There is No Constitutional Crisis
Years ago, the late radio talk legend Rush Limbaugh exposed the mainstream media’s penchant for coordinated messaging by stringing together soundbites echoing the same word or phrase uttered by dozens of national hosts concerning a particular topic on a specific day.
It was as if a talking points memo had been faxed or emailed from a single source. It very well may have been.
Well, as Ronald Reagan liked to say, “There they go again.”
It’s known as the “Illusory Truth Effect” – the idea that by repeating a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it, and sometimes even the people who are saying it.
The new phrase of the week is “constitutional crisis” and it’s being repeated over and over by liberal pundits upset with a wide range of efforts currently being employed to reform the government.
In fact, #constitutionalcrisis was trending on X Tuesday morning with tens of thousands of references to the phrase.
Leading the charge is The New York Times, which despite its waning influence, remains the source for many radical talking points. In many ways, it’s the left’s bible.
To be sure, since being sworn in on January 20, President Trump has issued hundreds of executive orders and made many decisions that he and his team believe fall within his executive authority.
Garnering particular attention and significant angst from numerous camps has been the President’s efforts to cut government waste and uncover potential corruption. It’s all being led by Elon Musk and housed under the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
With a federal debt of $36 trillion and climbing, and a desire to cut $1 billion a day from the current budget, officials are eager to expose any improper use of American taxpayer dollars.
Last week, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa released information on some of the ways our money is being spent through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“From funneling tax dollars to risky research in Wuhan to sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week, USAID is one of the worst offenders of waste in Washington… all around the world,” Ernst posted on X.
Some of the examples include $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Columbia, $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru, $1.5 million for a DEI program in Serbia, $20 million to Iraq to fund the expansion of the Sesame Street children’s public television program.
By labeling these executive actions and investigations a “constitutional crisis,” critics are obviously hoping to swing public opinion. The latest polling finds that a majority of Americans favor efforts to uncover waste and corruption.
The scope of President Trump’s authority – or any chief executive’s power – is a hotly debated topic of conversation, and especially when the Oval Office occupant expresses interest in an ambitious agenda.
When it comes to interpreting the president’s jurisdiction, judges can often come to different conclusions.
But is it a crisis?
In their inspired wisdom, our Founding Fathers created a government that consists of three branches – the executive, legislative and judicial. In short, it’s the “separation of powers” and was designed to make sure that no one person or body has too much power.
Labeling the current debate a “constitutional crisis” is a deliberate attempt to escalate and inflame what is a common and ongoing conversation.
Given the current context, Merriam-Webster defines a crisis as an “unstable” moment. In reality, all three branches of government are currently operating peacefully. The only thing “unstable” would be those critics looking to incite protest in the streets or worse. And the only crisis that’s ongoing is giving money Americans don’t have to people and efforts that are contrary to our nation’s founding values and morals.
As Christians, we must continue praying for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4), take a big deep breath (Phil. 4:6), and trust that our ultimate fate is in His will and His ways (Col. 1:16-17).
Image from Getty.
