Obomination: Obama’s Disregard for Separation of Powers

For someone who taught constitutional law, Obama has forgotten (or simply chooses to ignore) one critical legal topic: separation of powers.  Our Founding Fathers created a limited form of government with three branches, but Obama seems to think he’s the only one, blatantly disregarding authority of the courts and Congress.  His approach has been to do what he wants, irrespective of what the Constitution dictates.

The Heritage Foundation identified a number of policy areas where “the President and the federal agencies under his command have spurned congressional authority to achieve Obama’s objectives.”   The policy areas that Obama has claimed control over include immigration, the environment, labor and the internet.

Obama’s EPA has regulated the emission of carbon dioxide.  The National Labor Relations Board has done a number of radical measures, such as reducing the time allowed for unionization elections, lodging unfair labor practices complaints against companies for making business decisions about where to hold plants and requiring that companies post a notification of union rights in the workplace.  The Department of Homeland Security has instructed attorneys to utilize prosecutorial discretion in immigration cases, effectively implementing the DREAM Act, which was never passed by Congress.  The Department of Justice refused to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, despite being passed by Congress. 

But it’s not only the legislative branch that Obama ignores.  The judiciary is also disregarded.  Although an appeals court ruling denied the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to regulate the internet, the FCC voted to set limits on internet traffic.

A number of individuals are alarmed by the usurpation of power by the 44^th president.  Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and American Civil Rights Union fellow Ken Klukowski have  called  it an “imperial presidency,” where “Obama is now claiming powers far beyond what any president has before, remaking America’s economy even when Congress refuses to go along with him.”  Dan Kish, vice president of the Institute for Energy Research, said, “It is outrageous… Like it or not, Congress has the power to write laws.” Mike Petrilli, an executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, predicted that the Obama administration “will run into legal trouble … I don’t think he has the authority.”

When Congress has not passed a measure Obama wants to be law, Obama’s agencies have issued their own administrative rules anyway.  What Obama does not like actions of Congress or the courts, he simply ignores them.  Obama should stop usurping power from other branches, or otherwise the Constitution (signed 224 years ago, tomorrow) is sadly a dead letter.