2 days Ago
With each passing day, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer continues to lose the support of demographics he desperately needs to retain, including millennials like me. His recent responses to the Trump administration’s repeated abuses of the law amount to an abdication of power and a misunderstanding of this political climate that endangers the Democratic party. In multiple media appearances last week, the Majority Leader repeated a metaphorical red line for responding to President Donald Trump.
American Democracy is not yet in crisis, the most powerful Democrat in Washington repeatedly said, but it will be if Trump defies the Supreme Court. Schumer’s red line fails a basic high school civics test. A core foundation of the Constitution is the establishment of three co-equal branches of government.
But Schumer’s comments necessarily imply a hierarchy, with the executive branch (the President) above the legislative branch (Congress), and both subordinate to the courts. Under Schumer’s analysis, President Trump’s refusal to spend funds appropriated by acts of Congress get a free pass until the Supreme Court says otherwise. Until then, Schumer implies, an executive who violates the clear text of a law is not betraying his oath of office, but rather properly demonstrating his superiority over the Legislature.
The Legislature isn’t the only segment of the American government that Schumer seems willing to let Trump ignore. Schumer’s response arbitrarily divides the third branch of government into unequal parts, delineating the Supreme Court as separate and distinct from the rest of the judicial system. He implicitly labels the Supreme Court as relevant, and all other courts as irrelevant.
“American Democracy will be at stake, [but] we are not there yet,” Schumer said twice to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, and then repeated on NBC’s Meet The Press. Despite reporting that the Trump administration has already refused to comply with numerous court orders, Schumer says our Democracy will only be at risk “if he defies the Supreme Court”. This distinction has no historical precedent and it’s not how the American legal system works.
Contrary to Schumer’s claims, defying the judiciary is an equally severe breach of the constitutional order regardless of whether it is the Supreme Court or a local county judge. Higher courts have the ability to overrule the decisions of lower courts, but the decision of a lower court is law unless and until it gets overturned. A convicted murderer doesn’t get to walk free because they are planning to appeal the case.
The strategy behind Schumer’s red line is easy to see. His national media tour highlighting the Supreme Court as the line in the sand is a transparent follow-up on his pick-your-spots philosophy. Schumer sees it as inevitable that the Trump administration will eventually defy a Supreme Court order, so he’s trying to highlight the significance of such a breach before it happens.
The danger is that it further enables voters and the media to accept the administration’s continued assault on norms and values of a democracy. Furthermore, by declaring that anything short of defying the Supreme Court does not qualify as a threat to American democracy, Schumer invites the Trump administration to commit more lawless actions. Schumer is creating a permission structure for more defiance of court orders and more violations of law.
Schumer’s strategy feels like a betrayal to many Democratic supporters. Younger voters like me are desperate for leadership that will fight back against the Trump administration and protect its growing list of targets. The administration is engaged in a constant assault on trans Americans and immigrants, and is attempting to eliminate civil rights protections that date back to the end of Jim Crow.
Many of these actions are of dubious or debatable legality. Members of these groups – and others attacked by Trump – are justified in feeling outrage at Schumer’s strategic choice here. Without a stronger response to the Trump administration’s overreach, this strategy sends a clear message to its base: the Democratic leadership will choose not to defend you if they feel that there is a strategic benefit in your abandonment.
Schumer’s red line abrogates his own authority, inaccurately describes the American government, emboldens the Trump administration, and betrays constituencies of his own base. Alex Rikleen is a millennial, an educator, and a parent of two young children in Acton..
