Ignoring the Judiciary

For anyone who does not already know, Senator Grassley is the Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, a committee he has served on in different capacities since at least 2009*. Especially given his presence on this committee, I was pleased to see his recent comments this morning in the Des Moines Register regarding President Trump potentially defying court rulings: “He wouldn’t get away with that and shouldn’t”. However, the Senator went on to indicate he does not believe the President would go so far as to ignore court rulings.

Here are some of the recent statements which give me concern that this Executive Branch may not give deference to the Judiciary:

• J.D. Vance stated, “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.

• President Trump said “Maybe we have to look at the judges because I think that’s a very serious violation.

• Elon Musk posted that a judge “needs to be impeached, NOW!”

• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed, “each injunction is an abuse of the rule of law and an attempt to thwart the will of the people.”

It seems likely that these comments are attempting to lay the groundwork for ignoring the rulings of the courts on the grounds that they are not legitimate rulings. In fact, a judge has already ruled that the Executive Branch has not fully complied with recent rulings. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞.

In the event the judicial branch oversteps its authority and provides an illegitimate ruling, it is the role of Congress to step in. Congress has the power to write new legislation which would either clarify or codify the ruling deemed to be judicial overreach – of course, this would also require a Presidential approval. Congress also has the power to impeach federal judges and remove them from office if they are deemed to have violated their oath to the Constitution. Regardless of which action is most prudent, both lie with the Legislative Branch. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞.

The likelihood that our current Executive Branch decides not to honor the rulings of the Judicial Branch seems to be higher than ever before in my lifetime; I would also like to point out I find it possible the Executive Branch does not comply with rulings while claiming they are in compliance. Given this increased likelihood, I have asked my representation in Congress: 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭? I encourage you all to ask your Congressional representation the questions you have as well.