One of the bedrock principles in the U.S. Constitution is the balance of power among the three branches of government: Legislative, executive and judicial. The goal of its writers was to create a system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

That constitutional system is no longer working since both the Republican-controlled Senate and U.S. House of Representatives have abandoned their clearly defined responsibilities and let Trump do what he wants.

Examples:

1) The disastrous war in Iran. The Constitution states that only Congress can declare war, yet Trump went ahead on his own, and it’s a mess.

2) Hyper-partisan approval of key judges and cabinet secretaries. Republican senators approved Kavanaugh, who helped overturn “settled law” concerning women’s reproductive rights. They also approved anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy jr. as the head of U.S. Health and Human Services, and now measles and other communicable diseases are on the rise.

3) Tariffs. Article I, Section 8 explicitly gives Congress the authority to impose tariffs as part of its taxing power. However, Trump imposed willy-nilly tariffs that significantly increased the cost of food, trucks and cars, electronics and many other imported goods and that threaten relations with allied nations like Canada.

The Republican-led Senate, including Susan Colllins, is not doing its constitutional job. It’s time to elect Democrat Troy Jackson to help restore the balance of power in our government and to rein in Trump’s unconstitutional behavior. 

Roy Hitchings lives in Camden