Sunday, August 8, 2021

Should Joe Biden Be Impeached for Violating His Oath of Office?

             The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the unprecedented attack on the U.S. Constitution by President Joe Biden. Other Presidents have violated their oath of office, but Biden is the first in memory who brags about it openly.

            Biden recently announced a new “eviction moratorium” that stops landlords from evicting renters who cannot pay their rent. However, he admitted that the eviction moratorium called for by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were “not likely to pass constitutional muster.”

            David Harsanyi published an article at The Daily Signal on this topic. He explained that in June the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the CDC “exceeded its existing statutory authority” when he made the first moratorium on renters. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the majority, but he allowed the order to sunset. 

            Biden knew all this when he announced the new moratorium, but he hopes that it will “give the administration time to act on ‘rental assistance’ before the court again shut it down.” In other words, he intentionally circumvented “the courts, the law, and his oath of office, in which he promised, to the best of his ability, to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ not to infringe on the property rights of Americans to placate crackpot soicalists in his party.”  Harsanyi continued as follows:

When asked today about the discrepancy, White House press secretary Jen Psaki promised, “This is also going to be a temporary solution.” Because, as Article 2, Section 5, apparently states, the executive can make laws irrespective of Supreme Court rulings, as long as he also crosses his heart and promises it’s only going to be temporary.


When pushed further on the matter, Psaki could not recall the moment when Biden was convinced there was solid legal ground to move forward. Probably because no such moment exists.

            Even though Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) considers the new moratorium to be “a huge victory for the power of direct action and not taking no for an answer,” Harsanyi explains that the action is “lawlessness” and continued:

… The process … is irrelevant to engaging in “direct action” within government. It’s been clear from their efforts to delegitimize the Supreme Court to their effort to undermine faith in federalism and counter majoritarian institutions.


None of this is to even speak of the tremendous abuse of power inherent in the underlying eviction moratorium itself. Biden’s new 19-page order includes draconian penalties, fines, and potential jail time for violating a concocted “law.” Forget that it’s terrible public policy; it is also, as I noted when it was first issued by the Trump administration, state sanctioned theft. At best, such an “emergency” infringement should be left to state and local municipalities.

            Biden approved the new moratorium with full knowledge of the previous ruling by the Supreme Court. He is openly questioning the authority of the Court and thumbing his nose at the Supreme Law of the land.

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