Several pundits have noted the United States may be nearing a constitutional crisis. The three branches of government do not appear to be fulfilling their roles, or have overstepped their bounds. Congress is supposed to legislate, but cannot due to the partisan split: Congress has become impotent. Because of this impotence, the executive branch has arrogated new powers to itself so that governance continues. At the same time, the judicial branch has noted the overreach of the executive branch, and district courts are being used to halt executive actions. In fact, with rulings flying fast and furious, and with the Supreme Court unable to cope with all of the appeals, the United States faces the Charybdis of paralysis and the Scylla of Caesarism. Do you feel the United States is facing a constitutional crisis? Why or why not? Do you see any path out of our current situation?
Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board, SquareTwo Journal (2025) "Reader's Puzzle for Spring 2025," SquareTwo, Vol. 18 No. 1 (Spring 2025), http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleReadersPuzzleSpring2025.html, accessed <give access date>.
Would you like to comment on this article? Thoughtful, faithful comments of at least 100 words are welcome.
I. Ashley B. Alley
As I was pondering this question, I found myself fixated on the concept of the continued polarization of new media outlets and sources. I was recently reading from Timothy Keller's book of daily Proverbs-based devotionals (entitled "God's Wisdom for Navigating Life") and one day's focus was on the need for truthful communication within societies. He says, "In our culture of fake news and social media, no one can be sure that the messages they are getting are trustworthy. ... There have been societies in which people couldn't trust what the government told them, couldn't trust what the newspapers told them, couldn't trust what the inspectors and police would do with them. Those societies collapsed. There is no higher priority for a healthy society than to have a truthful communications and news media."
While there are certainly troubling trends involving constitutional issues, questions, and actions, I am also deeply concerned with whether the pundits spouting such rhetoric truly believe we are on the verge of a legitimate crisis or if they are engaging in fear-mongering for profit. It's hard not to raise an eyebrow at all the doom-sayers on both sides of the political aisle. I find myself increasingly dismissive/distrustful of fear-based headlines and soundbites. Perhaps this is a dangerous mindset, as it may inevitably lead towards apathy and numbness in political realms and realities, but I am finding that it seems to be my natural coping mechanism for all the noise around me at the moment.
_______________________________________________________________________II. Rachel Zirkle
The US Constitution clearly outlines three separate branches of government in three separate Articles. I remember learning very early on in elementary school what a fundamental part of our government this set up is. Three branches with three intertwined-but-different focuses creates a checks and balances system to avoid power grabs by a few that would harm the many those few represent. I am of the opinion that any erosion of those separate powers is to the detriment of our democracy. Consolidating power to a few people in charge may seem like the most efficient way to push an agenda through, but I’d argue efficiency does not trump all. The sacrifices of moral character and better outcomes being made by people going along with the current agenda in the name of efficiency is not going to make us a stronger nation. Our nation has thrived on being a melting pot of different ideas and solutions for improvement. Nothing great is going to come out of a government filled with “yes” men and women who can’t (or are afraid to) think and act for themselves. There is logically no way this method could uplift the majority of American people; instead, it greatly benefits a few and leaves the rest out to dry. The power of the US constitution is that it gives people a say and protects against one person taking over. To chip away at that for personal power strikes me as a crisis that will hurt the country before too long.
I feel it will take some incredible leaders who are able to see what is being done and rein in the power grabs to get us off this current path and onto a safer course for democracy. To get to that point, I think we would benefit from actions such as term limits in Congress and limits on billionaires’ tie ins with government. If we continue on as is, it seems like only a matter of time before we don’t recognize the constitution in our government structure at all.
_______________________________________________________________________III. V.H. Cassler
I really think we do have a constitutional crisis here now in the United States. The legislative branch of government, the Congress, has checked out due to inability to pass legislation. And since the legislature is the most direct voice of the people among all three branches, we have a crisis because the only way the voice of the people can now be heard is through their election of the president, and the president cannot pass law; he or she can only rule by executive order. This is far too tempting for a president, and lends itself to excess and a quasi-authoritarian type of rule. Furthermore, given term limits on presidents, the whiplash the American public will suffer as one president succeeds another and all executive orders are changed is unwelcome.
In addition, Congress’ incapacity puts far too much power into the hands of the courts, which have been weaponized to such an extreme degree that only the Supreme Court can put an end to lawfare and its corrosive effects. The Supreme Court is busier than ever because the district courts don’t agree with one another. But even final appeal to SCOTUS is a fragile solution, for presidents appoint the SCOTUS justices, meaning that respect for the Supreme Court’s judgments can also be profoundly degraded.
All of this suggests why we need Congress to become a viable branch of government once more. But what is the solution? One of the reasons why we are seeing so much gerrymandering today, I think, is because each party thinks this is the key to solving the constitutional crisis causes by Congress’ incapability to pass legislation. At the level of the trees, gerrymandering might be the only way to carve out a 5-10 vote majority in Congress in the near future.
But at the forest view, the larger problem is that too many Americans are politically homeless, left behind by both parties as extremists on the right and on the left hijack party policy agendas. We need candidates from both parties to pledge to uphold the center, not the extremes. I think Americans would vote for representatives who make that pledge. And if there were a sizeable number of center-pledged Congressional electees from each party, perhaps bipartisanship could return. And if bipartisanship returned, Congress’ power to pass legislation would also return once more, with larger majorities passing laws, and we would again have three functioning branches of government.
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