Potential SCOTUS case could make Trump untouchable

The Republicans knew where they were headed when they took control of the courts

17:30 – Heather Cox Richarson’s Thursday podcast. Discussion of dictatorial power starts about 13:00

This suddenly became a real possibility when the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that despite laws and history this president has SOME power to use the military as his police force. Joyce Vance in her substack fills in the details:

Sunday night, we discussed Trump’s plans to use the National Guard for domestic law enforcement purposes and the Seventh Circuit’s decision that he could not deploy them to Chicago. Monday, the Ninth Circuit’s decision, as expected after oral argument, went the other way, holding that Trump’s plan to deploy the Guard to Portland was lawful. The decision was 2-1. The majority ruled that sending 200 troops to protect the federal building for 60 days was a “proportional response” to the crime issues Trump believes exist in the city.

 But then Vance noted that the dissent was much more measured:

Writing in dissent, the third judge on the panel took a different view. Judge Susan Graber wrote, “We have come to expect a dose of political theater in the political branches, drama designed to rally the base or to rile or intimidate political opponents. We also may expect there a measure of bending—sometimes breaking—the truth. By design of the Founders, the judicial branch stands apart. We rule on facts, not on supposition or conjecture, and certainly not on fabrication or propaganda. I urge my colleagues on this court to act swiftly to vacate the majority’s order before the illegal deployment of troops under false pretenses can occur. Above all, I ask those who are watching this case unfold to retain faith in our judicial system for just a little longer.”

Vance then points out that this issue of what power the president has is probably headed to the SCOTUS:

Either way, two critically important issues are headed to the Supreme Court:

• The scope of presidential power to federalize and deploy National Guard troops, and,
• Whether a president’s decision that such a move is merited is effectively unreviewable by the courts, as Trump alleges, 

That’s the heart of the matter. These cases are part of Trump’s drive to make the executive more powerful and to have that power come at the expense of the courts, Congress, and the people. If Trump can deploy troops on American streets at will, then our democracy will be immeasurably weakened.

If SCOTUS decides that Trump has the power to deploy troops as he feels, that is pretty much the end of our democracy. That would be very close to the “plenary” power that Stephen Miller pronounced that the president has about a month ago. 

Remember here that just a bit over a year ago SCOTUS decided that the president could not be held liable for acts he committed as president. Now we have the US committing murder on the high seas claiming that those that are killed are drug smugglers without any evidence. This is what Trump wants the SCOYUS to give him the same type of power inside the country.

Also remember that Chuck Grassley’s refusal to allow President Obama’s nominee to the SCOTUS was a big cog in the current extremist right SCOTUS that may decide to give Trump dictatorial powers.