A “writ of mandamus” is, according to Cornell University’s law school, “an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.” But, what happens when officials who aren’t fulfilling their duties or correcting abuses can ignore the courts, or sidestep their authority? Then it’s time for the voters to step up.
This week, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a federal agency, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) is funded in a way that allows the CFPB to ignore Congress. The court ruled that “the CFPB’s funding structure violated the Constitution’s doctrine of separation of powers, which sets the authority of the three branches of government. Congress has the sole power of the federal purse,” said the judges. Judge Cory Wilson’s opinion cites Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson said that America didn’t fight the Revolution to establish “an elective despotism.” We fought for a government “so divided and balanced…as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.”
President Biden is a good man. He is not a “despot.” But he is ignoring the checks and balances that are the foundation of our American republic. The Biden Administration is now accepting requests for student loan forgiveness. They’ve received over 22 million applications. If each application is approved, that will cost the American taxpayer more than 220 billion dollars! Congress did not approve that. Yet the Biden Administration is doing it. If the administration sticks to its announced plans, all these loans could be forgiven by mid-November, when Congress returns to Washington after the elections.
Our three branches of government have the duty to prevent other branches from abusing their authority. It’s Congress’ job to appropriate money, not the president’s. (Especially a sum as large as a quarter of a trillion dollars!) Lawsuits trying to stop the student loan giveaway have hit a snag: most plaintiffs don’t have standing to sue. Standing “is what claimants need to show in order to get their case heard in court,” says former federal attorney Andrew McCarthy. The courts can’t stop the Biden administration from transcending its legal limits if no one has the standing to file a lawsuit.
The entity with the best standing to sue is the one most directly harmed by President Biden’s plan—Congress. The president is taking the “power of the purse” for himself. Unfortunately, Congress is letting him do it. House and Senate leaders knew for months this was coming. Yet, there’s no sign they sued the administration or tried at all to stop this. Sadly, it seems the Biden administration was confident that Congress would stand by, and do nothing to stop or restrain it.
The Founders never expected Congress to refuse to do its duty. Unfortunately, it has refused. This could set a terrible precedent, where branches of government are encouraged to act unconstitutionally until someone stops them. Politicians might conclude they can get away with pretty much anything, because American citizens don’t care enough to correct them in the way they care about the most—voting them out of office. That mindset will erode our republic. If our elected officials will not check and restrain each other, then we must elect new officials who will.