It’s not every day when a sitting federal judge refers to an incumbent American president as an “authoritarian,” so when it happens, it tends to raise some eyebrows. The Washington Post reported:
A federal judge Thursday decried what he said were ‘breathtaking’ constitutional violations by senior Trump administration officials and called the president an ‘authoritarian’ who expects everyone in the executive branch to ‘toe the line absolutely.’
In remarks laced with outrage and disbelief, U.S. District Judge William Young said Donald Trump and top officials have a “fearful approach” to freedom of speech that would seek to ‘exclude from participation everyone who doesn’t agree with them.’
At issue was a federal case dealing with the administration’s treatment of pro-Palestinian students. Young, appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan, was unrestrained in his criticisms of the administration, declaring, “The big problem in this case is that the Cabinet secretaries and, ostensibly, the president of the United States, are not honoring the First Amendment.”
As part of a condemnation that accused Donald Trump of being an “authoritarian” — a word, Young said, he chose “carefully” — the jurist also concluded that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio engaged in an “unconstitutional conspiracy to pick off certain people.”
“These Cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution,” Young added.
The judge’s outrage was striking, but it’s worth emphasizing that Young has plenty of company.
Last year, for example, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, another Reagan appointee, not only rejected Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, he also took aim at the president’s twisted approach to the law.
“It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” Coughenour wrote. “The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain. Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.
“The Constitution,” the judge added, “is not something the government can play policy games with.” Soon after, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell felt compelled to remind the administration in a ruling, “An American President is not a king.” As the year neared its end, U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf, yet another Reagan appointee, described Trump and his team as an “existential threat to democracy and the rule of law.” He also resigned from the bench so he can condemn the White House and its radicalism more freely and frequently. Over the course of the last year, the White House and its allies have launched a variety of efforts that appeared designed to intimidate the judiciary. There’s a growing body of evidence to suggest those tactics have failed.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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