Six ways to save America from Trump

Congress, please step up and pass these reforms

Thanks to President Trump’s disregard for the law, ethics and norms of presidential behavior, it’s clear our government of laws needs serious reform. We should amend the Constitution to limit presidential pardons and make it easier to remove unfit presidents.

That will be complicated and could take years.

Fortunately, most reform can be passed by Congress now, in a six-part Save America Act: Mandate disclosure of tax re

turns. Congress should require the Internal Revenue Service to release all tax returns of all candidates for president and vice president. We shouldn’t have to guess at the financial motivations, interests and vulnerabilities of the most powerful officials in the country. Does Trump owe money to the Russians? The Chinese? He works for us, not them — let’s see the returns. End outside income for presi

dents. No paid speeches, gifts, book royalties or businesses on the side. Only U.S. Treasuries or a truly blind trust. Trump has already violated the Constitution by accepting money from foreign governments, as my client Sarah Chayes recently argued in federal court. But the problem transcends foreign corruption. Americans need to know that when the president makes a decision, it is for the good of the country, not his own bottom line. When Trump conducts official business at Mar-a-Lago or negotiates with his hotel in Washington, D.C., there is no line between Trump the moneymaker and Trump the president. Presidents earn $400,000 a year, plus an expense allowance. That’s plenty. Outlaw nepotism. Whatever one thinks of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, loyalty in the executive branch should be to country and Constitution, not dad. Anti-nepotism laws already cover executive agencies and Cabinet secretaries. They should also apply where it matters most: in the White House. ❚ Pass the bipartisan Graham-

Booker bill. It prevents the president and attorney general from firing Robert Mueller or any special counsel without judicial approval. You shouldn’t be able to fire the person investigating whether you’re a criminal. In these hyperpartisan times, when the same party controls Congress and the White House, Congress is no check on the president. Let’s make sure a special counsel is. Clarify that a special counsel can prosecute a president. If a president gunned down 100 people on Pennsylvania Avenue, does anyone doubt he could be prosecuted? The same rule should apply to treason, obstruction of justice and other crimes. No one is above the law. Not even Trump. Impose a two-person nuclear

strike rule. Though Congress has the power to declare war, short nuclear response times have made the president the de facto nuclear decision-maker. No single person should be able to annihilate the world. Congress should require a congressional declaration of war for any nuclear first strike, and approval of the secretary of Defense for any responsive nuclear strike. In 1974, Defense Secretary James Schlesinger issued a secret, illegal order to prevent a depressed, drunken President Nixon from unleashing nuclear Armageddon. This is no way to deal with an unhinged, delusional or psychotic commander in chief.

Congress, please step up. Trump is doing his best to destroy the planet, bankrupt the country, and stumble into a nuclear war. He loves dictators, lies more than Pinocchio, and despises the free press. His only goal is to increase his own wealth, fame and, above all, power.

The Founders created the Constitution to deal with just such a man. Separation of powers, federalism an independent judiciary — they all were designed to prevent authoritarian rule. But it is not enough.

Congress must rein in the sultanistic, imperial presidency for Trump and for all future presidents.

It’s time to drain the White House swamp. Pass the Save America Act.

Ilann M. Maazel is a civil rights lawyer and a partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady.