WASHINGTON – If Donald Trump declared tomorrow that the sky is green, does that mean it actually is green?
How about if he decrees that raw lemons taste sweet, would they in reality no longer be sour?
Unfortunately for the future of American democracy, the answer could well be that, yes, as a matter of law, Trump’s factual assertions cannot be challenged and must therefore be presumed correct.
The concept is known as the “political question doctrine,” and whether and to what extent the U.S. Supreme Court applies it in major cases coming before it could determine whether the republic survives a president openly bent on autocracy.
Trump has already announced that the United States is in an “energy emergency” requiring that environmental laws be waived to speed up more oil drilling. He has declared a trade emergency that permits him to raise taxes on imports as he sees fit, without any input from Congress. He declared a “Southern border” emergency, which in his view justifies deploying active duty troops for civilian law enforcement, despite a law prohibiting that. He has decreed that the presence of foreign criminals in the United States constitutes an ”invasion” that allows him to capture suspected illegal migrants and send them to an active war zone in Africa or a Central American prison as he sees fit.
