Liz Cheney: Checks and Balances Won’t Stop Trump

As we approach the 2024 primaries, some Republicans have begun arguing that the checks and balances constructed by the framers of our Constitution make our republic invulnerable to whatever illegal or unconstitutional acts Donald Trump might attempt in a second term. The framers explicitly warned us that the checks and balances are only as effective as the people responsible for carrying them out. Those who try to dismiss the risk of a second Trump term do our country a grave disservice.

By design, a president’s awesome executive power must be checked by both Congress and the courts. Since Jan. 6, 2021, we have learned that our current Congress won’t play this role. Republican senators such as Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and J.D. Vance have shown that they won’t step forward to check Mr. Trump’s power. Even Sen. Mike Lee, who explicitly agreed on Jan. 6 that Mr. Trump’s plan to seize power was unconstitutional, now pushes crackpot conspiracy theories about the nature of the attack.