President Trump is getting a refresher course in how the American system of government works, assuming he ever learned. That is, there are three independent branches, and no one of them can lord it over or ignore the other two.
Mr. Trump, now in charge of the executive branch, has done a fair job so far co-opting the legislative branch, at least the Republican majority in Congress. But he’s run into a stone wall already with the judicial branch, which has slammed a door on his temporary ban on refugees and on visa holders from seven designated Muslim countries.
It took Mr. Trump less than two weeks in office to create a possible constitutional crisis. Federal judges have blown a whistle on his disregard for the basic American guarantee of freedom from religious persecution of any kind.
The First Amendment specifies, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Maybe the new president read that as a license to do so by executive order; if so, he’s been finding out otherwise.
Mr. Trump condemned the action of federal Judge James Robart of the Ninth Circuit Court in Washington state for imposing a nationwide stay on the select ban on Muslims. Mr. Trump fulminated that "the opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law enforcement away from our country" — i.e., Mr. Trump — "is ridiculous and will be overturned!"
Judge Robart’s stay was soon affirmed by a two-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit, leading Mr. Trump to tweet: "Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens, blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!"
A rare Republican legislator bold enough to hit back, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said on a Sunday talk show: "We don’t have so-called judges, we don’t have so-called senators, we don’t have so-called presidents. We have people from three branches of government who take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution."
Mr. Trump’s disparagement of the "so-called judge" was bad enough. His blatant effort to shift the responsibility to Judge Robart for any negative consequences that might come from refugees or even green-card holders allowed into this country was outrageous.
At this writing, it remained possible the issue could reach the Supreme Court, where another rebuff of Mr. Trump could well bring a similar blame-shifting against its members who might opt to defy the chief executive. What Mr. Trump’s reaction might be, as a man always accustomed to getting his way, could indeed rise to the level of a severe constitutional crisis.
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, who is considering challenging Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, has told the Dallas Morning News that if Mr. Trump persists in defying the courts "he should be censured by Congress, and if he continues to do that, we should move to remove him."
Articles of impeachment would have to be sought in the House of Representatives, and with that body controlled by Mr. Trump’s party, it would seem to be a longshot. Ms. Castro said grounds would be whether Mr. Trump had "intentionally exceeded his constitutionally authority" in dealing with immigration matters.
It’s been argued that grounds for impeachment are whatever the House says they are. In 1867, the House impeached President Andrew Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act, by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and replacing him with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Stanton barricaded himself in his office, but the Senate acquitted Johnson by a single vote, whereupon Stanton resigned and Johnson completed his term.
In 1998, the House impeached President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, but again the Senate acquitted the incumbent with enough Democratic votes to deny the two-thirds required for conviction.
While polls now show most Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of Mr. Trump, both the House and Senate remain in Republican control, suggesting an impeachment attempt is unlikely to get very far only two weeks into his term.
But protests in the streets grow daily against Mr. Trump’s impetuous and ill-organized administration, and the national mood is turning uncertain toward a chief executive driven by personal whim and self-promotion.
Jules Witcover is a syndicated columnist and former long-time writer for The Baltimore Sun. His latest book is "The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power" (Smithsonian Books). His email is juleswitcover@comcast.net.
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