It has come down to the last resort. With his endless blizzard of executive orders, Trump has flaunted his contempt for the Constitution’s separation of powers in our government, seizing more power for the executive branch. He has cowed his fear-ridden followers in the House of Representatives. Briefly stated, he and Musk’s DOGE pack have illegally slashed staff and funding in many agencies and offices that have long existed because of statutes passed in Congress or mandated in the Constitution. We all can name victims of the carnage. So much for the legislative branch and its robust responsibilities and prerogatives.
Even the judicial branch, up to and including the Supreme Court itself, has suffered Trump’s contempt. He dismisses arrestees’ right to due process despite a cascade of protests, especially about exiling hundreds to a gulag in El Salvador. And, of course, he makes broad hints about doing the same with “home grown” people he perceives as “enemies.” He even threatens to use the military to enforce his will against the rest of us citizens. That is a radical and unprecedented flouting of law.
In thought, if not in words, he echoes France’s Sun King, Louis XIV, who said, according to legend, L’etat, c’est moi (“I am the state”). So Trump’s word, even his whim, is law in his own mind.
What to do? The 25th Amendment authorizes Cabinet members to depose a President, but the present gang of sycophants would never do so. He chose them for their craven loyalty to him, not for any genuine qualifications or experience, in almost all cases.
Impeachment is the last resort, and must be voted by the House and confirmed by the Senate, without delay. We’re careening headlong into autocracy modeled on the likes of Putin in Russia and Orban in Hungary, to name just two.
All that’s needed is for a handful of Republicans (better named Trumpublicans) to grow a backbone and serve the interests of their own constituents and the country as a whole. That’s what they swore an oath to do. They need to refuse to be neutered by Trump any longer. Their integrity and sacred honor is at stake.
This is a moment of truth if ever there was one.
Fred Reklau
Oak Park