After watching several reruns of video of the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, I decided not to write about it this week. President Biden’s editorial in Monday’s Washington Post said enough about that sad day and the importance of remembering it. In part, the president wrote:
“We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it. We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago.
“An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day. To tell us we didn’t see what we all saw with our own eyes. To dismiss concerns about it as some kind of partisan obsession. To explain it away as a protest that just got out of hand.
“But on this day, we cannot forget. This is what we owe those who founded this nation, those who have fought for it and died for it.
“And we should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year. To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed.
“We should never forget it is our democracy that makes everything possible — our freedoms, our rights, our liberties, our dreams. And that it falls to every generation of Americans to defend and protect it.”
With President Biden’s words in mind, we need to move past January 6, 2021 and focus on the future. Unfortunately, that future includes soon-to-be President Trump asking Congress to pass major parts of the MAGA agenda in “one powerful bill.” Trump wrote:
“Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before. We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better – NO TAX ON TIPS. IT WILL ALL BE MADE UP WITH TARIFFS, AND MUCH MORE, FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE U.S. FOR YEARS. Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
What is wrong here? Everything. The Framers of the Constitution created a Congress to legislate the laws of the land and an Executive Branch of government to implement the law. Trump is asking his slim majority in Congress to abdicate their responsibility to take his proposals, deliberate carefully on them, before passing them.
If Congressional Republicans act on Trump’s none-too-subtle request, there likely would be no hearings, no analysis, no debate, and no opportunity for Democrats to offer amendments to one massive bill that would rewrite immigration policy, radically change energy policy, and extend the Trump 2017 tax cuts. Unless the bill grants Trump massive, most likely unconstitutional discretion to implement the policies envisioned, the bill will be hundreds of pages long.
Congress must do its work as envisioned by the Framers of the Constitution. They need to accept Trump’s proposals, analyze them for both programmatic and budgetary impact, hold hearings to receive input on the proposals from stakeholders, and consider the legislation in a deliberative manner. Trump does not envision this.
On Monday, reports circulated that the President-Elect is inviting Congressional Republicans to Mar-a-Lago to discuss his plan of action. Let’s hope that at least a few Republicans will not be blinded by the splendor of Mar-a-Lago. Let’s hope they remember why they were elected to Congress and do their job.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.
Wilson Dean says
Congress needs to reassert its responsibility to weigh in on every single aspect of the Trump proposals and not blindly pass his not-too-well-thought-out comprehensive legislative program. Here are a few questions that we as Americans might want to know the answer to before Republicans in Congress capitulate to his demands for a quick approval.
Why do we need to “drill, baby drill” when US energy production now exceeds our energy consumption by the largest margin in our recorded history? (Real answer: because oil companies funded the Trump campaign and need to suppress domestic US renewable energy production that threatens their long-term existence).
Why do we need the first Trump-era tax cuts extended for millionaires and billionaires when they (like the Reagan and Bush tax cuts) never paid for themselves and only served to drive up our budget deficit?
What are the benefits of the Trump tariff proposals if their very obvious impacts are to increase inflation through the higher prices they create and reduce US exports as countries affected by them impose similar tariffs on our goods?
Republicans in Congress (as well as the rest of us) need to get answers to these and many more questions before abdicating their responsibility and simply serve the role of “yes men and women” that Trump has assigned them.
John Dean says
Thank you for your response. Excellent questions.
Mickey Terrone says
Hi John. Trump’s inauguration was a direct reflection of the point you made about congress’ abdication of its constitutional responsibilities, and its no accident.
Most all the optics of his inauguration events were meant to build his image as America’s Strongman, from giving congress its marching orders to renaming the Gulf of America to an announcer proclaiming all the executive orders which he’ll immediately claim is making America great again. It will be up to the Democrats to challenge Trump’s radical orders and then challenge his false claims and outright lies.
The rule of law in our country has been significantly undermined within a couple of hours of “Trump II”. Pardoning all those people who stormed the capitol and probably later on, inviting them back somehow to honor them, has made a clear declaration that commiting crimes at his behest or for his benefit, will be pardoned. Maybe some of those thugs will urinate and defecate in the same places they did last time to show how they honor our nation’s capitol.
We’ll see how long the Supreme Court lasts if they “betray” him with its first unsupportive judgment. They may get Dear John letters like many other government employees. I look for Trump to thug some of our smaller allies with threats and takeovers – just to show how “strong” he is as a “leader”. We’ll see if he’d try bto thug some of Putin or Jinping’s satellite allies.