WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and a former public defender, last week joined the Georgetown Law Journal for a conversation on executive overreach and the judiciary’s role in the impending constitutional crisis. Senator Welch spoke on President Trump’s abuse of executive power and the breakdown of norms and independence of the judiciary. He also urged law students at Georgetown to push back on the Administration’s brazen lawlessness by working for law firms that stand up for the rule of law. 

Senator Welch was joined at the event by Visiting Professor Mary McCord, Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP), and Stephen I. Vladeck, the Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Federal Courts. The conversation was moderated by Mark Joseph Stern, Legal Reporter for Slate Magazine.   

“The Republicans’ fealty is to Trump. And it’s like everybody that has been appointed by the President has taken an Oath of Allegiance to him…And it’s really putting in stark relief that there’s limits on even what the Constitution can protect us from. Because of the norms breakdown—just those agreements that we have, without even being explicit, that there’s a free election, there’s a peaceful transfer of power—and the Constitution doesn’t protect us. That’s actually the biggest shock to me,” said Senator Welch during the event.  

“So, this is extremely ominous, and it is the institutional breakdown. You know, I just can’t fathom being a member of an organization, like I’m a Member of Congress, and us giving up our authority without a huge fight. That has to be something that binds Republicans and Democrats together because the separation of powers really does matter in the end. The concentration of power in one place—I mean, this is the whole point that was made in Federalist Papers—is incredibly dangerous and what we’re seeing played out right now.” 

View photos from the event below:

Watch a recording of the event here. 

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