I recently had a person block me on X after she claimed that the DoJ is an independent branch of government. She isn’t the first person I’ve heard say this. I wish she had allowed me to educate her. Folks need a refresher in civics.
The DoJ is not an independent branch of government but part of the Executive Branch. The Constitution establishes three branches—Legislative, Executive, and Judicial—and the DoJ operates under the executive branch, headed by the President.
As the head of DoJ, the Attorney General (AG) serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The AG advises the President on legal matters and oversees federal law enforcement, including prosecuting cases on behalf of the United States. The AG is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and serves at the President’s pleasure, meaning that the AG can be dismissed by the President.
In addition to serving as Chief Executive Officer of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the US armed forces, the President also Chief Magistrate—he is responsible for enforcing federal laws. This responsibility aligns with the President’s constitutional duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” (Article II, Section 3).
The Presidency is a powerful office. It’s the one office elected by all the People. The only co-equal body of government is Congress. The Judiciary is not a co-equal branch. Article III only establishes the Supreme Court. All inferior courts are created by Congress, funded by Congress, and can be dissolved by Congress.
Even more than Top Cop, the Attorney General serves as a legal advisor to the President and the Executive Branch. In fact, when the office was created under the Judiciary Act of 1789, the AG’s primary role was to provide legal counsel to the President and represent the US in court.
When the DoJ was established in 1870, the AG’s role expanded to include broader law enforcement and prosecutorial responsibilities. But the AG still advises the President while simultaneously upholding the rule of law.
Readers might want to save this post and whip it out when people try to tell you that the DoJ is an independent branch of government. That the DoJ is an independent branch of government is a convenient myth for those trying to paint the President as a dictator.
The truth is that the Founders of the Republic established a strong national government. The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, and the Office of the President is in charge of running the federal apparatus—and keeping the states in line. The People settled this matter in the 1860s at the cost of some three-quarters of a million lives.
Remember when President Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and turned the troops from keeping black students out of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, to protecting them as they entered the school building? Not just the National Guard. Eisenhower deployed the 101st Airborne Division, as well! Imagine that, a president using the National Guard and the Army to enforce federal law. That’s power.
* * *
While I have you, I need you to take a look at Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
Rebellion and invasion are important caveats. Note the emphasis on public safety. Abraham Lincoln famously suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus during the Civil War. But he wasn’t the only one. Ulysses S. Grant did it, too. So did Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Over the last several years the United States has been under invasion. The borders have been effectively sealed, but millions of illegal aliens—many of them criminal aliens—are now inside our borders. If rogue judges are going to prevent the removal of the invaders, then suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus for those who illegally entered country over the last four years must be on the table.
I am not calling for suspending the Write of Habeas Corpus for US citizens and legal residents. I am suggesting that the President seriously consider using his constitutional power to remove undocumented noncitizens who represents a threat to democracy, our livelihood, and public safety.
Illegal immigrants drain public resources, perpetrate crime and violence, disorganize culture and communities, drive down wages, and distort the Census and the electoral map. It is way beyond time to do something about this. The administration must be more aggressive in its efforts to locate and remove illegal aliens. He has a lot of tools at his disposal to accomplish this. He needs to deploy them.
Trump can set an example for the peoples of Europe to rise up and demand the same from their governments. The globalist project must be halted.
freedom and reason 