On Thursday, I wrote that leftist judges on the bench are creating a form of tyranny, for they have arrogated to themselves the constitutional power of the Executive branch of government. There is no more balance. According to the Democrat appointees on the bench, none of Trump’s actions are solely within the discretion of the democratically elected chief executive. Instead, all are subject to judicial review and approval.
The day after I wrote that essay, Trump issued a statement via Truth Social voiding every document that was signed with an Autopen during Joe Biden’s presidency and threatening Biden along the way:
Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United
States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Some have pointed out that this order is merely performative, since one president can always undo another’s executive orders.
As an aside, that line of argument is untrue. As we’ve seen, district courts have repeatedly held that Donald Trump cannot reverse the executive orders of previous presidents. That’s the special unwritten Donald Trump rule. Their rulings are always dressed up in fancy language and erroneous legal arguments, but the net result has been that what other presidents do, Trump cannot undo. (ChatGPT struggles with this concept, but you can get the idea of what’s going on here.)
More important than that argument’s inaccuracy is a practical reality: Voiding all of Biden’s Autopen signatures doesn’t just end policy Executive Orders. In theory, it also ends every judicial nomination Biden made, from Ketanji Brown Jackson on down.
This matters a great deal, not just because of Jackson, but because Biden was able to nominate the largest number of federal judges in a single term since the Carter administration, 235 in all. Most of them have proven to be distinguished only by their “diversity,” not their intelligence, legal acumen, or fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law.
One would hope so, a good house cleaning is needed. Or maybe a good flush.
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