Viewpoint: Zinke remains silent on Trump abuse of Constitution

Corey Ellis

Representative Ryan Zinke has said, “I will never bend on the Constitution, and I won’t bend on selling our public lands.”

So far, he has stuck to his word on the public lands part. And he should be commended on that. He went even further to cofound the Public Lands Caucus, joining a Democrat from New Mexico to create a caucus focused on “practical, consensus-driven public lands policy that conserves national resources while supporting recreation, local economies and public access.”

Let’s hope that he continues to buck his party and support public lands.

However, Zink seems quite flexible when it comes to bending the Constitution. He has been silent on the Trump administrations near constant abuse of executive power and disregard for the Constitution. The administration’s defiance of court orders on immigration issues violates Article II that says the president "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

The administration violated the Appointments Clause when it made Elon Musk the head of DOGE without Senate confirmation. The administration also ignored the Appropriations clause which gives Congress the “power of the purse” when it refused to spend money that had been allocated by our democratically elected officials for various agencies.

The administration then violated the 5th amendment, one of the most sacred tenants of our country, when it denied due process to migrants and deported them without allowing them to face a judge or jury. And now the President is poised to accept a 400 million dollar jet from the government of Quatar, clearly in violation of the Article I, emoluments clause that states, “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States] , shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

Notice the “Consent of Congress” part? That’s the part where Mr. Zinke and his branch of government can and are required by the Constitution to come in and make sure that the American people aren’t getting swindled.

Mr. Zinke, it’s time to stop bending on the Constitution.