Brian Baker’s letter to the editor (Nov. 28) deserves some rebuttal. He claims that the president should not have to abide by any court ruling other than the Supreme Court. In Baker’s vision, the three pillars of power in the U.S. are the president’s executive orders, the Supreme Count’s rulings and Congress’ laws.
I suppose it is to be expected that a Trump supporter considers Trump a king who is hampered in his desire to rule the country by the courts and by Congress. The president makes no laws and the president can take no action that is counter to U.S. law.
The president is entirely on the sidelines where U.S. laws are concerned. His only powers are to lobby for changes to the laws from his political position and to veto new laws from going into effect without a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress. Only the Supreme Court can rule on the constitutionality of laws or the way a law is interpreted. The president has no input.
The power of the president is far more limited than most of us understand. The real powers of the president are his veto, his executive orders, his position as commander in chief and his access to the attention of the press and therefore the people. No court can become “too big for its britches” relative to the president, as Baker contends. The laws are the laws and the president is sworn to uphold the laws and that also means he must abide by the laws of the land – just like the rest of us.
Duane Mooring
Castaic
