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How a constitutional crisis gets worse
What happens after the courts rule?
So a judge ruled that Trump’s accountants had to comply with a Congressional subpoena and hand over documents to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding the President’s finances. Hooray!
Representative Elijah Cummings, who chairs the committee, hailed the decision as a “resounding victory” for the rule of law and constitutional checks and balances.
So what now?
That’s the problem. President Andrew Jackson understood this problem when he reputedly said “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!”
The context of that statement came about after the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Marshall handed down its opinion in Worcester v. Georgia. In that ruling, the Court held that native-American tribes have sovereignty that must be respected by the states and the Federal government. That holding, although it does not form the basis of the opinion and so is considered dicta, has become the basis of the relationship between the governments and native-American tribes.
Jackson, as a fierce Indian fighter — remember, he was responsible for the Trail of Tears, and much of his military experience prior to the Battle of New Orleans had included attacking unarmed Creek and…
