Democrats should rein in Trump

By emphasizing that his investigation had not “exonerated” President Donald Trump about obstructing justice, special counsel Robert Mueller inflamed impeachment passions among House Democrats.

The Democrats would do the country a favor if they just went ahead and impeached Trump forthwith. Republicans in the Senate could fail to convict. And the country could move on. No need to protract a melodrama with an entirely predictable ending.

Democrats believe that Republicans don’t support ousting Trump strictly because of moral obtuseness or political timidity.

But there are substantive reasons not to find a basis to reverse the public’s vote in 2016 in the Mueller report about obstruction of justice.

In the first place, it’s now clear that the investigation shouldn’t have been launched to begin with. There was no need for a special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the election. The need for a special counsel was to investigate whether the Trump campaign was in cahoots with the Russians, for which there was insufficient evidence to warrant such an extraordinary step.

So, Trump was allegedly obstructing an investigation that shouldn’t have been launched and found nothing. That’s pretty mitigating for what it is, at root, a political judgment call.

The Mueller report also lacks context. In reality, the Trump administration cooperated extensively with the investigation, producing documents and submitting voluntarily for interviews. That has to be weighed against the isolated incidents of purported interference cited in the report.

Moreover, the heaviest purported evidence of obstruction — the firing of FBI Director James Comey and an alleged attempt to fire Mueller — involve the exercise of core powers of the presidency. He had the legal authority to fire both.

Mueller’s team found that a president could be guilty of a criminal offense even while exercising clear legal authority, if done with impure motives. But that’s far from a consensus legal opinion. Among those believing otherwise is the current attorney general.

Finally, Mueller’s finding of non-exoneration exceeded his writ, raising questions about the impartiality of the report’s narrative on this score. A prosecutor determines whether there are sufficient grounds upon which to charge a crime. Prosecutors don’t opine as to whether a metaphysical state of innocence adheres to conduct being investigated.

While Democrats were frothing over impeachment, Trump unilaterally gave farmers a $12 billion bailout as compensation for harm caused by his trade policies. And approved $7 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. And put in place escalating tariffs on Mexico for failing to put a stop to Central American immigrants reaching the United States.

All of these involve core responsibilities the Constitution vouchsafes to Congress.

Congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, grumble that Trump is bypassing Congress. But he is using bypasses that Congress itself has enacted.

Congress gave the Commodity Credit Corporation a $30 billion line of credit that Trump is using for the farm bailout.

It gave the president authority to invoke a national security emergency to exempt arms sales from congressional approval, which Trump did for Saudi Arabia. And Trump used powers granted him by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to set up the Mexican tariffs.

Trump is highlighting the extent to which Congress has ceded its authority to the presidency. Trump has used other national security or emergency powers to erect his other tariffs and many of his immigration policies.

He has even used his veto power under the War Powers Act to turn Congress’ authority to declare war on its head. Instead of a majority of Congress being required to initiate military action, it now takes a two-thirds vote of Congress to stop one.

If, instead of impeachment, Democrats sought to rein in Trump by restoring congressional authority in areas in which the Constitution gives Congress clear responsibility, it would attract some bipartisan support. Some Republicans have already sponsored bills curtailing the president’s authority to bypass Congress in establishing tariffs in the name of national security.

If Congress began curtailing the powers it has granted the president to bypass it on the grounds of an emergency or national security, Trump would undoubtedly veto the bills. Whether a twothirds vote to override could be mustered is uncertain.

It would, however, be a much more constructive endeavor than playing out the impeachment melodrama.