Iran and the decay of Congressional power
Whatever one thinks of the Watergate scandal, the fallout was a rebuke of the power of the presidency by Congress. President Nixon avoided impeachment and removal from office by resigning the office. In 1974, President Gerald Ford would declare, “Our long national nightmare is over.”
Liz Goodwin, who covers Congress for The Washington Post, delivers a story criticizing Congress for ceding too much authority to President Trump and to the presidency more broadly.
A few snippets I liked from the piece:
On his way into the Senate chamber, Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican and libertarian from Kentucky, said founder James Madison once wrote that each branch of government’s ambition would counteract that of the others.
“But I think Madison never imagined or envisioned a Congress with no ambition,” Paul said. “This is a Congress without ambition. This is a Congress without really a belief structure in defending legislative prerogative. They just are a rubber stamp for whatever a president tells them to do.”
and this from Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s opinion on President Trump’s use of tariffs:
“Yes, legislating can be hard and take time. And, yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design,” Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, reminded everyone in his opinion.
The broader point of course is federalism cannot remain healthy when Congress will not even defend its own constitutional turf.
Congress’s failure to confront structural reforms such as spending restraint, entitlement reform, and stronger ethics rules is disheartening, and it serves as yet another reminder of the importance of electing solid leaders at the state and local level.
Goodwin also points to Congress’s failure to assert its authority over the use of force, as the Senate rejected the effort and Speaker Mike Johnson has shown little appetite for pursuing it in the House.
I’m Gen X, so I understand the dangers Iran presents. Mark Bowden’s “Guests of the Ayatollah” remains one of the ten best books I’ve read in the last few decades. Even so, greater congressional oversight of this operation is warranted. For better or worse, these are our elected representatives, and the Constitution gives them authority over questions of war. The recent failed Senate and House efforts to constrain further military action against Iran make that point especially salient.
Whatever one thinks about Iran or the president’s decision, Congress cannot continue to treat its constitutional duties as optional. Our separation of powers requires lawmakers willing to defend the authority of their own branch. When they cede their own power, the erosion of constitutional government will continue, and federalism will be weaker for it.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat