During interview with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, Vice President JD Vance bashed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for saying his job is to check the excesses of the Executive branch.
The Supreme Court has the final word with its rulings that decide many issues relevant to the country at large, including actions of the executive branch.
JD Vance tried to smear the courts because they are constantly ruling against many of Trump and his administration’s lawless and immoral actions, including many perpetrated by Elon Musk and DOGE. Vance’s task was to pretend the only function our judicial system is performing is telling Trump how to run the country.
That is a lie. Of course. His native language.
Let me just make one final philosophical point here. I worry that unless the Supreme Court steps in here, or unless the District Courts exercise a little bit more discretion, we are running into a real conflict between two important principles in the United States.
Principle 1 of course is that courts interpret the law. Principle 2 is that the American people decide how they’re governed. That’s the fundamental small-d democratic principle that’s at the heart of the American project. I think that you are seeing, and I know this is inflammatory, but I think you are seeing an effort by the courts to quite literally overturn the will of the American people. To be clear, it’s not most courts.
But I saw an interview with Chief Justice Roberts recently where he said the role of the court is to check the excesses of the executive. I thought that was a profoundly wrong sentiment. That’s one-half of his job. The other half of his job is to check the excesses of his own branch. You cannot have a country where the American people keep on electing immigration enforcement and the courts tell the American people they’re not allowed to have what they voted for. That’s where we are right now.
Republicans and the MAGA cult want Trump to be a dictator, unfettered by anyone’s jurisprudence over his whims. That is not US democracy..JD Vance is correct when he says Americans decide who they want leading the country, but that doesn’t mean the courts then wilt and disappear. The whole idea here is that if Americans decide to elect a mobbed up lawless piece of shit, the courts are there to put a check on him.
The notion of checks and balances seems to have eluded Vance. But he certainly cheered any court ruling against President Biden.
