Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
This was the rhetorical question posed by T.S. Eliot in his play, “The Rock,” written in 1934 during the Great Depression between the world wars of the tumultuous 20th Century. It is worth recalling during the 21st Century’s Communication Revolution’s deluge of information not only as a philosophical speculation but also as a matter of practical survival.
For our free republic, one of the most ignored and/or forgotten concepts is federalism.
Ponder the enduring, if unheeded, wisdom of the author of A Humane Economy: The Social Framework of the Free Market, the economist Wilhelm Röpke:
Once the mania of uniformity and centralization spreads and once the centrists begin to lay down the law of the land, then we are in the presence of one of most serious danger signals warning us of the impending loss of freedom, humanity, and the health of society.
Of course, the left has long supported the centralization of federal power. They have been the most assiduously active promoters of the administrative state’s elitist bureaucracy and sweeping presidential executive orders, federal statutes, and judicial rulings—all of which are designed to override past, present, and future state and local decision-making.
The left’s logic is brutally straightforward: namely, employing the most rapid means to implement their radical agenda. While ostensibly being done in the name of democracy, the left has shown no compunction in having the least accountable branch of the federal government—the unelected judiciary—and the executive branch’s federal bureaucracy to subvert a duly-elected president and his agenda.
That the left also does so while at the same time arguing that “our democracy”—50% +1 of the electorate—has primacy over the individual constitutional rights recognized and protected by the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions belies their sincerity and highlights their hypocrisy. In sum, the left willfully ignores federalism, precisely because it is a bar to controlling and coercing the entire populace as soon as possible—an intrinsic constitutional check and balance against untrammeled despotism.
Yet, what of the right, who has long championed federalism and local control, rightly arguing the states are the “laboratories of democracy,” and guarding our God-given rights against the “tyranny of the majority?” Sadly, it appears they have largely forgotten about federalism.
It would be unfair and inaccurate to blame this forgetfulness on the rise of Republican-populism during the ascent of President Trump and in the wake of the MAGA movement. The GOP betrayal of federalism was manifest long before this intraparty realignment, indeed dating back to Nixon’s domestic, if not longer.
Yet, in responding to the Obama and Biden administrations’ weaponization of the government—including the use of its police powers against political opponents and flouting immigration laws to open America’s borders to gain partisan electoral advantage—the right has felt compelled to use the very tools of the federal government to reverse these policies that the left largely used to implement them: presidential executive orders. The reason is roughly similar: undoing the left’s policies as soon as possible.
To date, this has been done through executive orders and by others under the president’s direction within the executive branch. If reversing his leftist predecessors’ executive orders were the sole goal, it would be far more palatable. However, the need for urgent reform of the federal Leviathan has spurred the presidential pen to expand into uncharted areas. If these are rendered stop-gap measures until the GOP majorities in the House and Senate do their jobs and pass the appropriate legislation for the presidential pen to sign into law, it will be far less concerning for the future of federalism and local decision-making.
Still, it will not suffice to still the angst over federal centralization. Ensuing federal legislation must be measured, where applicable, for its adherence to federalism. Further, the presidential executive orders must consider their precedential value not merely for future Republican presidents, but more importantly, for how such executive orders will be used by prospective leftist presidents. In sum, in the rush to undo disastrous leftist policies, the right must not provide a roadmap for their return—or worse.
Yes, some on the right will aver that time is of the essence to save our free republic. But, especially when paved in haste, good intentions will “bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust” on our way to some place worse. One forgets or ignores federalism at their peril and that of others. Prudence and patience are virtues for a reason, and federalism and local control—subsidiarity—are proven means to promote and protect personal liberty, human dignity, and a healthy society.
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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003-2012, He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee; and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles; frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.
Regarding the speed and number of presidential EO’s, Trump is moving at Trumpspeed, and Congress; well Congress is moving at Congress speed------which always seems to be extremely slow.
It seems readily apparent to me that Trump’s disassembly of the bureaucratic state is the worthy goal that enhances federalism. In what way does it reduce it? How is the reduction of departments and staff a danger to the power of the states?
Until, and unless, Congress ratifies Trump’s Executive Orders through legislation, all it will prove is that EO’s are ephemeral. To permanently do away with the Department of Education, for example, the disassembly must occur in Congress.
If Mr. McCotter fears Trump’s use of the pen gives a, too easily followed, roadmap to Democrats, what would he offer in substitution? At the moment, it looks like we can’t even get a Big Beautiful Bill across the finish line. On what timeline do we expect our legislators to tackle federal disassembly?
If it appears I’m pessimistic about congressional expectations------I am. Has a single Bill exited a single committee to eliminate a single department? More, has a single Bill been introduced to a single committee to eliminate a single department? If it has, I sure missed it. Where is Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Thune? The last time I saw them was on a past-the-best-used-by date milk carton.
When it comes to federalism, my own best in the nation state of Texas provided the roadmap. When Congress and the Biden Administration failed to act on the invasion at the border, Texas took the bull by the horns and did it on its own----with the federal government screaming STOP at every turn. And despite the pushback from the Biden Open-Border Buddies, we got a lot done.
The federal government will not give up power gladly. It must be wrested from their cold dead fingers. If there was one single thing Congress could do (and should do) is in its oversight capacity of the Article One federal court system----and that would be to put SEVERE limits on district federal courts to issue national injunctions. Doing that one, single thing would go farther in the promotion of federalism than anything else Congress ever did–or a presidential Executive Order ever did.
Edited: THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
If federalism is 50 states going their own way, what would neo-federalism look like if the rulings of the 12 federal district court system were limited to those 12 districts? AND what if, instead of having the US Senate approve judicial appointments, the approval were done by the states within those districts? A radical idea—I know. But if we can’t dream big, why dream at all?
I live in the 5th Circuit, which includes Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Imagine the makeup of the 5th Circuit court of appeals if all judges on the bench were appointed and approved by just our states?
I mean, if we can carve up Roe fifty different ways, could we ratify federalism in twelve different ways?
Cue the Panem jokes-------but what if we also eliminated District 3?
Still, it will not suffice to still the angst over federal centralization. Ensuing federal legislation must be measured, where applicable, for its adherence to federalism
Any argument, even one pushing for an acknowledgement that Republicans must consider Federalism when merely undoing what the left has wrought, smacks of cuck. I know, I know, this is an intellectual publication with a pedigree and such terms are low, but before anything else is considered, we must push back to the right. Time actually is short, voters didn’t elect Trump and the GOP House and Senate to a debate society. For once in our lives we are seeing action by the politicians we elected to office. That is enough for now.
I understand Mr. McCotter’s point but I feel like it is hand-wringing over whether we should close the barn door after the horses have scattered. We are at an inflection point; if something is not done to curb an out-of- control bureaucracy and activist judiciary, we are done as a republic. Congress has abdicated one of its primary functions for decades and allowed vague legislation to lead to the creation of bureaucratic leviathans that are accountable to no one, who have the authority to implement regulations with the force of law. As it stands now, and until Congress gets off its collective ass & does its job, the EOs are the only thing stand between the American people and the destruction of our nation.
RK, I’m always flummoxed by those (like Mr. McCotter) that applaud the goal but hate the process. When it is all complaints with zero solutions, one wonders at the point?