#Constitutional Crisis

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jennifer Rubin at The Contrarian:

Are we in a “constitutional crisis”? You have likely heard that question innumerable times over the past three months, followed by a discussion as to whether our president has actually, explicitly, openly violated a court order (make that a Supreme Court order). When a question is so pervasive, it is safe to assume that yes, we are already there. When does the combo of authoritarian bullying, revenge seeking, stooge-nominating, retaliatory prosecuting, contemptuous litigating, and lawless usurpation of congressional power become a “crisis”? The word is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending…especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.” Frankly, we have been in that “crisis” since the first day of the Trump presidency.

When a Republican Congress allows the president to seize the power of the purse and does nothing, when the secretary of defense commits the worst breach of national security protocols in memory (and evidently doesn’t learn his lesson), or when Republicans refuse to reclaim the power to lay tariffs—despite a recession-inducing presidential trade war—the question is not if we are in a constitutional crisis, but just how bad it is. For Kilmar Ábrego García, Rümeysa Öztürk, Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and scores of others who are legally present in the United States have been snatched up, incarcerated (or are facing incarceration) in a foreign gulag, and are deprived of their right to contest their confinement and visa revocation, the “constitutional crisis” is well underway. When the Supreme Court convenes “literally in the middle of the night” to stop the government from spiriting away Venezuelans in apparent contradiction of their instruction to give every individual a meaningful opportunity to oppose their deportation, the “constitutional crisis” has arrived.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) knows a constitutional crisis. When asked explicitly whether we were in one on Meet the Press, he affirmed, “Yes, we are.” He had to fly down to El Salvador to see for himself Ábrego García’s condition, and upon his return, called out the president and his flacks for abject lies, even revealing the clumsy attempt to stage a scene suggesting he and Kilmar were tossing down margaritas on a tropical holiday. When such steps are required to confirm whether or not a lawful American resident is alive, we know this is not only the least trustworthy White House in modern history, but one seemingly eager to foment a constitutional crisis.

[...]

For the thousands of government workers fired, the law firms and universities bullied, the millions of Americans harmed by illegal cuts and firings, the charitable organizations living under the cloud of a possible IRS dragnet, and the former Trump officials and assorted Trump nemeses targeted for persecution, the “constitutional crisis” is here. When Trump betrays Ukraine, cozies up to the evil aggressor Russia, wrecks the international trading system, stokes inflation, and sends us hurling into a recession, that crisis extends beyond the Constitution. [...]

Media, politicians, activists, and courts must stop waiting for a checkered flag to start responding. We need every person, every officeholder, and every facet of society to tell Trump: “NO.” No obeying in advance, No bullying, No court defiance, No executive overreach, No betrayal of allies, and No gaslighting. Then, voters must defeat any MAGA enablers, henchmen, and cowering politicians who are encouraging or complicit in these unprecedented assaults on our democracy. And when Democrats (because, let’s be honest: there is no critical mass of Republicans prepared to return to democratic norms) regain power, they will need to rebuild government and erect a series of reforms (e.g., Supreme Court term limits or expansion; serious civil and criminal penalties for abrogating others’ constitutional rights or blocking congressionally appropriated funds; bright red lines on private citizens assuming governmental powers; complete divestiture of presidents’ business interests while in office) to secure our democracy.

Jennifer Rubin wrote a solid column on why Americans should stop waiting for a formal declaration of a constitutional crisis, as we’re already in one.

[karl-marxs-ghost]

American-born doctor receives DHS email telling her to leave the U.S.

[exxos-von-steamboldt]

(via The Fake Constitutional Crisis - YouTube)

[mental-mona]

This is a good rundown of what the judiciary's options are right now and what is likely to happen.

[quipsandclips]

More at theqc.net - click below

[absurdlakefront]

The Emergency is Here

...For the Trump administration, El Salvador's prisons are the answer to the problem of American law. They hold the view that anyone they send to El Salvador is beyond the reach of American law. They have been disappeared — not just from our country, but from our system, and from any protection or process that our system affords.

In our prisons, prisoners can be reached by our lawyers, by our courts, by our mercy. In El Salvador, they cannot.

Here's a scary thing that I think sits at least partially beneath their calculus: politically, they cannot let Orgo Garcia out, nor any of the other people they sent to Secot without due process. Because what if he was released? What if he returned to the United States? What if he could tell his own story?

What if, as seems quite likely, he's been brutalized and tortured by Trump's Salvadoran henchmen? Well, he can't be allowed to tell the American people that.

To the Trump administration, Abrego Garcia is not a mistake — he's a liability. And he's a test.

A test of their power to do this to anyone.

A test of whether the loophole they believe they have found — a loophole where, if they can just get you on a plane, they can hustle you beyond our laws and leave you in the grips of the kind of gulags they wish that they had here.

They're not ashamed of this.

They're not denying their desire to do it to more people.

We are not even a hundred days into this administration, and we are already faced with this level of horror. And I can feel the desire to look away from it, even in me. What all this demands is too inconvenient, too disruptive.

But Trump has said it all plainly and publicly: he intends to send those he hates to foreign prisons beyond the reach of U.S. law. He does not care. He will not even seek to discover if those he is sending into these foreign hells are guilty of what he claims because this is not about their guilt. It is about his power.

This is how dictatorships work.

Trump has always been clear about who he is and the kind of power he wants. And now he's using that power — and everyone around him is defending his right to wield that power.

If President Donald Trump decides that you are to rot in a foreign prison, then that is his right — and you, you have no rights.

And if he is capable of that, if he wants that, then what else is he capable of? What else does he want?

And if the people who serve him are willing to give him that, to defend his right to do that, what else will they give him?

What else will they defend?

This is the emergency.

Like it or not, it’s here.

This emergency is not measured in speeches, but in the human beings already abandoned in a foreign gulag. It is not found in hypotheticals, but in the destruction already underway. History teaches that when a regime creates mechanisms for extralegal violence, and those mechanisms are not dismantled after the first wave of victims is spent, they expand. They professionalize. They come for everyone.

[marta-bee]

News of the Day 4/17/25: No True Scotsm... er, American

Paywall be gone.

Ooh, I can help them with this one! It's not.

Tl;dr: Trump sent 100+ Venezuelans to an El Salvador mega-prison, without any court proceedings or vetting of the evidence against them. One in particular had a prior court order that he couldn't be sent back to El Salvador, though he could still be deported elsewhere. The Supreme Court ordered Trump "facilitate" his return (essentially, he had to at least try). And Trump isn't even doing that much.

That's horrible enough on its own. Let's call it Horrible level 1. Horrible level 2: if we're not vetting who we send away, Trump could as easily do this to American citizens and by his own "logic" there's no way he could get them back. Mistakes happen. They've just proved that.

It's worse than that, though. We're now at horrible level 3. Trump took questions with Bukele (the El Salvador president) where he fantasized about sending "home-growns," American citizens, to El Salvador. The DOJ's studying it, apparently. As Trump so often says on other topics: you gotta do it.

“Jesse, you know, when you’re listening to all these liberal reporters, they keep calling him a Maryland man. He’s not a Maryland man. He’s part of foreign terrorist organization. He’s a member of MS-13, who, as you laid out in your monologue, came to this country and committed just gang acts,” she said.

There's not much evidence of the MS-13 connection. There's more proof he assaulted his wife (X), and while I obviously don't want to soft-pedal domestic violence, this does feel like Trump & Co. are using that to justify what they're doing.

You'd think he's some angel, the way people are carrying on! No; you'd think he's a human, and a human living in America, specifically in Maryland. And that's enough. Rights and personhood aren't just for good people.

And that's horrible level 4. Also Fascism 101. God help us.

As usual, more links about the Kilmar Abrego Garcia situation, the roiling constitutional crisis, Trump's teasing he could run for a third term in 2028 (.... yeah), and other legal-adjacent shenanigans behind the cut.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Who is Kilmar Ábrego García, the man wrongly deported to El Salvador?

Trump lawyers confirm wrongly deported Maryland man in El Salvador prison. Administration fails to show they have taken any steps to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego García

Discussion of legal issues around Trump’s refusal to bring him back (long, but good) :

DOJ: Courts have ‘no authority’ to force Abrego Garcia’s return

“The alien’s to blame. The aliens are to blame when they enter this country illegally,” Homan told Newsmax’s Chris Salcedo on Saturday, claiming that if Abrego Garcia had not unlawfully entered the U.S in the first place, he would not be held at the notorious Salvadorian prison. (X)

Trump, in a rare move, deferred to another world leader. It’s a clear legal play. (X)

The Real Reason El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele Cozied Up to Trump (X)

The federal government’s attempt to avoid returning the mistakenly deported man “runs contrary to law and logic,” Judge Paula Xinis wrote. (X)

In its pursuit of a policy, Donald Trump’s government is content to destroy a man. (X)

Judge Finds Probable Cause to Hold Trump Administration in Criminal Contempt (X)

Trump says he wants to imprison US citizens in El Salvador. That’s likely illegal

The C-Word (Constitutional Crisis, That Is)

Jamelle Bouie: Where Are Trump and Musk Taking Us? On the Creeping “Constitutional Crisis” (X)

Trump Just Defied the Supreme Court. What Is John Roberts Going to Do About It? (X)

The Constitutional Crisis Is Here: Trump’s administration is only pretending to comply with the Supreme Court on the matter of a Maryland man it deported erroneously.

The Supreme Court justices exhibit a disturbing willingness to ignore the human costs of Trump’s actions, preferring instead to remain within the more comfortable zone of high-minded legal theory. (X)

Donald Trump has benefited greatly from America’s constitutional protections, but he seeks to deprive others of them. (X)

Other Immigration-Related Shenanigans

Homeland Security Email Tells a US Citizen to ‘Immediately’ Self-Deport (X), apparently in error.

I disagree with Mahmoud Khalil’s politics. But the deportation decision is abhorrent

Khalil ruling to test Trump deportation tactic of sending detainees to Louisiana. Attorneys have contended the Trump administration is purposely holding detained students in ICE facilities in conservative judicial districts. (X)

Trump Teases a Third Term

Congress passed the 22nd Amendment in 1947, imposing a two-term limit after more than 170 years of George Washington’s unwritten precedent. President Trump has hinted that he wants a third term anyway. (X)

Trump Attorney Studied Options for Third Presidential Term (X)

If Trump Gets a 3rd Term, Democracy Will Have Already Ended (X)

Electoral "Reform"

Supreme Court confronts another challenge to the Voting Rights Act (This one's about redistricting.)

Wisconsin voters passed a constitutional amendment to enshrine voter ID laws with 60.3% support, securing its place in the state constitution. (X)

Utah governor signs bill ending universal mail-in ballot system

Under Trump, the Justice Department is stepping away from some voting rights cases. (X)

Trump signed an executive order to reshape how elections in the US are run. Is it constitutional? (That would be “no.”)

House Republicans pass the ‘SAVE Act,’ which is a solution in search of a problem (X)

Citizenship voting requirement in SAVE Act has no basis in the Constitution – and ignores precedent that only states decide who gets to vote

The SAVE Act Could Make It Harder for Married Women to Vote (X)

The SAVE Act threatens to block millions of Americans from voting while also imposing significant burdens on state and local election officials. (X)

And some people standing up, because we need good news, too.

Berniechella: America’s left protests against Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez take their show on the road. (X) I'm remembering Trump's obsession with his crowd sizes in the first term, and imagining him stewing over this.

‘He’s just not going to change my mind’: Freedom Caucus chair defies Trump on budget. Rep. Andy Harris said he would not attend a White House meeting amid arm-twisting campaign. (X)

Senator heads to El Salvador to find Maryland migrant deported erroneously by Trump (X) The headline makes this sound much more normal than it is. Garcia's senator just flew down to El Salvador and demanded to speak to Garcia and also the El Salvador president. He only got to talk to the VP. It's a bit of a stunt, yes, but one more example of politicians taking a page out of the Cory Booker playbook. We need that.

[readandwriteclub]

9066: An Immoral & unAmerican Executive Order

[karl-marxs-ghost]

Y’know he’s gonna start accusing citizens who oppose him of being members of leftist terrorist organizations and have them deported without due process to El Salvador. Like that’s where this is headed folks. It’s always been the end destination but you have to start with undocumented immigrants and visa holders. Even if they deport you illegally and a judge orders your return you’re clearly never coming back.

[azukilynn]

Repeating a lie does not make it true. No amount of rewording, voice inflection, diversionary tactics, or feigned outrage can make it true. My heart is breaking over the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and he is one of many who were never given due process. It is clear that our nation under the current regime is not only experiencing one constitutional crisis after another, but has become a dictatorship. Those with power in congress and in the courts are failing We the People at every turn. Every institution regarding health, education, and humanitarian causes has either been dismantled or hindered by sweeping, unilateral decisions by POTUS and his goons. I don't see how we can ever recover if congress and the courts do not act with decisive, persistent, and unrelenting authority. Due process is a fundamental right. None of us are safe now. And I am sure that is exactly how this regime wants it. They want everyone to be afraid. I'll never understand the WHY of it. I am one small voice, and I hope Kilmar is still alive. I fear he is not. The people who took him, and so many others, need to be brought to justice. I have little hope they will be. They'll just keep lying and gaslighting and deflecting and destroying and playing golf and laughing over the heinous acts they've committed and will continue to perpetrate with no guardrails whatsoever.

[onenakedfarmer]

Shout out the fucking third-party voters and the 90 million eligible Americans who REFUSED to vote.

“We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking, that are absolute monsters. I'd like to include them in people to get out of the country. They're as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too. I'm all for it."

[shawheenb]

We are in a constitutional crisis.

[otws]

Today: Tuesday, April 15th: Tax Day Protest in Long Island, NY

Looking for a place to tell Trump “You ain’t no King”? Looking for a place to scream that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be brought home to America right now, and that Bukele should not build more concentration camps, and that President Trump should not float the idea of sending American citizens to foreign concentration camps????? Hurray! Some good people already had a gathering plan for April 15,…

[prescott-az]

The Supreme Court said: bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home.

The administration said: no.

That’s a constitutional crisis.

So we wrote the Court a letter.

Download it. Add your address. Sign it. Send it.

The Supreme Court must enforce its own ruling.

→ Download the letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bh0ZjhpZi3DhjQgsae1bHmqB9_aoFWqPWtg582PGfIk

→ Full Action Steps post with details: https://open.substack.com/pub/lfitzhugh/p/supreme-court-abrego-letter

Please share this.

[rickmctumbleface]

So Trump has been openly caught on tape saying he's going to send 'home growns' (i.e. American citizens) to his foreign concentration camps. That means anyone, even you or me. We have a really big problem here, my fellow Americans.

[khazzman]