I’ve long been critical of the way Democrats have established dangerous precedents that would inevitably become problematic for our republic.
When Democrats were in the minority during George W. Bush’s presidency, they repeatedly abused the judicial filibuster to block his nominees from getting confirmed. But in 2013, when Barack Obama was president and Democrats had the majority in the Senate, Democrats nuked the filibuster in order to prevent the Republican minority from doing the exact same thing.
“You will rue the day,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned Democrats at the time. “You’ll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”
They did, of course, but it never stopped Democrats from continuing their assault on rules, precedents, and traditions.
Obama set several dangerous precedents, including the complete breakdown of checks and balances. When Obama lost his Democrat majorities in the House and Senate, rather than work with Republicans, he simply pretended he didn't need anyone or anything but his executive pen and simply enacted legislation via executive order.
When his pseudo-amnesty bill, the DREAM Act, failed to pass Congress, he simply issued an executive order that accomplished the exact same objective: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). He also legislated via regulation when he unilaterally decided to rewrite Title IX. Instead of going to Congress, Obama threatened educational institutions at all levels with the loss of Title IX funding if they didn’t comply and allowed boys to share bathrooms, locker rooms, and dorm rooms with girls and let boys play on girls’ sports teams — effectively destroying the intent of the original law.
Obama also unilaterally signed treaties without Senate ratification. According to the Constitution, ratifying treaties requires the consent of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. But the Senate wasn't going to ratify his nuclear treaty with Iran or the Paris climate treaty. So he just pretended they weren't treaties and signed them anyway.
Related: 5 Dangerous Precedents Set by Democrats
There are other dangerous precedents we've seen happen recently, including the weaponization of impeachment and the release of Trump’s tax returns — all of which don't bode well for the future. One common thread between them is that the Democrats have been behind them. But on Friday, we saw something new. We saw Republicans join with the Democrats in establishing a new dangerous precedent by voting to expel George Santos from the House of Representatives.
Make no mistake about it: the Republican caucus will be better off without George Santos, but, as I've said before, if being a liar merits expulsion, then there are plenty of other liars who deserve expulsion first. As for the federal crimes he's been accused of, Santos is still an American citizen who is afforded due process and the presumption of innocence.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was recently indicted on federal bribery charges and has not been expelled from the Senate. "He has a right to due process and a fair trial," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that he's a Democrat? Sure, he's been condemned by some in his caucus, but the Democrats have a slim majority, and even a temporary vacancy could slow things down in the Senate.
Yet 105 Republicans joined with Democrats to substantially lower the bar for expelling members of Congress. Congratulations Republicans, you played right into the Democrats' hands.
