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When Democratic politicians don’t get what they want, they whine and moan about how awful the Constitution is. Unsurprisingly, with Democrats unable to pass climate change legislation, some Democratic senators are calling on President Joe Biden to ignore the nation’s charter and do their job for them.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that the executive branch couldn’t impose restrictions on carbon emissions without Congress creating those restrictions. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has refused to support proposed climate change spending instantly (though he has not ruled out the possibility). Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) then determined that Congress had run out of “legislative climate options” and that “it’s now time for executive Beast Mode.”
When the Supreme Court struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions restrictions, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) complained that the court wouldn’t “allow any meaningful administration efforts to combat climate change.” Congressional Democrats want the president to act like a king, but only when that president is a Democrat.
This was clear when Democrats in Congress stood on the sidelines and cheered as President Barack Obama declared their jobs irrelevant. Obama said that he was “not just going to be waiting for legislation.” Why would he when he had what he infamously called “a pen and a phone?”
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It’s also been clear since Biden has taken office. After four years of accusing former President Donald Trump of being an authoritarian and congressional Republicans of being his lackeys, congressional Democrats have begged Biden to circumvent them on a variety of issues. Even just one month before Chuck Schumer became the Senate majority leader, Schumer begged Biden to act on student loan debt. “You don’t need Congress,” Schumer said. “All you need is the flick of a pen.”
It is Congress’s job to pass legislation. If Congress does not have the votes to pass legislation, whether on climate change or any other issue, then Congress does nothing. But instead of winning over more votes (or more voters at the ballot box), Democrats want the president to act on his own. Who needs a body of representatives elected by the people when you can give all the power to one man and his collection of unelected bureaucrats?
Many Democratic politicians want to abolish the Electoral College, pack the Supreme Court, and give themselves free Senate seats, all because those institutions won’t bend to their will. Likewise, they want Democratic presidents to ignore Congress when they can’t force their legislation through. For as much as they scream about authoritarianism, it’s the first thing Democrats like Whitehouse call for when they don’t get their way.
