Sen. Angus King: Trump is trying to rule through legal or constitutional restraints

Almost 75 years ago, Junior Republican Senator mainMargaret Chase Smith gave her heartfelt speech about the crisis facing our country. A crisis that threatens values ​​and ideals based on American democratic experiments.

Her “Declaration of Conscience” turned out to be one of the most important speeches of the 20th century, defining Smith as a man of extraordinary courage and principles.

Looking back at the speech, she later told me she was very nervous about the speech – this was the height of a red scary life in her early 50s – she told her chief assistant, Bill Lewis, that she hadn’t given out copies of the text. Media As she feared that she might lose her nerves until she actually started talking on the floor.

But she goes through it, and the rest is literally history.

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Here’s how she began that speech:

“President, I would like to talk briefly and simply about a serious national state. It is a national sense of fear and frustration that could bring about the suicide of the people and the end of all that we Americans cherish. It is a condition that stems from the lack of effective leadership either in the legislative or the administrative sector of government.”

Maine Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith was in his Washington, D.C. office in 1948. (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

She continued,

“I think that’s a high time. US Senate And its members do some real soul searches and weigh their consciences about how we fulfill our duties to the American people and how we use or abuse individual powers and privileges. ”

Later in the speech, Smith concluded,

“It’s time for me to stop thinking about elections politically as a Republican or Democrat, and start thinking patriotically about national security based on personal freedom.

Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R. Maine) walks across the Capitol in this undated photo. (Getty Images)

I’m worried that we will be in a similar moment.

Reflecting Senator Smith, the “serious state of state” we face today should not be seen as a partisan issue. It’s about the American and government system that has supported us for over two centuries. That’s not about The President’s Agenda (And yes, I don’t agree with most of it) but that’s about the way he pursues it. This danger of roughshod non-processing, we all, his detractors and supporters as well.

Many of my colleagues seem to be determined to ignore it, but this president is engaged in the most direct attacks Constitutional Law In our history, and in this body, at least so far, we are inert. Therefore, accomplice.

It is worth pausing to see the terms of Article 2, which outlines the powers and responsibilities of the President. It is the authority to issue the role of a commander of a wartime army, and the role of a wartime army. But even this latter power is constrained by a reservation in Congress of power to declare war in the first place.

The US Constitution (istock)

However, the president’s main responsibility is explicitly spelled out. The CEO said, “Please note that the law will be executed faithfully.” The president’s job is simply to carry out laws passed in Congress without exception.

The administration is also taking a series of clearly unconnected actions.

This is the most serious offence, but the administration has taken a series of clearly unconnected actions.

Here is a partial list:

• He has enabled the dismantling of institutions that provide important services to the American people, particularly in Social Security and Veterans administrations.
• He tried to cut off funds for a single state because he was personally unsure about the governor’s refusal to his policy preferences, which were inconsistent with state law. Needless to say, during the exchange he said, “We are the law.” A statement that is completely inconsistent with the form of our government.
• He compromised national security by dismantling the institutions accused of protecting our country from the clear and current dangers of cyberattacks and dismissing many of those individuals.

This isn’t a complete list, but it presents an ominous pattern of this president trying to be unleashed by legal and constitutional restraints.

To the person you like President’s policy Therefore, I (and history) are willing to ignore the unconstitutional means of implementing them, and I (and history) can only say: be careful. Today, the goal may be federal workers, but tomorrow (maybe under another president), it may be you.

President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC on April 21, 2025 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

So, what can we do?

The first guardrail is meeting itself. Unfortunately, however, the majority of Congress has completely waived these fundamental liabilities.

The second guardrail is the courthouse, and generally has the end of a constitutional bargain. It may be easy to rely entirely on the court, but that’s the police. The recovery power must be a joint project.

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The final guardrails are those who are increasingly speaking out in meetings, communications, city halls and grocery stores.

We cannot escape the responsibility of our pledge to “support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic.” (And we will) “have true faith and loyalty to the same thing.”

So, for his example and inspiration for Margaret Chase Smith, this is my “declaration of conscience.” I don’t enjoy this moment, but I have no choice but to invoke clear meaning and danger President Donald Trump First 100 days.

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Many years ago, President Abraham Lincoln We came to Congress when our ancestors, like us, were reluctant to face the responsibility that was forced upon them. At that crucial moment, this is what he said,

“Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We and this administration of this Congress are remembered despite ourselves. Personal meaning or insignificant things cannot save either of us.

In our fiery trials, we deeply hope that we will choose honor and constitution.