By Randi Weingarten
AFT President
Today, the Supreme Court fundamentally changed presidential power. After it arrogated power to itself last week in the Chevron case, it has now arrogated more power to a president than the founders ever envisioned.
While President Donald Trump is not immune for his personal acts, by granting him immunity for “official acts,” the court makes a mockery of the rule of law and casts aside the danger of concentrating power in one person’s hands.
For the first time, a president can engage in otherwise illegal acts without any accountability, and for the first time, a president is now above the law.
The founders spoke repeatedly of the need to protect the country against demagogues and crafted a constitution to defend against them. Today, the Supreme Court tried to vitiate their intent and allowed the former president’s thirst for power to trump the Constitution.
By delaying the decision, the justices would rather kick the can down the road than allow the American people to hear a trial about whether someone who incited an insurrection to overturn a free and fair election in 2020 should be re-elected in 2024.
Today’s ruling tears at the fabric of our democracy, and the damage won’t be easily, or ever, repaired. And it makes the stakes of this election clear.
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