Checks and balances keep the executive, legislative, and judicial branches running fairly — in theory. But Vice President JD Vance has been sending the not-so-subtle message that he sees things differently. According to Vance, “the constitutional crisis” is not Trump’s doing but the fault of federal judges who stepped in to check him.
The Supreme Court, for example, cannot enforce its rulings on its own. The executive branch’s law enforcement agencies do that. But Vance suggests that the president can ignore court orders — which is nothing new.
President Andrew Jackson ignored an 1832 Supreme Court ruling to carry out the Trail of Tears. President Lincoln was at odds with Chief Justice Roger Taney during the Civil War.
After a 2016 investigation, the Department of Justice filed against Alabama’s inhumane prison conditions. In 2025, as in other prisons, conditions there are still inhumane. Some hoped that court orders enforcing police reform would diminish police violence. But on top of the D.O.J. rejecting 96% of civil rights cases against cops as is, the violence continues. After four years in Chicago, police have fully complied with only 5% of their order.
There’s irony in morally bankrupt people heading institutions demanding even more power and agency than they already have to violate our rights, agency, and power. If anything, institutional guardrails like court orders haven't done nearly enough to protect us.