White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stood behind her briefing podium Wednesday and falsely told reporters that it is the federal judiciary — not President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk — who are precipitating a constitutional crisis in the United States.
Her statement belies a fundamental misunderstanding of the separation of powers enumerated in the U.S. Constitution since 1789.
The federal judiciary was conceived alongside the executive and legislative branches of government to provide checks and balances on one another, meaning that the judiciary can use its powers against what it perceives as overreach from the executive branch, which has the right to appeal.
“Many outlets in this room have been fear-mongering the American people into believing there is a ‘constitutional crisis’ taking place here at the White House,” Leavitt told reporters before taking their questions.
“I’ve been hearing those words a lot lately,” she said. “But, in fact, the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court judges in liberal courts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block President Trump’s basic executive authority.”
“Quick news flash to these liberal judges who are supporting their obstructionist efforts: 77 million Americans voted to elect this president, and each injunction is an abuse of the rule of law and an attempt to thwart the will of the people,” Leavitt added. For comparison, 75 million people voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Judges have the power to temporarily block laws and executive actions that they suspect to be unconstitutional while the judicial process plays out. A number of them have done just that since Trump took office and began signing an unprecedented barrage of executive orders.
One such judge, John C. Coughenour of the Western District of Washington, temporarily blocked Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship last week.
Coughenour was an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan.
“It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” Coughenour wrote.
“Nevertheless,” he added, “in this courtroom, and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.”
A number of elected representatives and legal experts have sounded alarm bells as Trump and Musk attempt to take a hatchet to the federal budget. On Wednesday, The New York Times ran a story with the headline “Trump’s Actions Have Created A Constitutional Crisis, Scholars Say,” which cited legal professors around the country. Last week, The Atlantic declared, “The Constitutional Crisis Is Here.”
University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost told NPR this week that the U.S. is in the midst of a “constitutional stress test,” if not quite a full-blown crisis.
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Many of the criticisms of Trump’s use of executive action stem from his attempt to influence federal spending that has already been authorized by Congress, and indeed requires congressional authorization in the first place. Trump has also been accused of attempting to flout the clear verbiage of the Constitution, such as with his action against birthright citizenship that is guaranteed in the 14th Amendment.