Trump Should Tell Congress to Kiss His Ass

By Michael S. Rozeff

Concerning the Bill “To provide congressional review and to counter aggression by the Governments of Iran, the Russian Federation, and North Korea”, Trump should VETO it if it passes; he should already have made this clear to Congress and scolded them severely. He should tell Congress that the bill is unconstitutional, and that if they override his veto, he will ignore the bill. He should tell them that he will not countenance any further unilateral abolition of the Constitution by Congress as long as he is president. In other words, in so many words, he should tell Congress that as far as this bill goes, they can kiss his ass.

The power to handle foreign policy is the president’s power, not that of Congress. The House’s power comes through its control of financing foreign policy ventures. Trump has a stack of precedents to back him up as high as the Capitol dome. “Jefferson wrote: ‘The Constitution …has declared that “the Executive powers shall be vested in the President.”…The transaction of business with foreign nations is Executive altogether. It belongs then to the head of that department, except as to such portions of it as are specially submitted to the Senate.'”

This bill requires the president to genuflect before Congress, to grovel before Congress, to report to Congress in the most demeaning way possible as if he is a prisoner who won’t be allowed to make a move until he sucks Congressional dick. The bill requires that “the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a report that describes the proposed action and the reasons for that action.” The president is supposed then to wait around for 60 days while Congress reviews what he intends to do. His hands are tied. “…the President may not take that action unless a joint resolution of approval with respect to that action is enacted…”

Unbelievable! Congress is writing a law that usurps the president’s authority in foreign affairs. He cannot possibly let this stand, as it destroys the separation of powers. It’s entirely unconstitutional. The Senate voted 98-2 for a bill like this last month. The House will vote tomorrow. If ever we needed evidence that our government is completely out of control and cannot possibly serve our interests, this is it. The whole enterprise is a farce. It really should be dissolved.

Congress already exercises oppressive rule. This only makes it more so. At least with separation of powers, there is a chance of each side blocking or mitigating the tyranny of the other. This bill, if it ever becomes law, sets a course for hostilities against no less than three countries: Russia, Iran and North Korea; plus it alters America’s government for the worse. At present, the foreign policy power is divided with some powers under the Executive and others (financing, treaty approvals) in Congress. If Congress gets away with micromanaging the president through bills like this, the power of select committees and committee chairs rises dramatically. However, their responsibility for foreign policy blunders is diffused and their accountability is unclear. Voting is already inadequate for registering dissatisfaction with foreign policy. If Congress has its way, it will be even harder to decipher who has what authority and who bears the liability for errors and misjudgments.

The above originally appeared at LewRockwell.com.