Most of the national monuments slated for review by President Trump were designated by former President Clinton and former President Obama, and thus it is evident that this planned assault on the nation’s public lands is mainly another move to erase Obama’s legacy.
The designated sites, from the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in Maine to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in California, are beyond any president’s executive order, and only Congress, as in the recent ruling on the sanctuary cities, has the authority to erase or modify national monuments.
We lend what power we have to the Center for Western Priorities and its Executive Director Jennifer Rokala in the demand to stop Trump from the review, which will be used as an attempt to “eliminate or shrink national monuments,” Rokala said in a press statement.
“Any attempt by President Trump to erase or shrink national monuments will meet strong resistance from the American people and the legal system,” she said. “The law is clear—only Congress has the authority to erase or modify national monuments, and Congress has wisely used that power sparingly over the last hundred years.”
As we are discovering week by week as Trump completes his first 100 days in the Oval Office, he is no respecter of civil, human, environmental or constitutional rights. Thankfully some of his executive orders have been blocked by our court system and a few sensitive judges alarmed about his senseless agenda.
But we need more than our court system as the last resort, the remaining check and balance to a rogue administration on steroids. Of course, much more is needed to offset, if not anticipate, Trump’s next disastrous edict. To this end, we hope more energy can be summoned by our elected officials, and it’s never too early to prepare for the upcoming midterm elections.
We are certainly pleased about the recent election returns in Kansas and Georgia. It’s good to know we are at least making some penetration in these traditionally red bastions.
These close races cannot be viewed as harbingers of change, but they could signal an uptick so desperately needed to alter the demographics in Congress.
All of this is down the road. Meanwhile, let us once again salute Judge Orrick for doing the right thing in San Francisco. It empowers our charge that to Make America Great Again—Trump Must Go!