All apologies to the Beatles.
It’s been two weeks since “liberation day”. I can’t talk about the tariffs, the stock market, the strength of the dollar as a reserve currency, or anything like that. Anything I say will become obsolete a day later. Sometimes even later in the same day. There is no predictability to be had, if you’re trying to ascertain the state of the United States economy. Or how anything is being decided. It’s incompetence and vibes, all the way down.
So instead, let’s take a look at the state of our constitutional crisis. It’s here!
On the subject of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, Judge Paula Xinis told the DOJ on no uncertain terms they had to facilitate his return to the United States, and out of CECOT in El Salvador. The DOJ kicked it up to the Supreme Court, who decided 9-0 that the Trump Administration did have to do so. The DOJ’s response this week has been: “No, we don’t care what you say.” Their argument is that the SCOTUS decision is unconstitutional because nobody can compel the White House to engage or not engage in any kind of diplomacy. This comes after all kinds of spurious bullshit like, “We can’t possibly put any pressure on any country, especially a Latin American one, because of our long and rich history in not intervening in the affairs of other nations.”
Sure, buddy.
The DOJ’s incompetence has been on display front and center as well – while this rebuttal was due last week, they’ve had some problems. Filings made by people not part of the case, incorrect filing procedures, the presumption that SCOTUS would side with them delaying their reply, etc. Abrego-Garcia’s own lawyer suggests that maybe some people need to be held in contempt and arrested for them to start listening. I am inclined to agree – until there’s some kind of consequence for flipping the courts the bird, there’s no reason to assume they’ll change their ways. In fact, one of the court filings from yesterday indicated as much: it advised judges not to assume good faith in DOJ court filings, including an admonition not to believe them without external proof. I cannot stress how insane it is to tell the courts: “Hey, the Department of Justice is probably just always gonna be full of shit for the foreseeable future.”
So where does this leave Abrego-Garcia? Well, courts can deputize their own marshals to enforce the law, if the DOJ refuses to adhere to commands. Obviously, this hasn’t happened a whole lot in the history of the United States, but it’s something they can do. I’m not sure if they will, however.
Senator Chris Van Hollen has announced he’s going to go to El Salvador to try and secure Abrego-Garcia’s release, and he’ll be joined by several other lawmakers. I suppose it’s something, but I’d like to see some DOJ, ICE, and DHS people thrown in jail for being a bunch of smug assholes ignoring the courts.
I don’t think it’ll have much of an effect, since President Trump met with President Bukele yesterday and flat out both said Abrego-Garcia isn’t coming home. What’s more, Trump told Bukele to build five more CECOT type installations so that the United States can start shipping out “homegrown” folks.
You know, citizens.