Every federal government body should be strictly bound by the parameters of the Constitution, but our Founders intended for the House of Representatives to be the preeminent governmental body in our country, to wield powers far in excess of all other branches of government. No one can become a member of the House without being directly elected by the people, and members must stand for reelection every two years. Revenue-raising bills can originate only in the House, in further reflection of the Founders’ intent to give it the greatest authority. The Constitution also authorizes the House to act alone when it impeaches a president, which is something Democrats exploited twice against President Trump.
Whether the House may act alone, or with the Senate, in issuing a legislative pardon has never been decided by a court of law. In 1974, the Justice Department’s highly respected Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) recognized the lack of any federal precedents on this issue, and gave an opinion supporting a legislative pardon power by Congress concerning the president but not generally of others. The OLC’s view was that a president cannot judge and pardon himself because of the inherent conflict of interest, and by the same logic a president has a conflict of interest concerning declining a pardon to his political opponent.
It falls upon the upcoming House to exercise its legislative pardon power for Trump supporters, thereby ending the political prosecution strategy pursued by Democrats. Tyranny-by-prosecution happens in dictatorships. House conservatives should now announce their plan to protect Trump and his supporters against this injustice.
When leftists gain political power, they have no problem wielding that power to achieve their goals and punish their enemies. When conservatives are handed political power by We the People, they start coming up with excuses for why they can’t take action. I’m ready for a Congress that fully exercises their power for good. I’m ready for Planned Parenthood and other arms of the Democrat Party to be defunded permanently. I’m ready for bloated bureaucratic bodies to get the ax. I’m ready for it, and the American people certainly are, too. The only question is whether we will elect leaders who are up to the task.
