Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s first term as president in 2017, legal scholars and pundits from across the political spectrum have debated whether the president and his administration have hijacked the nation into a “constitutional crisis.”

While Trump and his cabinet members have sworn to uphold the 35-word affirmation to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” a case can be made that they have failed to abide by their commitments.

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Let’s begin to address the question by offering a definition. Political scientist John Cioffi defines constitutional crisis as “a conflict over political power that threatens to undermine or destroy the logic and foundational institutional structure of government established by the Constitution.”

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Under this definition, we have witnessed Donald Trump:

· Improperly using emergency powers to impose tariffs by surpassing congressional authority. Thismove had severe and devastating consequences. Only Congress has the power to regulate commerce as articulated in Article I of the Constitution.

· Firing federal employees without due cause and attempting to eliminate entire departments such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Education. These agencies were created by Congress and can only be eliminated by Congress.

· Improper and misuse of the War Powers Act by deporting undocumented migrants to foreign prisons without due process of law (writ of habeas corpus).

·  Violating federal courts and the US Supreme Court’s orders not to deport undocumented migrants, and once deported, failure to return them to the United States for trial.

· Accepting valuable gifts, like a $400 million 747 airliner from the country of Qatar to serve as an Air Force One, which will then revert to the Trump Presidential Library (meaning for Trump’s personal use) once he leaves office.

·  Selling his crypto meme coins to the highest bidders for personal access to the president and for guided tours of the White House.

· Suing law firms that in the past have brought charges against Trump and members of his administration for violating the law.

· Suing and withholding lucrative research grants from universities that violate the administration’s ban on promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives; that permit alleged acts of antisemitism against Jewish students; and that offer courses the Trump administration opposes.

· Placing a federal judge under arrest for attempting to maintain order in the courtroom by asking a defendant to exit through a rear door as I.C.E. agents were advancing to disrupt the proceeding by arresting the defendant.

· Traveling to the Middle East not to conduct official business of the United States, but rather to negotiate private business deals to enrich Trump and his organization, while the trip was covered by US taxpayers.

The list goes on.      

While the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Senate have failed in their oversight responsibilities to hold the Executive branch accountable, the Judicial branch has already issued a record number of injunctions and restraining orders to block what judges have ruled to be Trump’s lawless actions.

The administration, however, has on several occasions failed to follow judicial orders. For example, deported undocumented migrants remain under extremely dangerous conditions at a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador despite a Supreme Court ruling that the administration deported them illegally.

In other instances, the administration has attempted to stall and stretch out the judicial process as long as possible in its goal of noncompliance.

The framers, and specifically James Madison, crafted our magnificent Constitution with a system of checks and balances designed to prevent one branch from exceeding its authority and designated powers.   

When one branch fails in its oversight duties and relinquishes its constitutional powers, or if a branch refuses to abide by restrictions and orders from another branch, then maybe we’d consider the United States in the midst of a constitutional crisis.

At the very least, the actions of the Trump administration have severely undercut the public’s trust in the rule of law.

But to paraphrase the Bard, a constitutional crisis by any other name is still a constitutional crisis.   

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