America’s Real Constitutional Crisis

Historically, the term “constitutional crisis” has been used to describe a situation in which the executive or legislature fails to abide by decisions made by the courts. There has never been a constitutional crisis in American history that meets that definition. Now that the attack plan of the left against President Donald Trump has been fully revealed, however, we will have to redefine the term to fit current circumstances.

The new definition is “A Constitutional Crisis is a situation in which the judicial system usurps the power of the executive or the legislative branch.” It’s hard to imagine usurping the power of the legislature because the judicial system can’t pass laws, but there is a clear path to the judiciary interfering with executive orders. Hand-picked radical district court judges who support the left are wreaking havoc on the Trump agenda: blocking deportations, preventing firings and layoffs, and, in the latest intrusion, stopping Trump from negotiating tariffs.

In making these moves, the courts assume the power of the executive branch and remove it from control by the president. This effort is the natural follow-up to the impeachments, trials for bogus crimes, and assassination attempts used against Trump previously. It’s just one more way to prevent the president from governing.

Blocking Trump’s exercise of executive power destroys the effectiveness of the populist president and strikes a punishing blow against the American people. With a popular vote plurality and a significant margin in the electoral college, the American people voted for the Trump agenda. If the actions of the courts are not blocked, the left wins the battle they are waging to protect the corrupt status quo. It also means the establishment Republicans have air cover, so they don’t have to fight against their establishment brethren in an attempt to effect change. This also means the DOGE work will be stillborn if it cannot be codified into law.

Outside of Washington, the deportations are crippled so that many illegals will not be sent home. Blocking the tariffs will force the United States to live with its disadvantaged position in the global marketplace, to the delight of the Europeans. It also blocks drug price reductions, which had been folded into the trade negotiations.

Has this judicial system's behavior ever been witnessed before?

The only case that comes close is the administration of FDR, which saw that president stretch the bounds of his authority in an effort to end the Great Depression. Three key pieces of Roosevelt’s

The National Industrial Recovery Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, and the Municipal Bankruptcy Act were nullified by the Supreme Court. The NIRA was an attempt to control supply and demand in the industrial sector in order to keep workers employed and keep companies in business. The court ruled that managing the economy in this way granted legislative power to the president, which violated the Constitution.

The AAA was an attempt to raise farm prices through a system of taxes and subsidies. It was struck down as a violation of state’s rights. The Municipal Bankruptcy Act was designed to allow cities to declare bankruptcy in order to reorganize their debts. The court also ruled this law violated state’s rights.

As a result of the court’s actions, an angry President Roosevelt decided to put forward a new bill to expand the court. The proposed law would allow him to nominate up to 6 additional Supreme Court justices and replace any sitting judge who had reached the age of 70 and had served at least 10 years. After a 168-day debate in Congress and among the American people, the proposed bill was rejected by Congress. Roosevelt had a filibuster-proof majority in Congress, so it wasn’t the Republicans who defeated him. It was public opinion and Democrats who felt the president was moving too far from the intent of the Constitution.

The situation today is entirely different. Trump has small majorities in Congress, and passing the laws needed to codify his executive actions will be difficult. Without legislative support in Congress, he is entirely dependent on the conservative Supreme Court to overturn the blocks put in his way by the lower courts.

Democrats are using the courts as a delaying tactic, hoping they will regain a majority in one of the two houses of Congress in 2026 and stop the codification of the Trump agenda completely. By the time all the current lawsuits have been adjudicated, it will be the end of Trump’s second term. In the end, Trump will win some cases and lose some cases.

Like Steve Bannon said a couple of weeks ago, conservatives are at war with the left. The stakes are high, and losing means putting the neoliberals back in control, which threatens the conservative way of life and American traditions. Conservatives cannot give any quarter as they fight for their right to be equal participants in the federal government. They are dependent on a populist president to put the American people’s rights against the elitist objectives of the establishment in both parties.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.