President-elect Joe Biden has already hinted at it. He wants to heal America. But what about a reckoning for the illegalities of the President Donald Trump years? Former-President Barack Obama answered demands that former-President George W. Bush and his administration be held accountable for the torture of captives with a call to “look forward, not back.” The result was as effective as a presidential pardon for war crimes.
Do we elect our presidents to give them free reign to roam about in the national playpen for four or eight years with no binding rules or limits? President Richard Nixon was forgiven for his sins. President Ronald Reagan was not prosecuted for the Iran-Contra felony. Bush and former-Vice President Dick Cheney were given a pass on WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) and torture. Should we just overlook the multiple felonious actions of yet another Republican president?
Many are saying yes, lest we fall into the banana republic syndrome of each successive regime charging and imprisoning the previous one. That is a serious consideration. Remember, Trump campaigned on locking up not only his opponent but also his predecessor as president. If we as a country are going simply to careen back and forth between political enemies, perhaps the whole situation is hopeless and we are doomed to sit by and watch the republic spiral downward into endless vengeances.
However, I disagree. I think that not everything is relative. I believe it is possible to draw some enforceable bright lines for behavior of our leaders.
Both Republicans and Democrats agree, for one, that the president is not a king. This implies that presidential power is not absolute. Nonetheless, by pardoning or looking the other way when our presidents flout the law, we are implicitly submitting to absolute power. This is not sustainable for a republic.
The quandary is how to enforce rules against an elected official without ending up punishing them for actions with which you simply disagree? I suggest the answer lies in separating political decisions from legal ones. For example, should a president be prosecuted for trying to make the federal government smaller by abolishing certain cabinet departments? No. That is a political decision. But should a president be prosecuted for withholding or misappropriating funds Congress has approved for certain projects? Yes. That is illegal because the Constitution specifies that only Congress can decide matters of the purse.
The Trump administration has given us all a lesson in where the loopholes are in our current structure of government. Congress must act immediately to close these inadequacies.
We must put strict limits on the number of days a non-Senate approved acting department head can hold the position. Likewise, the Senate majority must never again be able to refuse timely to consider nominees for courts or other federal offices requiring advice and consent.
Presidential candidates must be required to disclose the previous 10 years of tax returns, regardless of current audit activity.
Apparent winners of the electoral college vote must be allowed all transitional privileges during any period of election disputes.
The Department of Justice internal memo that prevents presidents from being indicted while in office must be countermanded while keeping certain limits to prevent the sitting president from being deluged with frivolous lawsuits merely for political obstruction.
The rules against nepotism must be applied to the president.
It must be made clear that any executive order by the president that countermands any established right of a citizen or non-citizen residing in the country is immediately invalid and unenforceable.
These are changes that can and should be agreed to by both political parties for application to the future.
But what about Trump and his allies who subverted the rule of law for a four-year period? Oh, well? Do they all deserve get-out-of-jail-free cards? Is that how we roll in America? Four years of chaos and illegality is just par for the course now? Time will tell.
John Sucke is a resident of Waimea.
