RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/apollo-11-anniversary-american-accomplishments/

Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary is an occasion for Americans to recall their ability to do the impossible.

Three days after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, the nation watched an elaborate state funeral unfold with great pomp, circumstance, and majesty in Washington, D.C. Americans, like most of the world, were in shock, and probably never gave a thought as to what it took to organize a major event like this on such short notice. Our British cousins, however, were incredulous.

London had been planning Winston Churchill’s funeral since the 1950s (he would not die until two years after Kennedy, in 1965). They even scheduled a week of rehearsals after the actual death took place. Shortly after the Kennedy funeral, the Duke of Norfolk, who was in charge of Churchill’s ceremony, kept asking any American he could find: “Three days — how?”

Americans never gave it a second thought. The Panama Canal, the transcontinental railroad, the Hoover Dam, and, later, the national highway system were all built, but Americans never dwelled on any of them, always looking ahead to the next big project.

The penultimate moment of national achievement (not counting World War II, because it was a joint effort with our allies) came five and a half years after that state funeral, when the world watched in amazement as two American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, stepped on the surface of the moon in 1969, accomplishing a goal set by Kennedy in 1961 — to put men on the moon and return them safely before the decade was out. They made it with five months to spare.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/russia-legislation-congress-delegates-authority-executive-branch/

It does what lawmakers have become best at: delegating their authority to the president so they can later complain about how he uses it.

H ouse Republicans this week joined with the chamber’s Democratic majority to pass Russia legislation that highlights the bad joke Congress has become. When not calling for a pointless investigation that will enable them to preen in opposition to Vladimir Putin — something Democrats never cared to do prior to Hillary Clinton’s loss and Republicans have done less since Donald Trump’s win — the proposed legislation does what Congress has become best at: delegating its authority to the president, so it can later complain about how he uses it.

The Washington Examiner reports that the bipartisan “Vladimir Putin Transparency Act” passed on Tuesday “would require the Trump administration to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wealth.”

It wouldn’t really.

In our system, investigation and prosecution are functions of executive discretion and judicial due process. This is why, to take the most notable examples, the Constitution prohibits bills of attainder (which single out a person for punishment without trial) and ex post facto laws (which criminalize conduct that was legal when committed). The Framers wanted Congress to write the laws but stay out of the enforcement business — the two tasks in one set of hands being, notoriously, a recipe for tyranny. While Congress may urge the executive to conduct an investigation, it has no constitutional authority to direct that this be done.

Not surprisingly, then, when we read the legislation closely, we find that that the Putin Act, if ever signed into law, would express the “Sense of Congress” that the executive branch (specifically, U.S. intelligence agencies) “should”: (1) “expose key networks that the corrupt political class in Russia uses to hide the money it steals, (2) “stifle Russian use of hidden financial channels,” and (3) “do more to expose the corruption of Vladimir Putin.” But it would not mandate an investigation.

A dozen Republicans defected, and the dissenters represent a broad cross-section of the Republican conference. Susan Collins of Maine and Mike Lee of Utah are seldom ideological comrades, but both voted yes. Other override votes included Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

The Senate voted Thursday to override President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border, and Mr. Trump said even before the vote was over that he’ll veto the resolution. While the 59-41 vote won’t have immediate policy impact, the magnitude of the 12 GOP defections is a warning about the needless harm Mr. Trump is doing to himself and his party.

Democrats were united against the emergency, and let’s stipulate that their motives are largely partisan. “This will be a vote about the very nature of our Constitution, our separation of powers, and how this government functions henceforth,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, apparently without irony.

Where were Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when President Obama violated the separation of powers again and again to achieve his policy goals? Senate Democrats gave Mr. Obama a blank check on recess appointments, environmental and financial regulation, ObamaCare spending without appropriations, work permits for illegal immigrants, and much more. The courts later rebuked Mr. Obama on all of them.

The GOP opposition is more sincere and significant because it comes at some political cost. Mr. Trump has been banging away on Twitter that a vote to override is a vote for “open borders” and for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda. That’s false, but it’s never easy to vote against a sitting President of one’s own party on such a high-profile issue as immigration.

A dozen Republicans defected, and the dissenters represent a broad cross-section of the Republican conference. Susan Collins of Maine and Mike Lee of Utah are seldom ideological comrades, but both voted yes. Other override votes included Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Utah’s Mitt Romney, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. These aren’t liberals.

Many of these Senators agree that the southern border deserves more funding, and even a wall, but they think Mr. Trump is abusing his authority to spend money for purposes that Congress hasn’t appropriated.

The GOP also rightly fears how a Democratic President would misuse “emergency” powers to promote policies that a GOP Congress refused to endorse. Several Senators who voted with Mr. Trump in this case nonetheless favor amending the National Emergencies Act to check the President’s discretion.

Mr. Trump put Senators running for election in 2020 in a particular bind. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska all voted with the President. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had earlier said he’d vote to override the emergency, changed his mind and also voted with Mr. Trump. They clearly didn’t want to offend the President and his supporters. But the Senators have now created a political opening for their Democratic opponents. Mr. Trump is doing needless harm to his party’s chances of keeping Senate control in 2020.

Mr. Trump should be careful not to test the limits of GOP Senate loyalty. He’ll need those votes to counter House Democrats and sustain his foreign policy. Seven Republicans on Wednesday joined Democrats to vote for a resolution that aims to cut off U.S. involvement in Yemen. Mr. Trump will now soon have to veto that too.

Watch out at the White House if Republican Senators start feeling more liberated to show the President the same lack of consideration he’s showing them.