BY KAREN BOSSICK

The U.S. Constitution is 238 years old. But both conservative and liberal political analysts are wondering whether it has a future given the refusal of the current administration to honor it.

Dr. David Adler, a constitutional scholar who has taught courses on the Constitution at all three of Idaho’s universities and whose opinions have been shared at the U.S. Supreme Court, before Congress and in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Fox News, presented a look at the threats to the Constitution Tuesday night at Ketchum’s Community Library.

The framers of the Constitution created a presidency that was subordinate to the rule of law, Adler told a full house. And the people of the United States ratified it, giving it their stamp of approval.

“The first president George Washington said, ‘My greatest fear is that some might accuse me of usurping power,’ ” he added.

A number of presidents have tried to usurp the rule of law, he said. Harry Truman, for instance, tried to bend the law by nationalizing the steel industry after he decided that a 1952 steel strike threatened U.S. war efforts in Korea.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Truman, even though he played poker with many of them every week.

Thurgood Marshall said that it is the duty of the Court to say what the law is. The question on the nation’s mind was: Will Truman and the Supreme Court justices play poker again? They did indeed mend their differences, thanks to some Truman-approved bourbon Justice Hugo Black provided at a party.

The Court also ruled against Nixon when he wanted to withhold the Watergate tapes. That decision ended Nixon’s career and it restored the public’s trust in the rule of law.

“As offended as Truman was and as disappointed as Nixon was, neither thought of disobeying the rule of law,” Adler said.

Conversely, just four months into his second term, Trump has already had 177 actions stalled by temporary court injunctions.

His administration contends that the judiciary doesn’t have the authority to interfere with or restrain the president’s actions. As a result, he is exercising power in a way that’s not been done.

Trump’s efforts to squeeze Congress out of the picture had its roots in Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, as Arthur Schlesinger noted in his books “The Imperial Presidency.” Once Presidents’ efforts to control foreign and domestic policy took off in the 1960s it never landed, Adler said.

“Trump believes he can do anything he wants by saying, ‘This is what I was elected to do,’ ” Adler said. “Once elected, all rules are off because he’s doing the will of a nation and everybody is expected to fall in line. That’s what Richard Nixon was attempting to do before he was brought down. Trump is the fulfillment of the Nixon philosophy.”

Trump’s relentless march toward ignoring the Constitution could be stopped by the checks and balances that the nation’s founding fathers established. But the current Congress has not acted to rein in Trump to keep him within the bounds of the law. As a result, he is accountable to no one.

Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk to the new office of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) immediately usurped congressional power--only Congress may create an office by passing a law.

Congress also failed to act when Trump cut such programs as USAID, even though statutes prohibit a President from refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress.

The deportation of Abrego Garcia and other Immigrants cannot be considered deportations because that implies that due process involved, Adler said.

“It really is abduction by the government, and Trump has done nothing to respond to court orders to return Abrego Garcia so we’ve run into an unprecedented moment in American history as Trump has become the first president to defy judicial rule.”

What happens when a sitting President defies judicial rule?

James Wilson, a major architect of the Constitution, said that the President enjoys no privileges that other citizens don’t have. And he and his fellow framers thought that Presidents would honor the oath of office that they take upon assuming the Presidency.

But, when Trump asked if he had an obligation to uphold the Constitution, he said, “I don’t know.”

“What he meant was, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to,’ ” Adler said. “That’s the kind of system Putin has in Russia... “I never imagined in all the years that I’ve taught the Constitution that I would have to say we’ve reached this point—a different kind of President. A President who seeks to circumvent rules, taking a page out of (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor) Orban’s playbook.”

James Madison and his colleagues could not have anticipated a Congress that would not stand up for its powers. But those in today’s Congress fear that Trump will “primary” them by getting Trump-approved candidates to run against them in the primaries, Adler said. That shows one more reason to be concerned about career politicians, and it allows the President to go unchecked, he said.

Adler said he had read all 900 pages of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for the Trump Presidency. Each chapter tells how Donal Trump should take personal control over every department of government. He does so by appointing stooges who are quick to carry out his every demand Adler said.

Orban traveled to Mar a Lago not to play golf but to talk about how to personalize actions.

In response, Trump has gone after free thinking, independent organizations who can challenge his authority.

He attacks the press as human scum and the enemy of the people, as he lays the groundwork to destroy a free press.

He attacks universities, which promote the free exchange of ideas.

“This is what the attack on Harvard is all about,” Adler added. “He’s threatened other universities, including Columbia and Brown, which agreed to settle And he did the same thing to several law firms. Those who backed down have lost clients and staff. People are saying, ‘I’m not going to hire you to defend me if you won’t even defend yourself.’ ”

What can courts do to enforce orders? They can charge an attorney with contempt of court, but the current Department of Justice will not arrest any attorney charged with contempt of court. Beyond that, the court has no authority, Adler said.

“Congress could impeach the President for violating rules, but not this Congress. That’s where we stand. Scholars on both the right and the left say we’ve never seen anything like this because we’ve never had a President who held such contempt for the rule of law. He’s , a President who believes he has a blank check to do what he wants.

“He’s the first. Will he be the last?”

Asked what individuals can do, Adler replied:

…Don’t give into authoritarianism.

…Utilize your rights to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble. “We always say fear is contagious. Courage is contagious, too.”

…Don’t be intimidated. There is strength in numbers. If only a few stand up, they can be picked off. That’ what Trump is doing now, picking off news organizations and law firms.

That’s what Trump is doing when he orders an investigation into people like Miles Taylor the author of the Anonymous op-ed in 2018 that claimed a quiet resistance was taking hold among those in the first Trump administration.

The former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security has been blacklisted and his friends have told him they can’t be friends until everything blows over, just as things were in the McCarthy era, Adler said.

Trump even fired a colleague in the Department of Homeland Security who attended Taylor’s wedding.

Trump wants to be an authoritarian, Adler said.

In a democracy, politicians who go against the will of the people can’t survive adverse public opinion. And the nation may see that come to pass in the mid-term elections.

“In authoritarian government, public opinion is immaterial,” Adler added.