No More Excuses, Republicans

What a world of difference the right leadership can make in less than 100 hours! 

Since Monday morning, the Republicans have had control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress. President Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders aimed at steering this Titanic away from the field of progressive icebergs intentionally placed to sink our country. These orders include:

• Resumption of barrier construction at the border
• Designation of foreign gangs and drug cartels as terrorist organizations
• Suspension of the oft-abused refugee resettlement program
• Reinstitution of the "Remain in Mexico" policy
• Revocation of unconstitutional birthright citizenship for the children of illegals
• Elimination of federal funds for sanctuary cities
• Revocation of Biden's electric car mandate
• Revocation of security clearances for the 51 "laptop" intelligence officials
• Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement
• Withdrawal from the World Health Organization
• Recognition of the scientific reality that only two biological sexes exist and they are not interchangeable
• Dismantling of all federal DEI offices and initiatives
• Reinstitution of federal merit-based hiring
• Pardoning the J6 hostages and pro-life political prisoners
• Suspension of federal hiring for all non-military and non-immigration enforcement positions
• Prohibition of government agencies from engaging in censorship of U.S. citizens
• Ordering federal buildings to fly only the American flag
• Renaming "Denali" to Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America

Previous Republican presidents (and presidential candidates) would have had neither the courage nor the moral clarity to pass such sweeping and impactful orders. Democrats no doubt held onto a hope that Trump's campaign promises to sign these orders was just red meat for the base in order to secure a second term. But if they didn't already, they know now that Trump doesn't bluff.

Still, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of governance via executive order, as it places too much power in the hands of the president. I understand we have to play the game with the rules that are in place when we take office. If Obama and Biden could govern by "pen and phone" with nary a peep from the Fourth Estate, then so can Trump.

But the "rules that are in place," so to speak, are in the U.S. Constitution. Congress should follow up on every one of these orders by enshrining them into law. This will serve two purposes.

First, any executive order Trump signs can simply be reversed by the next Democrat president or shot down by an activist judiciary (as a single activist judge in Seattle has already done to Trump's order ending birthright citizenship). By cementing these orders as law of the land, Congress can ensure at the very least that the next Democrat president won't be able to revoke them without Congressional action.

Second, by Congress incorporating these executive orders into permanent law, they will be assuring the American people who elected them into office that they're taking a stand in this fight and implementing the MAGA agenda. They're not just hiding behind Trump's executive orders and nodding nervously; they're assertively and proactively doing what we elected them to do.

Related: Beautiful Mt. McKinley

Bush 43 enjoyed four years of Republican control of both congressional chambers. Can you name one significant bill or accomplishment they enacted during their half-decade of holding complete legislative power? Republicans had full control of both chambers during Trump's first two years as well. Do you remember how quickly and aggressively Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnel worked to enact a conservative agenda? Me neither.

There was always an excuse. We needed to reach across the aisle. We needed to respect decorum. We needed balance. We couldn't succumb to the "firebrands" and "outliers" in our party. We didn't want to rock the boat. We needed to send this bill to committee, and then to subcommittee, and then to a congressional task force, and then to focus groups, until enough time had passed that voters' attention spans were focused elsewhere. We needed to cautiously float the idea of slowly reducing the rate of increase to social security benefits by 0.001% by the year 2743 and hope the Left doesn't call us Nazis.

All of these excuses ended with the same result. Nothing got done, and the status quo was maintained.

All the while, Democrat voters didn't put up with excuses from their elected representatives. While Republican moderates were "mavericks," Democrat moderates were "traitors" and were largely purged. The progressive "status quo" consisted of steadily moving government policy, societal norms, and the Overton Window relentlessly leftward, which they did with impressive competency.

"The time for half measures and talk is over, Senator," said Maximus to Gracchus in the movie Gladiator. Maximus was imploring Gracchus to enter into conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and, by doing so, risk imprisonment, torture, and execution by lion. We're not asking our Republican representatives to enter into conspiracy. We're asking them to do their jobs, transparently and constitutionally.

And should they face voter discontent at the polls, they won't be fed to beasts in an arena to the sound of the cheering mob. They'll sail into the breezy sunset to enjoy a benefits-for-life retirement package. And should they be so inclined to feel the need to "work," they can easily land a gig with cable TV, at a think tank, or as an honorary professor.

The amount of risk they'd be taking is between zero and none. Every single one of their constituents would risk their own jobs if the "consequences" were the same.

Still, it's with cautious optimism that I watch this Congress hit the ground running … so far. This group of Republicans seems to get it in ways their predecessors didn't or wouldn't. Despite the naysayers, Speaker Johnson is a solid conservative, both fiscally and socially, who is firmly on board with the MAGA agenda. Johnson is no Hastert and certainly no Ryan.

Two days after Trump retook office, Congress passed the Laken Riley Act, which allows ICE to detain illegals for theft-related crimes and states to sue DHS for harm caused to their citizens by illegal aliens. Both the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act have also passed the House and are being debated in the Senate. Rep. Earl Carter (R-Ga.) has introduced House Resolution 25, which would repeal the income tax and abolish the IRS. 

See what you can accomplish when you — you know — do your jobs?

Much of this needed legislation will be filibustered by Senate Democrats, but that shouldn't stop Republicans from forcing them to take unpopular stands. Let Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy shriek about how letting American workers keep more of their paychecks foretells the "end of democracy as we know it." We'll see if that helps the Democrats out next election. Maybe it will give us a filibuster-proof Senate, maybe it won't. But do you know what we are guaranteed to get if current Republican senators show their constituents that, yet again, they can't stomach a fight? A Democrat Senate.

The Gingrich Congress of 1994 is one of conservative legend. Every Republican congress since then has been one of betrayal and ineptitude. Our current representatives need to decide — not next month, not next election season, but right here and right now — how they want posterity to consider them.

Republicans have a guaranteed two-year window to push through as much as they possibly can. They've had a good first week, but this pace must be maintained by pressure from the voters and by their own moral fortitude. No more excuses. No more delays. No more cowardice. Do your job, and history will remember that you helped restore the Republic to greatness.