In 2016, when a Democrat was president, Nancy Pelosi said that checks and balances are “a euphemism for obstruction.”
In 2018, with a Republican president, Nancy Pelosi said that the midterm elections are about “restoring the constitutional checks and balances.”
So it goes in the ever-evolving constitutional consciousness of the Democratic leader. Under President Barack Obama, Pelosi railed against counterbalancing powers. Under President Trump, she clings to them as if, and as they rightly are, the hallmark of this whole republican experiment in democracy.
The hypocrisy of Pelosi is a demonstration not just of regular partisanship but of one of the features of our Constitution. The Founders realized that if representative government was going to work, ambition had to counteract ambition. Pelosi represents a walking, talking manifestation of their genius, whether she realizes it or not.
The Constitution isn’t “code” for “obstruction” as she argued two years ago. It is how all of this works, and how it’s supposed to work. Barring a successful coup inside the Democratic conference, Pelosi will learn to love the Constitution once again, bringing subpoenas and launching oversight fishing expeditions like never before.
If she picks up the gavel for a second time, Pelosi will eat her own words. Otherwise, Pelosi and Trump will launch the nation into a constitutional crisis. It isn’t in either party’s interest to return to the Obama days of pens and phones and a runaway executive.
With a Democrat House of Representatives and a Republican Senate, a real opportunity has presented itself. A moment for divided government and a return to constitutional government. That is, if their partisan sensibilities and their selfishness let us keep it.
[Also read: Trump suggests GOP might help Pelosi become speaker: ‘She has earned this great honor!’]
