Pictured above is Representative Chip Roy of Texas. Roy was one of thirty-eight House Republicans who "defied" President-elect Donald J. Trump’s demand to lift the debt ceiling, in connection with the enactment of a bill that prevented a total shutdown of the United States government on Friday, December 20, 2024. I mentioned the controversy in my recent blog posting, which was titled, "Government By Billionaire (Or Not)?"
The picture of Congress Member Roy, above, is associated with an online article from The New York Times, "G.O.P. Spending Hawks Defy Trump on the Debt Limit, Previewing More Clashes." Here are the first couple of paragraphs from that article:
Something unusual happened this week after President-elect Donald J. Trump ordered House Republicans to back legislation raising the debt limit: Dozens refused.
It was a rare breach by a group of Republicans who have traditionally backed Mr. Trump’s policy preferences unquestioningly and taken pains to avoid defying him.
Actually, what The Times' reporters identified as "unusual" was not, really, that "unusual" at all. In fact, if you will go back and read my "Government By Billionaire (Or Not)?" blog posting, you will find this analysis:
The United States Constitution does not, in fact, provide that the president (or his billionaire friends) can tell Congress what to do. Who does tell Congress what to do? Well, WE do. That's the way we have set it up, anyway. Every member of Congress is put into office by a specific group of citizen/voters. Once elected, they are our "representatives," representing the people who voted to put them in office. Senators are accountable to every voter in the state they represent. Members of the House of Representatives are accountable to the voters in the geographic district from which they were elected.
As I said in that earlier blog posting, Congress is supposed to make the laws, telling the president what the president can and must do (and what the president can't do), and the president is then supposed to execute the laws made by Congress. Our system of representative self-government does not contemplate that Members of Congress will, or should, take their direction from the president. Obviously, in deciding what they should do about any specific proposal, Members of Congress will always take very seriously what the president would like them to do. Ultimately, however, Members of Congress are supposed to do what the voters who elected them want.
When I began writing my blog post published last Saturday, December 21st, it was not actually clear whether this constitutionally-mandated system would be honored, or whether it would be ignored. President-elect Trump has, from the very start of his involvement in national politics, acted like HE, as the president, should be able to tell everyone in government what to do. A lot of the time, Republican Members of Congress have acted like this was, in fact, how things should work.
I, personally, consider it an encouraging sign that the Congress promptly showed Mr. Trump (and the nation, and Trump's billionaire boyfriends) that not every Member of Congress is going to set aside what would be best for the constituents who elected them, in order to follow the directions of the president, or the directions of the president-elect and his billionaire friends (as in this recent case).
While only thirty-eight members of the House of Representatives "defied" the president-elect, as The Times put it, I think it is helpful that this "defiance" occurred even before president-elect Trump took office.
If we want a government of, by, and for the people - and this is what "democracy" requires - then elected Members of Congress need to think about what their constituents want and need, first and foremost.
How it all ends up remains to be seen, but I am personally happy that at least some Members of Congress appear to understand that "we, the people," acting through our duly-elected representatives, are supposed to call the shots. Not the president. And emphatically not the president's bosom-buddy billionaire friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment!