Meet the New Boss

Thomas A. FireySome 18 months ago, then-president Donald Trump sent jaws dropping and tongues wagging byclaiming the Constitution gave him the power to close and open state economies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic." The authority is total, and that ’s the way it’s got to be, "he said of his supposed ability to overrule state shutdown orders.Of course, neither he nor any president has such authority, whatever the wisdom of the shutdowns. But it was one more example of Trump ’s belief that the Constitution gives presidents “the right to do whatever [they] want. ” Throughout his time in the White House, the mainstream press and fact-checking organizations were kept busy knocking down such claims, with theWashington Post launching a regular podcast titled “Can He Do That?” (which it has continued in the Biden administration).Trump ’s wrong assertions of presidential power and his (and his administration’s)many falsehoods and misstatements in support of his policy preferences were a big part of the case candidate Joe Biden made for why voters should elect him to replace Trump. A Biden presidency would be areturn to normalcy and the federal government woulddo its job, he vowed. This apparently appealed to many 2020 voters, includingsome who had serious policy disagreements with Biden.Unfortunately, the past few weeks suggest the new president shares his predecessor ' s belief that constitutionally dubious power-grabs and highly questionable claims are how th...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs