Coequally Duplicit Branch of the Government
August 2, 2017
The President does not want to sign the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. He has been complaining that the bill is a slap in his face. An official story is already being planned to justify a veto. The bill would further damage relations with Russia in a time when we are trying to repair that relationship. Improving ties with Russia is a vital component of ensuring our national security. Secretary Tillerson advised against the bill and the President accepted the advice of his top diplomat.
Rumor is that a pocket veto is pending, with the deliberate assistance of Congress. With Congress scheduled to go into recess any day now time is on the President's side. Even though Congress typically has an agent available to accept vetoes, a simple clerical error could easily solve that detail.
A pocket veto be overridden. That will buy time. Time enough to do other things so that the public can be distracted with other matters and never notice that the same Congress that overwhelmingly passed the bill never bothered to do it a second time. It's all a very convenient scenario. All of the members of Congress who voted for the bill will hold up that vote in front of their constituents when the time for reelection comes around. Republicans can go home and assure their districts that they oppose Russia's interference in our election, while neglecting to point out that it was their leadership who allowed a pocket veto to happen, and then took it laying down. Democrats will once again point to the President while holding out their collection plates. It's good optics all the way around. Everybody wins. That is, everyone in the District wins.
Pocket vetoes of disputed validity have been generally successful tactics through history, even when the bill in question has enough support to override. Congress rarely presses the matter. This time, it may be that Congress is ready to intentionally wield the pocket veto so they can vote for the bill before they vote against the bill. Our system of government was designed to prevent any one person from accumulating too much power that could be turned against the good of the People. But with Congressional Republicans and Democrats alike becoming a coequally duplicitous branch of government, perhaps the constitutional crises are not looming ahead of us, they are already upon us. Or maybe Obama was right--we get the politicians we deserve.