Robert Reich - Never before in American history, not even in wartime, has one man exercised such unbridled discretion affecting the lives of so many of us, while simultaneously preventing others — Congress, the courts, the American people — from having a say or even knowing what he’s going to do next.
Yesterday he sent ICE agents and National Guard troops into Los Angeles, over the objections of the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles. He is also sending 200 Marines to Florida to aid ICE.
Where will he next direct ICE, National Guard, and active duty military? He isn’t saying. But it’s our country.
He has targeted undocumented agricultural and hospitality workers for arrest and deportation, after saying he would not do so. What’s the policy here? He isn’t telling us. But it’s our country.
Meanwhile, he said yesterday that he’d subject imports from Japan, South Korea, and a dozen other nations to new 25 percent tariffs — which will, of course, translate into additional taxes on American consumers — effective August 1...
I remember a time when American presidents had to go to Congress to impose tariffs. How can he tax us without our consent? It’s our country.
He is consulting with Benjamin Netanyahu about the next stage of the war with Iran, but not consulting Congress, yet it’s our country.
He is targeting universities that he believes haven’t adequately eliminated DEI, or have allowed transgender athletes to compete, or failed to stop demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza. Last week, his regime forced a major university president to resign...
He intends to go after more law firms and media companies that have crossed him. But which, and why?
Will he let TikTok continue to function in the United States even though Congress has passed a law prohibiting it? He hasn’t said...
He doing all this because he loves to display his power. He relishes it when powerful people plead with him, prostrate themselves before him, beg him, and submit to his whims. He delights in changing his mind and keeping everyone else guessing.
Some who seek his favor are pouring money into TV ads for his eyes only in West Palm Beach, where he resides at Mar-a-Lago (according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of advertising data)....
This, my friends, is called a dictatorship.
The chief executive of a democracy doesn’t say — as Trump did recently — “I may or may not, nobody knows what I’ll do.” The chief executive of a democracy doesn’t say this because power in a democracy belongs to the people.
This is why Congress enacted a War Powers Act, so presidents have to gain Congress’s consent before sending the United States to war.
It’s why the Constitution gives Congress the power to set the terms of international trade, including tariffs.
Why the Constitution gives Congress the power to appropriate funds.
Why laws bar a president from sending active military troops into a state without the permission of the state’s governor.
And why there’s no basis in law or the Constitution for a president to single out specific law firms, universities, or media companies for penalties because they have angered him.
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