The US Supreme court’s recent decision, which has been deemed remarkable and indiscriminately political, confers upon an ex-president an exemption from legal action for ‘official’ deeds. Rather than applying the checks and balances of the US constitution, the court has embedded a menacing weakening of democracy and legal principles, harking back to a time post-Second World War when historian Arthur Schlesinger spoke of the emergence of an “imperial presidency”; a concept that found its embodiment in Richard Nixon’s pre-Trump yet eerily Trump-like dictum: “if the president does it, it is not unlawful.”
Efforts to restrict the powers of the president post-Watergate have been to no avail, with predominantly leading Republican presidents pushing against what they perceive as the stifling control of Congress and the law, particularly on matters relating to national security and international military affairs. Donald Trump escalated the idea of presidential freedom to unprecedented heights and has vowed, if re-elected, to push it even further.
Over the past weekend, Trump intensified his vows to legally pursue his political foes, disseminating social media messages advocating for the imprisonment of certain political figures such as President Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Liz Cheney, and even his own former Vice President, Mike Pence. He is also set to instruct the Department of Justice to halt his own indictments, a move likely to succeed thanks to the supreme court’s decision to let lower courts define “official acts.” An outcome better aligned with Trump’s interests from the court, which he had diligently chosen members for, would have been near impossible to attain.
The verdict is poised to have broad implications, chiefly in relation to the significant enlargement of executive authority. In a scathing dissent, Sonia Sotomayor, backed by her two liberal counterparts, opines that the bond between the president and the populace has been irrevocably altered. In her view, the adjudication of her colleagues derides the essence of the constitution and governance system – that no one is superior to the law. The president, in every exercise of authority, has now been placed on a pedestal beyond legal reach; a situation that brings fear for the future of democracy.
The archaic belief that the “monarch can commit no faults” is now firmly established as a constitutional rule. This specifically allows for total immunity for the president in the execution of central constitutional powers along with a tentative exemption from prosecution for all official deeds.
John Roberts, the Chief Justice, rejects as exaggerated the catalogue of potential wrongdoings a president similar to Trump could perpetrate without any repercussion, according to Sotomayor. Undoubtedly, his faith in the capability of American democracy to reign in a vindictive, power-hungry figure like Trump appears to be misguided.