How The Legislative Branch Has Neutered Itself And Put Americans At The Mercy Of The Executive And Judicial Branches

The three branches were created as equals, each with specific powers to keep it that way, and ensure "We the People" control government.

The House holds Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt and ridiculously expects the DOJ to arrest him

.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)© Provided by The Associated Press

The House voted 216 to 207 to hold Merrick Garland in Contempt of Congress for failing to turn over the audio tape of Special Counsel Hur questioning Biden. Garland, asserting Executive Privilege, has no leg to stand on since the White House has already admitted the transcript of the audio interview already turned over to Congress was altered! More diabolical? Did Garland already actually destroy the audio? The House does have the inherent power to send the Sergeant at Arms to actually go and arrest Garland for contempt and hold him until he turns over the audio tapes, which means he would be in custody a very long time. Will they have the balls is the question, because the DOJ already gave the finger about arresting or prosecuting Garland.

In the Constitution, unique powers were granted to each branch of government to counterbalance the others

I will specifically examine in a two-part essay how miserably the House and the Senate have failed “We the People” by not using powers given them in the Constitution to contain mostly the Executive Branch, but also the Judicial. The House by not using its inherent power to arrest and hold people in Contempt of Congress till they comply, and by not using its singularly unique “Power of the Purse” to decide what and will not be paid for by the people, and to withdraw funds being misspent.

The Senate for abusing through ignorance or ill intent its unique powers outlined in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 regarding advice and consent of qualified nominees for positions in the administration or judgeships and not properly approving Treaties.

The original inherent contempt power of the House and Senate

Under inherent contempt proceedings, the House or Senate has its Sergeant-At-Arms, or deputy, actually arrest a witness to be held till they testified or provided information. Although it isn't explicitly spelled out in the Constitution, the Supreme Court has ruled on multiple occasions that they are implicit as an essential legislative powers held by Congress.

(Anderson v. Dunn, 19 U.S. 204 (1821)) The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the right of the House of Representatives to cite individuals for contempt but limited its power to imprison them beyond the session and ruled out corporal or capital punishments.

The 1920’s brought the Tea Pot Dome Scandal, where similar to today, officials in the administration had committed crimes and would not cooperate with Congress.

The scandal involved ornery oil tycoons, poker-playing politicians, illegal liquor sales, a murder-suicide, a womanizing president and a bagful of bribery cash delivered on the sly. In the end, the scandal would empower the Senate to conduct rigorous investigations into government corruption. It also marked the first time a U.S. cabinet official served jail time for a felony committed while in office.

At this time Congress passed permanent legislation granting itself subpoena power over tax records of any U.S. citizen, regardless of position.

Legislators’ offices were broken into. Evidence was destroyed. Curiously, the case broke open when “unpaid loans” turned out to be a $100,000 bribe.

This certainly sounds familiar. History repeating itself?

In McGrain v. Daugherty, a 1927 Supreme Court case about Mally S. Daugherty, the brother of former Attorney General Harry Daugherty:

 A select Senate committee issued a subpoena for Daugherty to testify and to also surrender records from an Ohio bank. When Daugherty refused to comply after a second subpoena, the Senate passed a resolution issuing a warrant and authorizing a Senate deputy to take Daugherty into custody. Daugherty filed a habeas petition against his detention. A lower court ruled that the Senate exceeded its powers by detaining Daugherty, freeing him. However, the Supreme Court upheld his conviction, holding that under the Constitution, Congress has the power to compel witnesses and testimony “to obtain information in aid of the legislative function.”

Each house of Congress has power, through its own process, to compel a private individual to appear before it or one of its committees and give testimony needed to enable it efficiently to exercise a legislative function belonging to it under the Constitution. This has support in long practice of the houses separately, and in repeated Acts of Congress, all amounting to a practical construction of the Constitution. - Supreme Court Justice Willis Van Devanter

The House and Senate mistakenly delegated their power to enforce Contempt of Congress.

The second type of contempt power is a citation of criminal contempt of Congress. This power comes from a statute passed by Congress in 1857 intended to supplement Congress’s Inherent Contempt Power when members who were being investigated would not cooperate. It has been codified under 2 U.S.C. § 192 and provides that any person who “willfully” fails to comply with a properly issued committee subpoena for testimony or documents is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a substantial fine and imprisonment for up to one year. The criminal contempt statute outlines the process to which the House or Senate may refer. Once a committee rules that an act of criminal contempt has occurred, the Speaker of the House or Senate President refers the matter to the appropriate U.S. attorney’s office, 2 U.S. Code § 194, “whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action.” 

The flaw with this, is if you have an Attorney General like Merrit Garland, who despite having sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and enforce the law, is not only running interference for the Biden crime family, but outrageous in all of American history, actively prosecuting THE opponent to Biden in the Presidential election. Or anyone else who supports Trump or questions the Biden narrative.

The third type of contempt power comes in the form of a civil lawsuit brought by the House or Senate, asking a court to enforce a subpoena. The Senate and its committees are authorized to bring such a lawsuit under a federal statute. However, there is no similar statute that applies in the House, but the federal district court in Washington, D.C. has decided that the House can nevertheless authorize its committees to bring a similar civil suit for enforcement of a subpoena. In either case, an executive branch member can contest the subpoena “based on a governmental privilege or objection the assertion of which has been authorized by the executive branch of the Federal Government.”

Which means all the Executive Branch has to do is contest it and Congress is dead in the water!

A “rookie” Representative knows about inherent contempt. Where is Speaker Johnson?

Fun fact: There are rooms in the basement of the Capital that were outfitted as cells or holding areas for prisoners.

Speaker Johnson apparently is another rat in the wood pile, with his mentor being failed Speaker Boehner, who also happens to be a lobbyist with the firm Squire Patton Boggs, that has outrageously, long represented China in Congress! How the hell have foreign countries, especially enemies, gotten a voice in American legislation?

Another Fun fact: I am almost certain all of these former politicians lobbying for foreign countries and companies ridiculously still have their security clearances!

If Congress reasserts it original authority to arrest uncooperative witnesses or subpoena information, of course all of this will end up in the courts with the Supreme Court using historical precedents backing it up.

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, “the Appropriations Clause”

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

The “Power of the Purse”

The House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of government. They, in a word, hold the purse—that powerful instrument by which we behold, in the history of the British Constitution, an infant and humble representation of the people gradually enlarging the sphere of its activity and importance, and finally reducing, as far as it seems to have wished, all the overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the government. This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure. - The Federalist No. 58, James Madison (emphasis mine)

And the [legislature] has, and must have, a controlling influence over the executive power, since it holds at its own command all the resources by which a chief magistrate could make himself formidable. It possesses the power over the purse of the nation and the property of the people. It can grant or withhold supplies; it can levy, or withdraw taxes; it can unnerve the power of the sword by striking down the arm which wields it. - Justice Joseph Story in Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1883)

The House's Power of the Purse is absolute! The House has the ability to rein in every abuse by the Executive Branch! For starters:

• It was floated to defund Jack Smith, who is actually illegal himself, conducting two completely illegal investigations of President Trump. As pointed out in an amicus brief filed by former Attorney General Edwin Meese in Trump’s immunity appeal to the Supreme Court, there are only 93 U.S. Attorneys. Every one appointed by a President. Jack Smith was appointed by Merrick Garland, and given powers that make him the illegitimate 94th U.S. Attorney, let alone all the Constitutional violations of rights he is committing. Quit talking about it and do it already!

• Completely defund Homeland Security. It allowed at the least 12,000,000 invaders into the country, so the money obviously wasn't being spent on border security! It also misappropriated funds, and actually picked up in planes, almost 400,000 people from all over the world and dropped them in mostly red cities and states.

• For their abuses of the rights of Americans, defund the DOJ and FBI.

• Defund the Department of Energy. Under the Biden administration, which took America from energy independence to energy dependent, by limiting natural gas, oil and coal production and wasting billions on failed green energy projects, like wind turbines and solar farms. Also insisting on electric vehicles with the necessary electricity nowhere in sight.

• Refuse to pay for Biden's plan to replace all federal vehicles with electric by 2035.

• Defund the Department of Transportation. It recently allotted $7.5 billion for charging stations so far building only seven! In fact, Secretary of Energy Granholm has even admitted that some of the areas targeted for charging stations do not even have electricity!

• Defund the EPA for its long overreaching violations of American's rights. Particularly outrageous and ridiculous? Declaring CO2, essential for photosynthesis in green plants and therefore all life on the planet, a pollutant. The latest, thinking they have the authority to tell you what kind of stove on which you can cook.

• Defund the ATF for its continued abuse of American’s 2nd Amendment rights.

• Defund and disband the worthless Department of Education. Hundreds of billions of dollars since its creation in 1980, this is what education in America looks like against the world.

• Defund Biden's recent Executive Order to give over 500,000 illegals a short cut to citizenship with benefits and cash payments to create 500,000 more Democrat votes.

• Make Biden's ten-year defense agreement with Ukrainian dictator Zelensky null and void by forbidding its funding.

• Let's get creative! This reoccurring problem of Biden defying the Constitution by forgiving student loans. No problem! Shut the lights and air off at the White House AND defund Biden's Secret Service detail. If he keeps it up, things will stay that way.

Fun fact: The Secret Service will welcome the break from being chew toys! The Biden dog “Commander” has bitten agents 24 times as of February, some seriously! Think you could get away with that?

To the House of Representatives, specifically Speaker Johnson, get off your asses and do your Constitutional job already!

Starve Biden of funds for interference in elections

One of the first Executive Orders Biden signed in 2021 was Executive Order 14019, “Promoting Access to Voting.” Despite numerous Freedom of Information Requests (FOIA), we still have no clue of all it contains despite the fact he is using taxpayer money to accomplish it!

Some things that have leaked out…

Every federal agency, agencies that are staffed through partisan appointments, to create a plan to register and mobilize voters. It also orders these agencies to work with organizations such as activist groups to register and mobilize voters in whatever manner they see fit.

In other words, work with far-left groups, far left-leaning think tanks and NGOs funded by dark money to rig the 2024 election. This link shows federal workers are even going to get administrative time off to work as poll watchers at elections.

The IRS has its own ingenious contribution to vote manipulation

A program called Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, which provides assistance on tax obligations to low-income Americans. It makes grants to tax preparers to assist low-income filers. 

In 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent out guidance to VITA grantees explaining that grantees were permitted to provide voter registration assistance to their clients,” the report by the progressive groups says. “The IRS also started tracking the number of VITA grantees who provided such assistance as part of their programs.

Some other federal entities plans for “getting out the vote” 😉

The Marshals Service plans to renegotiate contracts with state and private jails to ensure that eligible voters held in federal pretrial custody are able to vote. 

Peace Corps E.O. 14019 Compliance Plan

Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Paid Time Off for E.O. 1401

US Agency for Global Media E.O. 14019 Marketing Materials

Of course, the Obamacare Exchange will be involved. If I included everyone this would be a really long essay. I just wanted to give you a flavor of the zeal of their participation.

Fun fact: Federal employees are forbidden to get involved in the voting process as per the Hatch Act.

Solution? The House forbids the federal agencies to spend a penny on anything that has to do with voting by promising to defund them if they do.

Which begs the question. Why is all of this going on?

What happened? Is the “People's House” too stupid, too cowardly or too bought off by lobbyists to do its Constitutional duty?

Your homework assignment

Now that you know the job your elected Representatives are supposed to be doing, contact them and remind them in their job description that they have the power to reign in a rogue, and quite frankly treasonous, Executive Branch. Or you will hire someone else to properly represent “We the People.”

Part II, How the Senate has been derelict of its Constitutional duty

When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.

- Thomas Jefferson