We Start Addressing The Weaknesses
As I’ve travelled around this district over the course of the last few months, there have been a few specific questions I’ve been asked numerous times. One of the queries which has come up again and again is “What can we do to make sure this situation with our government can never happen again?” What everyone is referring to here is the way this malicious and tyrannical anti-American government has taken advantage of every loophole within the framework of our American democracy. There are numerous ways in which we can make amendments to the framework. Today I’m going to point out one of them that I’ve not heard anyone talking about.
We need to reestablish the office of Attorney General of the United States as an elected position.
Our last Attorney General and current acting-Attorney General have exhibited clear animus and dereliction of duty with regard to the defense of the citizens of the United States and the guarantees made in the Constitution. Their failure to act with even the slightest degree of recourse proceedings toward any of the states enacting unconstitutional laws paints a clear picture of where their allegiance lies. They were installed by Trump and act with his Maga megalomaniacal agenda in mind. This office of Attorney General needs to be reestablished as an elected position within our government, to be determined by the people of this country. When it can be shown that the office has been occupied by appointees put in place by a treasonous and ideologically motivated rogue president, not only does a failure of the system become evident, but one cure to this disease would be making the office an elected role.
An elected Attorney General would be more aligned with the wants and ideals of the citizens electing them, as opposed to the prerogatives of the president. Reasoning for this becomes clear in moments of history such as what we’re currently experiencing, which is the presence of a president functioning as undemocratic and anti-American. The president has been using the Attorney General to rewrite the laws, not on paper or within documents, but through visible action and inaction. The prosecutorial instances the AG has chosen to pursue as well as those they have chosen to ignore show what the real laws currently are and what rights the citizens of this country currently have. Evidence of action shows it is Trump’s law being adhered to, while the principles laid out in our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and those set by Congress are being adhered to at their discretion. In a similar way to the old phrase “Something is only worth what someone will pay you for it”, the laws of our country are only as good as those who will defend them.
Also of distinct significance here would be the office of Attorney General to act as another check of the president. As the top officer of law in our nation, I think this could be a positive benefit to upholding the integrity of our Constitutional ideals and guaranteeing that no one, not even the president, is above the law or above the Constitution.
To evolve the role of United States Attorney General into one being elected by the People, we would have to amend the Constitution. Because Article II, Section 2 explicitly gives the president the power to appoint executive officers, a simple law passed by Congress is not enough to change the structure.
Altering this office in such a way wouldn’t be done without addressing significant legal and practical obstacles.
Revision of Article II
This amendment would need to explicitly strip the president of the power to appoint the head of the Department of Justice, which would create something of an “independent” branch.
Designing a national election system
The Constitution contains no mechanism for a national popular vote of this role. This would need to be outlined.
Rewriting of Statutory Law
Congress would have the task of restructuring the framework for the Department of Justice, to map out how the Attorney General’s role would proceed with regard to presidential directives, budget allocations, and federal law enforcement agencies.
While the restructuring of this office would create a significant amount of redefinition work at the Congressional level, this would set the Attorney General up in a way to act independent of the president, focusing their commitment on defense of the Constitution and the citizens, versus being focused on the agenda of the president (which is exactly the set of conditions we currently deal with).
This restructuring would actually position the Attorney General to act in the best interests of the American people, and be a truly unbiased defense of our laws and Constitution. Having the office set up in this way would actually benefit the people here an incredible amount more than it currently does.
Out of the 50 states, there are currently 43 who elect their Attorney General by popular vote. Wisconsin is one of those 43. This has allowed our state Attorney Generals to act independent of their governors, the Constitution of their respective states being their sole sovereign. This same framework at the federal level would be a benefit to all of us, focusing the Attorney General’s energy at defending the Constitution and our laws instead of being a political weapon used by the Trump administration to cause chaos and suffering to their political enemies.
