usmbguest5318
Gold Member
- Jan 1, 2017
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- 1,635
A few days ago, I asked, "Why has Trump been mum on Russia's expulsion of nearly 800 U.S. diplomats?" I thought it'd be interesting to see what USMB members thought might be the reason(s) Trump had been uncharacteristically quiescent about the first piece of major legislation that came his way and that was exclusive to the Trump presidency.
Now, Trump has signed the bill (S. 341 and the House equivalent) and issued the following statement about the bill and my thoughts follow his statements:
- "This legislation is significantly flawed."
- If that's indeed what he believes, why the hell did he sign it?
- Although I share the policy views of sections 253 and 257, those provisions purport to displace the President's exclusive constitutional authority to recognize foreign governments, including their territorial bounds, in conflict with the Supreme Court's recent decision in Zivotofsky v. Kerry.
- Constitutional authority of the POTUS re: foreign policy --- The framework of Presidential power was clearly articulated by Justice Robert Jackson in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company v. Sawyer (1952):
The Congress in 1977 passed the International Emergency Economic Powers Act which authorizes the POTUS "regulate commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States which has a foreign source." This is the legislation that grants the POTUS the authority to levy economic sanctions. Just as the Congress gave authority, it too can take it away, and that's exactly what it did in S. 341. - The Kerry decision is not in scope because it is about the POTUS' authority to recognize foreign nations and their represenatives. In Kerry:
The Court held that, although the Constitution does not explicitly address the issue of recognition of foreign nations, the Reception Clause in Article II of the Constitution—which states that the President will receive foreign ambassadors—grants the President the power to recognize foreign states. The fact that Article II also vests the President with the power to make treaties and appoint ambassadors gives the President further control over recognition decisions.
- Constitutional authority of the POTUS re: foreign policy --- The framework of Presidential power was clearly articulated by Justice Robert Jackson in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company v. Sawyer (1952):
- "It encroaches on the executive branch’s authority to negotiate. [...] I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress."
- Um....The self-declared "Great Negotiator" couldn't negotiate a positive or even passable (in every sense of the word) healthcare bill with the members of his own party who hold both houses of Congress. Constrained or not constrained is rather irrelevant, moot, if one cannot as "Negotiator in Chief" collaborate with one's own countrymen with whom one ostensibly shares goals. He had all the flexibility in the world re: healthcare and he didn't use it. Why? Most likely because, like foreign policy, he knows nothing about it and eschews developing a deep understanding of it and its attendant nuances.
- "Yet despite its problems, I am signing this bill for the sake of national unity."
- I'm incredulous that his staff even allowed that sentence to make it outside the WH walls. I don't know whether they groaned or laughed upon seeing Trump's final statement about S. 341. The single most pivotal factor deteriorating national unity in the U.S. is Trump. He'll do more for "national unity" by resigning than he will by signing any bill.
There is also Trump's relative quiescence about the legislation. He's made far ado about lesser documents he's signed. About all that's meritorious about Trump's lack of hoopla about S. 341 is that by remaining somewhat low-key about it, he avoided saying something else absurd.
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
-- Proverbs 17:28
-- Proverbs 17:28
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