Here’s a history quiz: “What was the purpose in our Constitution to have three branches of government – Executive, Congressional, Judiciary?”
Robert Reich, former treasury secretary, said in a June 29 podcast that Trump and his “lackeys” want only one branch of government. Reich claims that Congress has now all but disappeared, controlled by Republican loyalists who do Trump’s bidding.
How about the federal judiciary? Well, recently a majority of the Supreme Court, prodded by Trump’s Justice Department, ruled that no longer as in the past can a federal judge issue a nationwide injunction to halt a government policy they deem unconstitutional. What the 1000 plus federal judges can do is only pause an executive action for the specific plaintiff that brings a case.
An empowered Trump then filed a lawsuit against Maryland’s 15 federal judges, seeking a court order that would block them from any ruling that “might interfere” in “the president’s powers to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.” This treats the judges as an opposing political party!
We can become pessimistic, but Reich pleads that we not become cynical, as cynics have lost all hope. We should take heart that Trump is getting nowhere on tariffs and that inflation threatens. While Congress recently passed the Big Beautiful Budget, a vast number of Americans oppose the cuts to Medicaid and food stamps that give the wealthy a huge tax cut.
Let’s keep fighting for the sake of our democracy and our society!
I’m Connie Seraphine, and that is my Perspective.
