[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S824-S825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Administration

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in his first 3 weeks in office, Donald 
Trump has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the rule of law.
  We all know that Donald Trump, of course, won the election last 
November, and as we all know, he campaigned on a platform to cut back 
large parts of the government. But nothing--nothing--in the 
Constitution, nothing in our grand tradition of American separation of 
powers allows Donald Trump to break the law in order to achieve those 
goals.
  Let me repeat that. Donald Trump campaigned on cutting back the 
government. That is true. But he is not allowed--not allowed--to break 
the law to achieve those goals.
  That is not how America works. You campaign. You put your ideas 
forward. In this case, Donald Trump won. But he did not campaign on 
breaking the law, and the American people don't want him to break the 
law.
  The reason we have a system of checks and balances is so that even 
when one side wins an election, there is a check, there is a balance. 
That is what America has been all about for over 200 years. At this 
point, Donald Trump is trying to break that tradition in area after 
area after area. So the courts have begun to speak, and their message 
is very simple: The law is not optional, not even for a President of 
the United States.
  Yesterday, at least five rulings were handed down in Federal courts 
against the President's brazen conduct in office: court rulings against 
his attempt to freeze trillions in Federal funding at OMB; court 
decisions against his heartless, cruel decision to stop billions in 
medical research funding through the NIH. Courts have ruled against his 
unlawful attempt to hollow out the Federal workforce regardless of the 
job they do.
  To be sure, these decisions--these five decisions and many others 
like it; I think there are over 50--are all temporary, preliminary, and 
it is one step in a long process that will play out in Federal court. 
But the trend is clear: Donald Trump is not free to bulldoze his way 
through the rule of law. Donald Trump is not free to bulldoze his way 
through the rule of law. He is an executive, not a monarch. He swore an 
oath faithfully to execute the duties of his office, and when the 
courts speak, Donald Trump must accept their judgments and honor the 
Constitution.
  Now, there are some on the hard right who think Donald Trump should 
ignore the courts. Even the Vice President seems to suggest the courts 
can't ``control the powers of the executive.'' With respect to the Vice 
President, the issue here isn't the courts trying to control the 
President; it is the President trying to control the law. He

[[Page S825]]

wants to decide for himself what the laws are, which ones should be 
applied, which ones shouldn't, and what they mean.
  Congress makes the law. Courts interpret the law. We all learned that 
in grade school. That is how checks and balances work in a 
constitutional republic. Donald Trump does not reign supreme. When the 
courts speak, the President must adhere to their judgments. That is 
what his oath demands.
  The courts will be an important venue for holding Donald Trump 
accountable whenever he breaks the law and breaks his promise to the 
American people. It is one tool in the toolkit for how Democrats and 
all Americans who care about the rule of law will make sure that Donald 
Trump does not break the law and do just what he wants. Our courts will 
be just one resource of several, but they will be among the most 
important, and as we have already seen, they are a critical front in 
the struggle to uphold the rule of law and prevent America from sliding 
into utter lawlessness.