.
Donald Trump was the Republican Candidate for the White House and ostensibly represents the Party nationally and internationally. For this reason the GOP has a responsibility to the Constitution and also to those that voted for it to ensure that its President and his Secretaries work in within the Constitution they all voted to respect and to defend.
Many Republicans have failed to realize that at stake is not only the prestige and the position of the United States, at stake is also the future of the Party itself. Some politicians had already expressed concerns on the midterm in 2018 over the effects of the repeal of Obamacare, now they have seen these concerns grow under the Moslem Ban and the Russian scandal.
Will the Republicans finally accept that they too have a role to play in this because Donald Trump, the man in the midst of these cases, was elected under the Republican banner and therefore also represents all Republicans?
