Government 101 refresher-time: The Legislative Branch was intended to be the most powerful, closest to the people and their interests, via the House of Representatives, and to the States and their interests, via the Senate.
It was supposed to be actively involved in the most transcendent issues of the day, the “right here, right now” voice of the people. Our elected representatives would actively participate in duties found in Article 1 of the Constitution.
And how well is the Legislative Branch discharging those duties?
Let’s take a look.
Article I commences, “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress…”. Yet, for anyone paying attention “all” seems to now morphed into, “some”.
Section 8 within Article 1 delegates more power to this branch of the federal government than any other, stating emphatically, “Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, impost and excises…” Since we didn’t have income taxes at our founding, most revenue collected came via tariffs.
Note, this is the first thing delegated the Legislative branch, in a section delegating more power to it than any other — and it’s about tariffs!
How is this branch doing in regulating tariffs, these days?
Have they weighed in on the Trump tariffs? Have they stepped up to stop confusion over whether they have actually ceded all tariff authority to the Executive?
We all know the answer. No.
Legislators have done nothing. Instead, they leave to the Judicial Branch the job of determining if the President has the delegated authority to act. And what a risk they take.
If the Court decides that Trump’s tariff actions are unconstitutional, which is likely, then we face disaster at home and abroad. The Legislative Branch, instead of jumping in and actually passing a crystal-clear law, or debating what Trump has done, are transferring their obligations to nine judges. We are all on-board with this?
I am not, for a moment, inferring trade doesn’t need to be rectified after decades of imbalance. But, that is secondary to a greater issue. If we are willing to let a President possess these unbridled powers, there is no room for complaining when the next Democrat President exercise and abuse these powers, as well.
Vacillations in tariffs and policy are exactly what a country does not need in order to sustain planning and growth.
Section 8 also charges legislators to, “borrow money and the credit of the United States.¨ What an irony. To the detriment of future generations, legislators are all too good at performing in regards to this delegated authority, instead of making the hard decisions to be fiscally responsible.
Next words in Section 8: “To regulate commerce with foreign nations…” Well, nope. That function has, too, been delegated to the Executive.
How about the mandate to, “…establish a uniform rule of naturalization…” Well, no.
Or, “..(T)o coin money, regulate the value thereof…”. Another miss. The value of our money ain’t holding strong, in case you’ve looked at a grocery bill, menu or hardware-store receipt.
Or, “(T)o constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.” Congress, indeed, has the power to dictate whether inferior courts have the authority to impose national injunctions, but are idle. Let the highest court decide, they reason.
Or, “(T)o declare war…”. Hands are empty here. That task has been assigned the Executive.
Maybe, “(T)o make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.¨. Oops. Let’s slide that over to the White House.
“To provide for the calling forth of the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions?” Wrong, again. That has been dumb-waitered to the Executive, so it and the Judiciary can duke it out over placing soldiers in Portland or Chicago.
How about, “(T)o make all laws which shall become necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers…”. In fact, here, the Legislature has passed so many laws over the centuries that anyone in the Executive can rediscover and repurpose a law passed, sometime, to justify anything desired may be achieved via Executive Order or bureaucratic rules. The Supreme Court, then, will assume another weary task of deciding whether this particular Order passes muster. All the while, the Legislative Branch wonders why we have become so…dysfunctional.
Maybe, Congressmen, there’s another explanation. That you are not doing your job?
Citizens want their Representatives weighing in on the transcendental issues of our day.
Why should we be governed solely by laws passed generations ago? The current Congress didn’t pass the Insurrection Act of 1807. They didn’t pass the War Powers Act of 1973 nor the Patriot Act of 2001. If there are areas of concern in these laws, shouldn’t we deliberate within the Legislative Branch instead of playing hot potatoes with the Supreme Court?
When there are vacuums of power in the Legislative Branch, take for given that the Executive and Judicial Branches will be happy to implement policy. The Founders expected each branch to be jealous of their respective powers. Evidently, they were mistaken.
It turns out that our legislators are perfectly content to abandon their relevancy, as long such passivity doesn´t mean giving up entitlements and trading on inside information.
The most powerful branch of government has lost its stature and slipped into obscurity, except for ratifying judges and cabinet members. Why do we need an entire branch of government for those meager functions?
Our President has been in office 300 days and we had a 43-day shutdown. That’s almost 15% of Trump´s inaugural year, which should be his most productive.
Did Congress expend any energy during its unexpected vacation to examine tariff legislation, health-care reform, National Guard roles or reduction in regulation? What about those nine pending budget-bills? No, nothing done there, but congress is surely getting that backpay.
Think of the upside: Without a Legislature, we wouldn’t have to hear from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Eric Swalwell, Cory Booker, Tim Kaine and a host of other misleaders. Life expectancy of Americans likely would increase with the decrease in drama and false narratives.
Moreover, we’d save almost $8 billion a year.
Seems win-win-win to me. Let’s act expeditiously.
Movement toward a constitutional monarchy seems inevitable. Let’s just make it official.
Or, We the People can demand that our Legislative Branch step up and executive their oaths as delineated by the Framers.
This is our only hope. They won’t do it themselves.
Jeff Utsch is a Faculty Lead at the Leadership and Freedom Center in Gettysburg, P.A. and Co-Founder of Full Measure Leadership. He can be reached at [email protected]
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