Importantly, the courts are stepping up.
On Monday, judge Amit Mehta ruled against Trump, saying "lawmakers should get documents they have subpoenaed."
On Wednesday, judge Edgardo Ramos refused to block subpoenas from the House financial services and intelligence committees for Trump records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One.
On Friday, judge Haywood Gilliam granted a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's use of $1bn from the Department of Defense for building his wall.
These decisions are significant not just because they are victories for House Democrats, but because they confirm that the American system of government is still working, Trump notwithstanding.
Richard Nixon approaches the foul line.
(Image by Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive) Details DMCA
He may yet succeed in running out the clock, dragging out appeals through election day. But every court decision that adds legitimacy to the processes and institutions Trump has been attacking makes him look more like the dangerous wrecking ball he is.
Over the past several months I have heard some on the left talk about meeting fire with fire, if and when Democrats regain the White House and Senate.
To counteract Trump's (and let's not forget Mitch McConnell's) malfeasance, they want to alter the system in ways that favor their side, expanding the number of supreme court justices, for example, or eliminating the Senate filibuster, or dividing California into three states, each with its own two senators. And so on.
This would be a mistake. Americans want to preserve our agreement over how to resolve our disagreements, and are witnessing the threat Trump and the Republicans present to it.
The Democratic party should dedicate itself to protecting that agreement. This is the hallmark of a true governing party. Trump and the Republicans, by contrast, are digging themselves ever more deeply into a hole from which they may never emerge.
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