
Concerned About the News from DC This Week? You Should Be.
The events from this Labor Day week reveal a White House that is at war with itself and a GOP Congress that refuses to provide constitutional oversight and restraint on a runaway Administration.
Labor Day week is usually one where many Americans take a break from school or work, unwind, maybe even go to the beach, a lake, or just a ride around town with some friends and family. This week, however, has proven anything but relaxing, especially for the politically inclined individual. Among the backdrop of an extremely contentious and consequential Supreme Court nominee hearing, two bombshells rattled the White House this week.
The first among them was the reveal of a tell-all book by famed Watergate reporter and current assistant editor of the Washington Post, Bob Woodward. His book, Fear: Trump in the White House, which is set to be made available in full on Sept. 11th, depicts a White House that is at war with itself and, frighteningly, at war with the President himself. Excerpts publicized by various publications describe, among other things: infighting between staffers (hardly a new development); the President of the United States being thoroughly uninterested in major issues and learning about them — such as the rationale behind the war in Afghanistan; and perhaps most concerning of all, the ability of anyone with the right security clearance and access to directly undermine the President of the United States, when Gary Cohn, the former chief economic adviser to President Trump, managed to swipe a letter from the desk of the President that would have unilaterally ended the free trade agreement between the US and South Korea. Now, whether Mr. Cohn was justified in this is certainly up for debate, and I will say without a doubt that part of me is glad that he prevented us from endangering one of our close relationships in Asia at a time where we need to counter Chinese influence and North Korean aggression.
That being said, the reason why Mr. Cohn’s alleged actions in the book are troubling is because it outlines just how unconventional this presidency is. The fact that people on the payroll of the Trump Administration, appointed and hired by the President himself, felt the need to actively undermine his agenda in this way comes to show that we have entered into a new realm of government. Some conservatives, particularly on the far-right and alt-right, claim of a deep state that consists of liberals, socialists, former presidents and cabinet members, and federal civil employees. I wonder how they will take the news that their own President — who has boasted of only hiring the “best people” — has hired conservatives who are willing to undermine his agenda. What does it say of a person, particularly someone in power, when their own employees and those who probably supported him are not only willing, but able, to take advantage of him? What does it say of our Republic that the only thing keeping us from endangering our foreign relations with critical allies or safeguarding the Constitution are civil servants who have essentially opened up a separate, functioning government? In fact, what does it mean for our Republic that a powerful Executive can now be undermined like this? Additionally, the fact that the Republican controlled Congress has done nothing to address many of the valid concerns brought up regarding President Trump’s bombastic and heavy handed approaches seems to indicate the need for new leadership in the Congress. The Republican Party stood by through nearly every single scandal or authoritarian tinged decision made by this Administration: it is time for the Democrats to wrest control and provide functioning oversight of a corrupt Administration.
The second bombshell was an anonymous op-ed piece published by the New York Times. The author, claiming to be a senior White House official, suggested that there were indeed a number of White House officials who, despite saying that, “We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous”, they also believe that the very head of the Administration could be detrimental to the health of the Republic and the Constitution. The op-ed details how some officials work to “insulate their operations from his whims”, probably because they fear that he will aim to put them on the chopping block or, perhaps, do something stupid. The author points out the President’s long established amorality, as well as his anti-democratic and anti-trade positions and ideals — not to mention his pettiness and, per Woodward’s book, lack of interest in actually governing the country and learning how. In short: an Administration at war with the President of the United States. You couldn’t get this kind of drama from Netflix’s House of Cards, and they actually attempted an assassination on the fictional president!
Subsequent reports after the op-ed was released painted a White House in crisis, as press officers attempted to seize the narrative amid a reported mole hunt. While some may question the integrity of the New York Times for publishing such a piece and desire to reframe the discussion to that topic, it is prudent for us to focus on the details coming out of the White House in this tumultuous time. For starters, the 2018 midterm elections are drawing closer, only two months away. Any detail that slips from the White House that suggests weakness is bound to be seized upon by the Democratic Party, and rightfully so. After all, ever since the 2016 elections, the Republicans have sought to shunt Democrats out of the process entirely, to further empower their majority in Congress and, soon, the Supreme Court. If the chaos in the Trump White House is this bad, at this point and time in their tenure, imagine what we will see should the Democrats retake even one chamber of Congress in the 2018 midterms.
Nonetheless, the details in both bombshells indicate that the Trump Administration, and, consequentially, our Republic, aren’t as strong as we think they are. Granted, Trump is the bottom of the barrel, but that leaves open the possibility that even a competent president could be undermined, and not necessarily by those who with good intentions. While it is okay to take a moment to savor the humiliation that the Trump Administration is surely feeling now, it is imperative that we do not lose sight of what is important, and at the end of the day, that is the health of the Republic. The doctor hasn’t come back with the results, but our WebMD search suggests that we are in a lot of trouble down the road.
