On Friday, Cape Gazette’s editorial board called on our state’s federal delegation to drop everything and pressure “their leadership to end the shutdown.”
The editorial said, “President Trump sees an emergency. He should act. Congress should let him. The people will hold him accountable for the consequences, good or bad. The dithering must stop. Nothing is more important than keeping the ship off the rocks.”
Let’s break that down.
CG: “Trump sees an emergency.”
Trump sees a lot of things, including imaginary crowds at his inauguration.
What do other people see? Well, of the nine members of Congress whose districts border Mexico, not one supports a wall. That includes Texas Republican Will Hurd, who favors more staff and updated technology.
CG: “He should act. Congress should let him.”
No, no, no. Declaring an emergency where none exists allows the president to make an end-run around our democratic system.
Trump has attacked and degraded every American institution that threatens his power. These include the courts, the FBI, the military and our intelligence agencies, which he finds less credible than Vladimir Putin.
The Republican Senate is the president’s lapdog. It’s up to the House to fulfill its role in our constitutional system of checks and balances.
In December, the Senate voted unanimously - Democrats and Republicans alike - on a spending bill that didn’t include funding for the wall. The White House had indicated the president would sign.
The so-called “emergency” emerged only after we heard from a previously unknown fourth branch of government, led by Ann Coulter. She attacked Trump for not getting wall funding into the spending bill. Trump capitulated.
But Coulter’s views were rejected by the voters. During the midterms, Trump campaigned hard on his wall and fake emergency. He lost, badly.
CG: “The dithering must stop.”
“Dithering” means “vacillating” or “indecisive.” There was no “dithering.” It was a standoff.
Trump issued an ultimatum - give me the wall funding or I close the government - and Pelosi used the authority accorded her by election.
Make no mistake. Trump wasn’t asking Pelosi to negotiate. He was demanding that she capitulate.
The fight, ultimately, wasn’t about the wall. The real issue was the House’s role as a co-equal branch of government. Pelosi stood firm. To do otherwise would have negated the results of the 2018 election.
CG: “Nothing is more important than keeping the ship off the rocks.”
I’m all for keeping the ship off the rocks. The best way to do so would be to remain steadfast in our support of democratic norms. We must not allow an autocrat to scare us into submission.
For now, the shutdown is ended. But Trump is already threatening to shut down the government or declare a national “emergency ” in three weeks if he doesn’t get his wall. He has learned nothing. The fight isn’t over.
Our federal delegation, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, should do everything in their power to ensure that Congress fulfills its role as check on an out-of-control presidency. That is how our ship of state will avoid disaster.
Don Flood
Lewes
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