Scrutiny of Vice President Kamala Harris as the putative Democratic nominee for president has so far focused on her progressive positions on the economy, race and gender identity, energy, crime, and immigration. But she deserves as much or more scrutiny for her views on America’s constitutional institutions and norms. Even while she and the former top of the ticket, President Joe Biden, claim they are engaged in the “defense of democracy,” Harris is in fact a threat to the American rule of law: She is promising a radical shock to our constitutional system of separation of powers and federalism.
The Constitution makes law enforcement the president’s primary domestic responsibility. Article II declares that the president, and the president alone, “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” As interpreted by the Supreme Court, this provision recognizes that the attorney general and, indeed, all federal executive-branch officers assist the president in fulfilling this awesome duty. Presidents and attorneys general have long understood that they must eliminate political partisanship from law enforcement.
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