Unequal

I have been unable to trace from whence came the concept of coequal branches of government. The branches of our government are not coequal. They are not equal. The mistaken idea that they are comes from the design found in the Constitution for limiting the power of any one branch to attain sole power by checks and balances.

The Constitution does not specifically give to the Supreme Court the power that it has. The Constitution was promulgated in 1787. It was not until 1803 in the case of Marbury v. Madison that the Supreme Court claimed the right to decide whether acts of the Congress were constitutional. This established the courts’ power of judicial review. That does not make the Supreme Court coequal. It merely gives the courts the ability to decide whether Congress has overstepped its authority. That is a check not equality. Remember that the power of judicial review is not in the Constitution. However, it made sense and has become accepted without question.

Following the preamble, we find Article 1. This establishes Congress, It was placed before the articles dealing with the other branches quite intentionally. Congress was to be the voice of the people. Remember the phrase that begins the Constitution? We the People. Inside of the Congress, the House of Representatives was given the greater power. All expenditures must originate in the House. This was a recognition by the Signers that money was power.

Also, the House has the power to impeach the president, judges and others. With the concurrence of the Senate, they can remove any of the others from office and bar them from holding any political office in the future. No other branch has such  power.

The House also has greater power than the Senate in that the Senate cannot initiate impeachment against anyone. Again, it was to promote the power of the people. The House was, and is, voted on directly by the people. Though that is true presently for the Senate, it was not so at the beginning. Senators were either selected by the legislatures or governors of the various states, as they saw fit. It took an amendment to the Constitution, the 17^th,  to change that.

Another instance of inequality is that, while the president can nominate people for various government executive branch offices and judicial positions, the Senate has the power to confirm the president’s choices or deny them. The president has no such power vis-à-vis the other branches. In the same vein, the president may ask for permission to declare war, but only Congress may declare it — at least constitutionally.

Also, when Congress passes legislation, it is the president’s obligation to execute that legislation. That may be why it is known as the executive branch. And again, the president has no such constitutional power to force the Congress or the judicial branch to do what he wants.

I see on the news that some potential witnesses are having trouble deciding whether to comply with a congressional subpoena or heed the demand of the president to defy it. Congress is the branch that should be heeded, not only because it is the superior branch, but as this relates to impeachment, there should be no question as to who holds the trump card.

Impeachment is a political function but it bears some resemblance to a judicial proceeding, intentionally. The House acts and the grand jury. the Senate as the petit jury. The president is the one under indictment. The accused is not permitted to pick and choose the witnesses. Even Republicans would consider it ludicrous for a criminal defendant to claim the right to choose the witnesses for his/her trial.

I realize that what I have written above is not how the government actually operates. Due to partisanship, egos and ignorance, presidents violate the Constitution by usurping rights that belong elsewhere. This, while Congress rolls over by failing to live up to its obligations to the Constitution and demanding its rights.

I don’t expect members of any of the branches to honor their oaths because, almost without exception, they are bought and paid for. Eisenhower warned us about the military/industrial complex. If the defense industries want more money, their political prostitutes ignore the Constitution and provide the war and the cannon fodder. If one political party wishes to retain a seat of power, their claims of being “strict constitutionalists” will not be an impediment.

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Tagged as: checks and balances, coequal, congress, constitution, eisenhower, impeachment, judge, madison, Marbury, president, supreme court, war