The Fight to Maintain the Constitutional Power of the Senate

A New Issue to Split the Republican Party 

Not long ago, I published a post in which I argued that theissue of the deportation of undocumented immigrants would cause a split in the Republican Party. Sunday’s NY Times included an article that described yet another issue that may split the party. The issue is the power and independence of the Senate. Trump wants the Senate to rubber-stamp his cabinet appointments without exercising the body’s constitutional power to “advise and consent.” This is one of the Senate’s most important powers, and senators who care about the Senate as an institution will work to preserve its power. They will work to make sure that the Senate does a thorough job of vetting Trump’s cabinet appointments.  Those senators have considerable power as we saw when Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration when it became clear that the Senate would not approve him without a fight.

Support the Institutional Power of the Senate

The fight to maintain the power of the Senate is not unrelated to the fight against mass deportations because Trump has chosen people who are committed to his policy of mass deportations, and he wants the Senate to rubber-stamp them. In this situation, we can resist mass deportations by encouraging our senators to support the institutional independence of the Senate, and we can also resist deportations by working locally to build support for the senators who want to preserve the power of the Senate to advise and consent. We can begin by contacting our senators to encourage them to support and fight for the independence of the Senate, and we can work locally to encourage others to do the same.

Oppose Mass Deportation Directly

We can also work locally to encourage local leaders and others to contact their congressional representatives to express opposition to mass deportation. The opposition may be based on humanitarian concerns, but it may also be based on a purely economic argument. Mass deportation will cause many local businesses to lose their work forces or their customers, and that will damage the communities where the businesses are located. The cost of the deportations will be paid using taxes paid by the residents of the communities that are damaged. Why should we allow our government to use our tax money to damage our communities?

So, if you believe in preserving the constitutionally mandated power of the Senate to review a president’s appointments, you should contact your Senators to let them know that you support them in their fight. You should also encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same thing. In the meantime, we can all work to spread understanding of the harm that mass deportations will do to our communities.