Those that follow the news from the District of Columbia have probably begun to realize that the current Executive Branch neither knows nor cares very much about the Constitution of the United States. While the Legislative Branch usually involves arguments between Democrats and Republicans, every now and then these would-be opponents will acknowledge that they are on the same side. That was the case this morning when Republicans actually came to defense of the Democrats.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addressing the Pentagon on July 27, 2026 (photograph by Evelyn Hockstein, courtesy of Reuters)
As one might expect, this partnership was triggered by the latest antics in the Executive Branch. At stake was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has spent a fair amount of time on Capitol Hill to make sure that the Legislative Branch approves a proposed military budget of $1.5 trillion. Expecting push-back from the Democrats, Hegseth deliberately excluded them from his meetings with members of the Congress. Instead, the push-back came from Republican Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina. As Tillis described Hegseth, “He calls himself the secretary of war, but ironically, he doesn’t want to go to war and win the argument with nearly half the members of the Senate.”
All this reminds me of the days when my high school education included learning how to drive. This obviously involved sessions in which the teacher would sit in the car with the student, but that did not take place until a solid foundation of “classroom information” had been established. Where the Federal Government is concerned, the “classroom information” is based on the Articles of the Constitution. Unfortunately, Hegseth seems to have overlooked those Articles and may neither know nor care about how the Executive Branch is supposed to interact with the Legislative. Instead, as a member of the Executive branch, he sees himself accountable only to the President.
Are these “the times that try men’s souls” again?
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