Congress never voted to overturn any Obama national emergency, did they? I wonder why, since the regressives held the reins, and the declarations were always actual emergencies. Unlike the charade in evidence with tiny.
Twelve (count ’em, twelve) Republican members of the United States Senate decided to honor their sacred oaths to defend the Constitution. The others, presumably, are in bed with Stormy Daniels, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Donald Trump (hopefully, in that order!)
Obama created the DACA structure by fiat after telling the nation it was unconstitutional to do so. And it was/is unconstitutional. He shifted resources to serve a cause Congress did not authorize.
If he had simply instructed the DoJ and ICE to ignore the Dreamers it could be reasonably argued that he was using prosecutorial discretion and resource management decisions. All govt agencies face the problem of finite resources and difficult choices. Instead, he diverted funding to create a registration system completely unauthorized in law.
Trump, on the other hand, used/will use a law created by Congress that allows him to shift money within the budget to serve a cause Congress did not authorize. Congress authorized the diversion of already allocated funds under an emergency declaration.
He took advantage of the failure by Congress to place specific time/purpose limits on declarations. Legally, technically, this is not an abuse of Executive power. It is the exercise of Congressional power that has been lawfully ceded to the POTUS.
Please note that by passing the joint resolution Trump vetoed, Congress is treating his planned diversion of funds as if it is legal. If Pelosi was confident that the actions of Trump are unconstitutional and/or illegal, she would have filed in Federal court on behalf of Congress. That she did not speaks volumes against the popular argument that Trumps actions are a violation of the separation of powers.
5 of 6 previous Presidents have been sued by Congress, usually over the War Powers Act or other foreign policy matters. The suits are rarely successful, typically for the reason stated above.
kaffekup about 5 years ago
I’m going to assume this cartoon is written from Yertle’s point of view, not that of a sane or patriotic person…
Masterskrain Premium Member about 5 years ago
That is EXACTLY the way those blind old bastards in the G.O.P. see it! Especially Yertle the Turtle McConshell!
Darsan54 Premium Member about 5 years ago
Mitch & company fear a functioning democracy because they know their ideas would lose in the marketplace.
twclix about 5 years ago
Congress never voted to overturn any Obama national emergency, did they? I wonder why, since the regressives held the reins, and the declarations were always actual emergencies. Unlike the charade in evidence with tiny.
Godfreydaniel about 5 years ago
Twelve (count ’em, twelve) Republican members of the United States Senate decided to honor their sacred oaths to defend the Constitution. The others, presumably, are in bed with Stormy Daniels, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Donald Trump (hopefully, in that order!)
guyjen2004 Premium Member about 5 years ago
That’s about right. Love the rubber chicken lol
El Cobbo Grande about 5 years ago
Sane? , Patriotic ?……do you really want to go there?
Andylit Premium Member about 5 years ago
The difference is stark.
Obama created the DACA structure by fiat after telling the nation it was unconstitutional to do so. And it was/is unconstitutional. He shifted resources to serve a cause Congress did not authorize.
If he had simply instructed the DoJ and ICE to ignore the Dreamers it could be reasonably argued that he was using prosecutorial discretion and resource management decisions. All govt agencies face the problem of finite resources and difficult choices. Instead, he diverted funding to create a registration system completely unauthorized in law.
Trump, on the other hand, used/will use a law created by Congress that allows him to shift money within the budget to serve a cause Congress did not authorize. Congress authorized the diversion of already allocated funds under an emergency declaration.
He took advantage of the failure by Congress to place specific time/purpose limits on declarations. Legally, technically, this is not an abuse of Executive power. It is the exercise of Congressional power that has been lawfully ceded to the POTUS.
Please note that by passing the joint resolution Trump vetoed, Congress is treating his planned diversion of funds as if it is legal. If Pelosi was confident that the actions of Trump are unconstitutional and/or illegal, she would have filed in Federal court on behalf of Congress. That she did not speaks volumes against the popular argument that Trumps actions are a violation of the separation of powers.
5 of 6 previous Presidents have been sued by Congress, usually over the War Powers Act or other foreign policy matters. The suits are rarely successful, typically for the reason stated above.