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Republicans are basking in the glow of their recent victories — but as they enjoy the political spoils, some are adopting the same dangerous habits they have rightfully denounced in their opponents.
President Trump’s remarkable executive energy has disarmed allies and critics alike.
After his triumph last November, Trump moved back into the White House with a clear vision for his agenda and a full head of steam.
The flurry of executive orders he’s issued toward that end have delighted his fans and exasperated his enemies.
Predictably, Democrats have sought to challenge most everything he’s done in the courts.
As of last month, the president had the right idea about how to handle those challenges.
Asked if he’d comply with unfavorable rulings, Trump remarked: “I always abide by the courts, and then I’ll have to appeal it.”
It was a succinct, near-perfect answer.
But in recent days he seems to have lost his poise.
On Saturday, US District Court Judge James Boasberg issued a 14-day restraining order preventing the administration from continuing to deport vicious South American gang members en masse, using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Two deportation flights were already in progress when Boasberg issued his order, however, and landed as planned in El Salvador and Honduras.
The administration’s failure to follow Boasberg’s oral order to turn the planes around has incited a debate over whether Trump reneged on his promise to “abide by the courts.”
Notably, the judge did not include the directive about the flights in writing, giving the administration some wiggle room to argue that his verbal order was not controlling.
Still, there is reason for concern.
On Sunday, Elon Musk called a Texas congressman’s plan to file articles of impeachment against Boasberg “necessary.”
On Monday, border czar Tom Homan pledged to launch “another [deportation] flight every day,” before declaring “We’re not stopping — I don’t care what the judges think.”
And on Tuesday, Trump himself joined in the bluster.
“This Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge [Boasberg], a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, was not elected President,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”
Playing footsie with judicial disobedience — and calling for retribution against judges the administration dislikes — is a terrible tactic.
For years, the radical left has waged a relentless, dirty war against the judiciary.
They smeared Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a sexual predator.
They threatened Kavanaugh and fellow Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch, saying the two would soon “reap the whirlwind ” and “pay the price” for considering a case restricting abortion.
They even threatened to pack the Supreme Court with toadies to do their will.
These were more than just attacks on individuals. They were broadsides against the expertly designed constitutional order that protects our rights.
This effort to delegitimize the court set the stage for President Joe Biden’s extra-constitutional actions, like his abhorrent effort to end-run the Supreme Court’s decision on his student-loan “forgiveness” program.
At a time when America’s two major parties remain utterly polarized — and Congress continues to forfeit power to the president — it’s more important than ever for the judiciary to remain an independent force capable of standing in the breach.
Preserving their independence will benefit Democrats now, sure — but in the long run will protect the rest of us, too.
Imagine if Biden had called for the impeachment of the judge who stopped him from starting up a new amnesty program he sought to implement last summer.
Or the one who initially blocked his student-loan program.
Or that he’d just ignored and defied the court that prevented him from shelving an important pandemic-era immigration enforcement tool.
If Republicans think ditching the judicial rules of the road altogether will redound to their benefit, they’re sorely mistaken.
It’s Democrats whose unpopular, extremist agenda is threatened by constitutional constraints.
The Trump administration is doing important, even vital, work on multiple issues — perhaps none more notable than immigration.
And the president’s urgent, all-hands-on-deck approach to addressing the crises manufactured by his predecessor is admirable.
But it’s equally critical for him to follow the law in doing so — and to relent when the courts determine he hasn’t.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in a rare statement released Tuesday afternoon. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
That process is a win for everyone except the radical left.
The rest of us lose in a lawless new world in which judges on the wrong side of a temporary majority are ignored, impugned and impeached.
Isaac Schorr is a staff writer at Mediaite.