Supreme Emergency

On this day (Aug 11) in 1997 President Clinton used the line-item veto for the first time to cut three measures from an expansive spending and taxation bill. At the bill's signing ceremony, Clinton declared "From now on, presidents will be able to say 'no' to wasteful spending or tax loopholes, even as they say 'yes' to vital legislation." 

Groups upset by the action immediately filed suit and on June 25, 1998 the Supreme Court overturned the Line Item Veto – pointing out that the constitution did not give authority to the Executive Branch to amend legislation. The court specifically held the line-item veto violated the principles of the "separation of powers" between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government.

On July 26, 2019 the Supreme Court lifted an injunction against the border wall spending that had been imposed by a federal district court judge in California and affirmed by a federal appeals court. The injunction blocked spending while the lawsuit challenging it remains pending at the appeals court. It allows the Trump Administration’s Emergency declaration at the border to stand and authorizes the Defense Department to move $2.5 billion from accounts such as Veteran benefits, troop training, etc. to supporting Homeland Security in expanding the wall on the southern border of the United States. The case is still going through the courts and may ultimately be decided differently, but the lifting of the injunction is a strong indicator that the majority supports allowing the Executive Branch to reallocate funding since they can now actually do it.

I’m a true fiscal conservative. I believe that you don’t spend more than you bring in. During the five years that I wrote this blog there were many entries on my personal journey to this philosophy and my own struggles with living it as well as the unending examples of hypocrisy around it in political circles. I loved the concept of a Line Item Veto – where a leader could wipe out the graft and pork that made its way into bills just to get enough approval to get them passed. When the court reiterated the unique role of each branch of government, my position evolved to support the ruling. In our system of governance, the Congress holds the purse strings. Period. Full Stop.

A dozen years later a much different Court has ruled much differently. By declaring an emergency and being able to reallocate funds that the legislative branch determined – the role of the Executive Branch changes significantly. There’s strong and passionate arguments about “the wall” – and issues of immigration. This isn’t about that underlying issue. This is about granting the President the power to spend as he/she sees fit. It's the difference between a monarchy and a democracy.  

Imagine a different president – in the not so distant future. Maybe 2 years. Maybe 6. Maybe 10. But there’ll be a different party in power. After a weekend of mass shootings where dozens of Americans are struck down a President declares an emergency and reallocates money from the Defense Department to a program to collect the guns that are killing citizens. Or a President comes into office and sees the millions of Americans who aren’t receiving health care and dying because of it. They declare an emergency and moves money from missiles into a single-payer system. Or imagine this Administration’s next emergency declaration and moving money around to implement their policy. Whatever the issue now an emergency can be declared and resources directed towards it.

Ruling by emergency is ruling by fiat. Call it imperial. Call it a dictatorship. It's not constitutional. That's true with this Administration as for the prior or the next. The Supreme Court has set the path towards a dismantling of a core tenet of the American experiment.

There’s lots of things for our hair to be on fire about today. Politicians and voters alike are responsible for an economy that is burning more than a trillion dollars a year more than it generates with a debt load that exceeds $22 trillion. The economic disparity of the haves and have nots is ever increasing. Trade wars are commonplace. Children are separated from their parents as a strategy. People are being kept in cages. We are killing each other. We talk about each other in the worst possible ways, using those things that differentiate us as weapons instead of celebrating our differences as strengths. We point fingers that the other side is worse than our side as we move further into a “my way or the highway” mentality.

The list can go one. So why does this seemingly small, esoteric and wonky item that barely made a news cycle compel me to dust off my soapbox with so many other things out there? There are many voices addressing the list above. Not much is being said about this. Granting the President the authority to bypass Congress in spending money is antithetical to our Constitution and that the Supreme Court has indicated a willingness to support that will lead to the dismantling of this core principal. To me that’s worth pointing out. To me that’s a Supreme Emergency.