As profound a violation of the Constitution as he has ever committed, perhaps the most egregious. If there is a core idea to the Constitution, it is that a duly elected House of Congress has authority to govern *even if you don't like them.*
Long time readers will note that I've been saying for a while that Article 2 of his impeachment was far more important than Article 1. This is why.
A number of people often suggest this is somehow the Democrat's fault, that they should somehow "force" the President to honor its subpoenas, through inherent contempt or fines. @RepAdamSchiff addressed that here:
npr.org/2020/02/06/803…
npr.org/2020/02/06/803…
The short version: the WH already challenges every subpoena in court, appealing every contrary decision, running out the clock (so far very successfully).
If the House voted to take either of these steps, the WH... would take them to court. Same result.
If the House voted to take either of these steps, the WH... would take them to court. Same result.
The Constitution wasn't designed with mechanisms for each branch of government to *force* the others to comply with their decisions. It is all supposed to be, and until this point has always been, something we do as a free, self-governing people.
