Democrats officially "declare war" on President Trump

This is the first step by the Democrats against Mr. Trump after winning control of the House of Representatives, and at the same time starting a difficult period of confrontation between Mr. Donald Trump and the Democrats.

Mazie Hirono and Sheldon Whitehouse – two of three senators who filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump in a federal court (Politico)

Controversial decision

The three senators who filed the lawsuit against Donald Trump in the federal court in Washington DC this time are Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse and Mazie Hirono. These three senators are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee responsible for reviewing the appointment of the Attorney General.

They believe that Mr. Donald Trump's arbitrarily appointing Mr. Matthew Whitaker to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions without discussion and advice from the Senate is unconstitutional.

Mr. Whitaker was a prosecutor in Iowa, worked at the Justice Department under former President George Bush and was appointed chief of staff to Mr. Jeff Sessions.

Democratic lawmakers filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, arguing that the US Constitution stipulates that key federal officials can only take office with the advice and consent of the Senate, so Mr. Whitaker's appointment would set a bad precedent, eroding the Senate's role of advice and approval as prescribed by the Constitution.

The lawsuit also accuses Mr. Donald Trump of violating the rules of succession when the position of Attorney General is vacant, according to which the new Deputy Attorney General is the one who takes full power instead of appointing a new person as Donald Trump did.

In the lawsuit, the lawmakers also requested more time to examine Mr. Matthew Whitaker's qualifications after information emerged that he had a relationship with World Patent Marketing Group - a company that is accused of defrauding consumers of millions of dollars. Therefore, during this time, Mr. Whitaker is not suitable to work in any position in the federal government.

In response to Democratic criticism of the appointment of Matthew Whitaker, both President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have defended the decision. Donald Trump has insisted that he was only doing the right thing and that he appointed Matthew Whitaker simply because he was the right person.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department argued that Mr. Donald Trump's decision was consistent with the Constitution, federal laws, and several previous cases. The Justice Department cited the provisions of the Successor Reform Act, according to which Mr. Whitaker only assumed the position of Attorney General temporarily and did not need to be approved by the Senate.

The Justice Department cited two instances, one in 1866 when an Attorney General was appointed without Senate confirmation, and one in 1898 when the Supreme Court also ruled that an Attorney General “serving temporarily for a limited period and under extraordinary or urgent circumstances” did not require Senate confirmation.

However, Democratic lawmakers have rejected this view and argued that Matthew Whitaker's case does not meet the criteria of "special" or "urgent".

The beginning of a long war

According to analysts, the lawsuit against President Donald Trump in the Federal Court in Washington DC will take weeks, even months, before a final verdict is reached.

But besides whether Mr. Matthew Whitaker is qualified to succeed Mr. Jeff Sessions or not, what the public is interested in is how the confrontation between President Donald Trump and the Democrats will develop after this lawsuit, and whether the Democrats will continue to take more drastic steps to "make things difficult" for Mr. Trump as previously predicted.

In fact, the choice of Mr. Matthew Whitaker to replace Mr. Jeff Sessions is considered a "distant defense" move by President Donald Trump. Remember, right after taking control of the House of Representatives, the Democrats did not hide their intention to find ways to limit the President's power through oversight activities.

Mr. Matthew Whitaker – the person President Donald Trump trusted to be the Attorney General. Photo: US News

The steps that Democrats can consider are investigating the declaration of income for tax refunds, the possibility of conflicts of interest in Mr. Trump's executive activities; at the same time, promoting the investigation of President Donald Trump related to the accusation of Russian election interference and will proceed to impeach the President if there is enough evidence.

Since Donald Trump took office, suspicions of Russian election interference have always been a dark cloud over the White House, causing many of Trump's confidants to "fall from power".

Therefore, President Trump clearly wants someone he can trust to protect him from this investigation. And Matthew Whitaker is a perfect person, having publicly criticized Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller for crossing the “red line” when investigating the financial affairs of the Trump family, and at the same time speaking out in defense of the President’s son for meeting with a Russian lawyer who allegedly promised to provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

As Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker could have blocked the investigation by narrowing its scope, cutting its funding, and even removing Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Besides setting up a solid "blockade", Mr. Donald Trump is expected to establish a more solid defense line to deal with the possibility of the Democrats causing difficulties for him during the remaining time of his term, while also preparing for his re-election campaign in 2020.

Donald Trump himself has openly stated that the White House needs new elements to deal with the Democratic Party controlling the House of Representatives. Therefore, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a number of other senior officials may also leave this year...

In addition, Mr. Donald Trump also threatened to investigate Democratic members of the Senate if the Democrats "continue to waste tax money on investigations at the House level."

Mr. Trump has admitted that the last two years of his term will be an extremely difficult battle, and the Democrats' filing of a lawsuit against the President over the appointment of the Attorney General can be considered the first "shot". Both Democrats and Republicans understand that the steps they are calculating are not aimed at the President personally, but are "shaping the battle" for a larger battle, which is the presidential election two years later. Therefore, it will be difficult to wait for concessions from any side in this "long-term" battle.

Photo caption: