by Evan Schroedel, Florence
I was one of hundreds of concerned citizens in the Bitterroot Valley who participated in the “No Kings” protest recently, where we raised our voices and signs in unison. We weren’t alone. Millions from Alabama to Alaska came out in opposition to the autocracy that Donald Trump represents.
There were pro-Trump hecklers present, and it occurred to me that there might be a fundamental misunderstanding of why we were protesting. I wasn’t there to protest Trump being our president. He won the election and is our president. We were there to protest his constitutional overreach with the use of his executive orders.
Every president except one, William Henry Harrison, who died after only a month in office, has issued executive orders. Indeed, slavery, one of the greatest travesties in American history, was corrected at least partially by an executive order, Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
The difference is stark with Donald Trump and his EOs. He doesn’t seem to understand that his authority is not limitless, and he keeps exceeding that authority. He tries to erase birthright citizenship with his pen, despite the concept being enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. He tries to exclude entire classifications of people from entering the United States, and targets law firms for representing those he sees as political enemies. The list, unfortunately, goes on and on.
Executive orders must be based on constitutional or statutory authority and are always subject to judicial review. They can be struck down if found to be unconstitutional. All past presidents of the United States understood this and drafted their executive orders accordingly.
The illegal actions of the Trump administration seem limitless. It is hard to imagine a better reason to protest.