D.C.’s chief federal judge is facing a severe limitation as he considers criminal contempt proceedings against government officials for brazenly ignoring court orders to halt deportation flights: President Donald Trump’s power to subvert accountability by issuing pardons.
A brief pause issued by the D.C. appellate court late Friday only delayed this particular confrontation of powers.
The situation amounts to nesting brewing constitutional crises, as the judiciary grapples with its ability to contain the executive branch. And as is true for many of Trump’s other expansions of executive power, his potential use of pardons in this case would be rooted in the acts of a long history of American institutionalists who believed a president would respect the rule of law.