Former Florida Republican Rep. David Jolly, who has become quite the anti-Trump voice on cable news and Twitter, his conservative friends this afternoon if “protecting” the SCOTUS majority is “worth abandoning the proper function and very integrity of the two other co-equal branches”:
To my conservative friends who insist accepting Trump is a necessary price to preserving a Supreme Court majority, consider whether protecting the ideology of one branch of government is worth abandoning the proper function and very integrity of the two other co-equal branches.
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) July 6, 2018
Except … that’s not how it works, as Jay Cost reminds him in this brutal civics lesson:
The branches are NOT co-equal. NOT NOT NOT. https://t.co/KrYgVFWyZJ
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
(•_•)
<) )╯Congress
/(•_•)
( (> is
/(•_•)
<) )╯supreme
/— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
Congress can:
1) Impeach/convict members of the judicial/executive.
2) Legislative over presidential veto.
3) Reorganize the courts.Congress is immune from the Courts & President:
1) Each chamber is sovereign over its own rules.
2) Members are free to speak w/ the chamber.— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
The only reason our branches seem co-equal nowadays is because Congress is weak. Which, let's face it, is mostly a response to public pressure.
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
Congress could reassert itself, if the people wanted it to.
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
(Sidebar: It is really a sad commentary that a former member of Congress doesn't appreciate this.)
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
The other branches can function as a check on Congress PROVIDED that the majority in the legislature is sufficiently narrow. If it hits 2/3rds or 3/4ths, it's Katy Bar the Door.
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
For a sense of the true scope of congressional power, see the 40th Congress. https://t.co/7LK1VuiWYz
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
For a sense of the true scope of congressional power, see the 40th Congress. https://t.co/7LK1VuiWYz
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
Fun Fact: The myth of "co-equal branches" is a product of the executive branch's expansion during the Cold War, and really entered the popular imagination during Nixon's defense against the Watergate investigators.
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
Go back to, say, 1880 and talk about "co-equal branches," and James G. Blaine would say, "What the heck are you talking about, dude?"
— Jay Cost (@JayCostTWS) July 6, 2018
***
Related:
Sorry DUDE, truth HURTS! Trump gets BRUTALLY honest about media at rally and Brian Stelter just CAN'T DEAL https://t.co/VEH6dKPx6h
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 6, 2018
THIS is the totally mature way Londoners will protest Donald Trump next week; Bonus: Ana Navarro approves! https://t.co/fEWhFeYhj5
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 6, 2018
No big deal, just the press sec for a Dem congressional candidate calling for a foreign invasion to overthrow Trump https://t.co/oziPZDouXw
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 6, 2018
