Adam—In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS just let stand an
order compelling the Trump Administration to pay $2 billion to USAID
contractors. Highlighted news story and short SCOTUS opinion attached.
It’s hard to get too spun up about this since the $2 billion represents work
that was already completed. But since this is The Season of
Constitutional Crisis, allow me to invoke the goose-and-gander rule to
show how the judiciary is in a perpetual struggle with the other two
branches of government, and “constitutional crises” are exceedingly easy
to find.
Here you have an Article I
Congress that has written laws defining judicial jurisdiction. You
have an Article II Executive that is in charge of paying taxpayer money
to contractors, and which enjoys sovereign jurisdiction in carrying out
this function. And you have an Article III Judiciary that often invades
these duties under the guise of “judicial review.” I won’t take sides
in this case, but if we’re looking for a “constitutional crisis,” we can
always find one because the three branches of government were
effectively designed to be at war with one another. Some call it
“checks and balances,” but the M5M calls it a “constitutional crisis”
when it promotes their agenda.
Justice Alito wrote a really informative dissent, joined by Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Gorsuch.