A Constitutional Power Democrats Aren’t Using

Sidney Blumenthal: “The Democrats hold in their hands constitutional means yet unused to check the Trump regime’s ruthless attempt to impose a police state. That the Democrats thus far have failed to create this oppositional political center of gravity may be because the method has been lost to history, not wielded effectively for 113 years. Focused on the ICE outrages, however, this political instrument can be revived in the 16 states where the Democrats control the governorships and both chambers of the state legislatures, as well as introduced in states with mixed power.”

“Before the enactment of the 17th amendment in 1913, state legislators and not the voters selected U.S. senators and regarded them frequently as their agents. It was a common practice for legislatures to send what were called ‘orders of instruction’ urging senators and sometimes members of the House of Representatives to take a particular stand on important issues. The orders were not binding, but had significant force given the power of legislatures and political parties to decide who would hold Senate seats…”

“Today, state legislative resolutions would have far more political weight than any poll, provide a galvanizing mechanism to drive public opinion, and solidify the states as defenders of basic American rights seeking to safeguard constitutional freedoms and the safety of electoral processes.”