Congress gave away its power for nothing

WHATEVER you think about American politics and government, whether you are on the right, the left or somewhere in the middle, you should be mad at Congress. I don't just mean the Republican-controlled Congress — though, by all means be mad at them — I mean the institution as a whole.

- JONAH GOLDBERG COLUMNIST

SPEAKER. Mike Johnson (R-La.) has done nothing as the president tests the thresholds of his executive authority.

Let's start with the big picture.

In our constitutional system, Congress is the supreme branch of government. It is not "coequal" to other branches and any claims to the contrary are Nixonian propaganda. The Nixon White House forced "coequal" into mainstream usage as a way to defend itself from congressional oversight. "Coequal" doesn’t appear in the Constitution. It’s used sparingly in the Federalist Papers, but never to describe the relationship among the three branches of government to each other (save for once, to describe the parity between the House and Senate).

Just look at the powers assigned to Congress. It can fire members of the other branches; the other branches can't fire anyone in Congress. Congress writes the laws. It has sole authority to raise taxes (hardly a minor issue to the founders, tax rebels all), borrow money, regulate commerce, and to raise armies and declare war. Congress creates all the courts and federal agencies not specified in the Constitution. It sets and pays their salaries. It has sole authority to admit states to the union. The other branches have nothing like these powers or authorities.