Newsom has no moral high ground in tariffs fight
California is joining lawsuits to challenge the new tariffs imposed by the executive branch. It’s rich that Governor Gavin Newsom is suddenly defending the separation of powers, considering his abuse of executive powers during the pandemic. For nearly three years, Newsom ruled California by executive decree—long after other states had returned to normal governance. Clinging to his executive authority, he routinely bypassed the state legislature.
But Newsom is right, for once. Only Congress can make laws and institute tariffs. Under the separation of powers, Congress cannot delegate this power away and the executive cannot assume the role of creating new tariffs by declaring a national emergency.
Given Gavin Newsom’s history of exceeding his executive authority, he has no moral authority to decry a breakdown of the separation of powers. Likewise, California Attorney General Rob Bonta agreed with the governor in saying we must defend the separation of powers and the role of Congress. But after defending Newsom’s excess, Bonta’s criticisms ring hollow.
In 2020, Newsom declared an emergency and claimed the power to control every aspect of life in California. He created a national economic emergency overnight when he single-handedly shut down the fifth-largest economy in the world. He confined 39 million Californians to their homes. For 1,092 days, we were permitted to leave only under conditions he approved. You couldn’t walk outside without obeying his orders. Even lone surfers were arrested for ignoring his beach closures.
He shut down every business he deemed “non-essential.” But there was no basis in law for this. Newsom made everything up as he went. His edicts inflicted extraordinary hardship on people like Daryn Coleman, who invested his life savings into a haunted-house-themed mini-golf business. His company, Ghost Golf, was shuttered for more than a year under Newsom’s arbitrary “re-opening” scheme. By doing so, Newsom allowed himself to pick winners and losers. In April 2021, for example, 18,000 people a day could visit Disneyland, but not a single person could play mini-golf in Fresno.
The Constitution’s guarantee of separation of powers and checks and balances ensures that no branch of government can wield all the power.
A robust separation of powers is our best defense against these constitutional violations Newsom claims to oppose. When laws come from our elected representatives, they reflect open debate, compromise, and adherence to the Constitution.
Of course, Newsom isn’t alone in his sudden support of separation of powers. Many who ignored the Constitution during the pandemic are now claiming to protect it. Likewise, many applauded President Biden when he skirted the law to cancel student loan debt or pursue other favored political goals.
But that’s not how separation of powers works. You can’t trample on the Constitution and then expect it to stand as a shield against abuse when someone else is in power.
I would like to think some are finally waking up to the reality that we are facing a systematic breakdown in separation of powers. It’s a perennial problem. Presidents of both parties are guilty of overreach. And it’s critical that we resist.
What America needs is a revival of separation of powers. We must defend the rule of law, regardless of who is in power.
That is why we should all be thankful for businesses like Princess Awesome, a girls’ clothing retailer that has taken a principled stand against the president’s unconstitutional tariffs. Together with Pacific Legal Foundation, representing other stalwart businesses, Princess Awesome is the real vanguard of American liberty.
And perhaps the Newsoms of the world are temporary allies on the tariffs fight. That’s fine.
But we should be wary of those who invoke the Constitution only when it serves their ends. Because when the Constitution becomes a tool of convenience instead of an impartial restraint on government abuse, everyone’s liberty is at risk.
