The Senate GOP had a choice. Are they a legitimate political party or a criminal racket in service of a cult of personality? Ironically enough, had GOP Senators called the witnesses that have been illegally blocked by the White House and then concluded as Senator Lamar Alexander did – that Trump’s conduct was bad but not impeachable – their decision would have been acceptable. I would have disagreed but at least they would have acknowledged Trump’s wrongdoing. It would have been like Democrats in 1999 who said Clinton’s behavior was wrong but didn’t rise to the level of removal.
But no, they went all in, justifying the most odious abuse of Presidential power imaginable throughout the trial. Not even a word of criticism for Trump’s obviously corrupt actions that jeopardized national security and used Ukraine’s precarious need for aid as a ransom note. The Trump-dominated GOP is, in fact, a criminal racket and should be acknowledged as such by all decent Americans.
This disgraceful cover-up crossed a serious line in our Constitutional order. There has never been an impeachment trial without witnesses. I don’t have any confidence that we will recover until every current GOP Senator is removed from office by the voters.
For now, the House must issue subpoenas again for all the people heretofore illegally barred from testifying. Those who continue to refuse subpoenas should be held in Inherent Contempt and brought in by the Sergeant-at-Arms by force to testify. When the White House behaves like a gang of criminals who betray the Constitution, they should be treated as such.
But whatever happens in the coming weeks, the stain of Donald Trump and his enablers must be forever banished from the Republic in November so we can close this sordid chapter in our national life.
There are two related but distinct issues at work here.
1) The Trump-era GOP is a criminal racket in service of a personality cult.
2) Executive power has grown through both parties and must be curtailed. Both must be addressed to repair the country
On #1, the answer is massive political mobilization building off what we saw in 2018. Every pro-Trump Republican must be defeated at every level and in every county. All hands on deck for that. I’ve talked at length about this so nothing to really at this point.
Re #2, Trump’s lawlessness has reached such an extent because of the expansion of Executive Branch power going back nearly a century. We can debate when exactly it began, but it clearly accelerated post-WWII with the permanent national security state and post-New Deal administrative governance. In both cases Congressional acts have been used by Presidents to extend their powers far beyond ever imagined in the 19th century. Some of that is just the reality of modern governance and complex society. But much of the blame falls at the feet of a feckless Congress, especially after the 1970s.
Whatever you may think of Great Society programs, they were all passed by Congressional legislation. In matters of Cold War policy, however, the Presidency grew out of control, without proper Congressional authorization for limitless military action in Vietnam and elsewhere. Again, this was a bipartisan failure.
The only moment of reckoning came after Nixon’s downfall as Congress passed the War Powers Act and the Budget Impoundment Act among other reforms. It was an attempt to recalibrate the balance of power. But immediately the Ford Administration worked to reconsolidate power in the White House. Note Bolton’s comment about the War Powers Act being unconstitutional. They’ve been pushing that for a long time.
The real problem, however, is the utter dysfunction of Congress, especially beginning in the 1990s. Ideological/partisan polarization made the legislative process impossible. Add to that the non-talking filibuster and the Senate has become essentially useless. No major legislative acts are possible beyond standard appropriations bills. This has accelerated in recent Administrations. From Bush’s signing statements to Obama’s “phone and pen” executive orders to Trump’s “emergency declarations” and “absolute immunity” claims, we have the conjunction of a corrupt party and an unbalanced Federal system. All of that must be addressed, starting now.