Trump Constitutional Political
Presidential Absence, Constitutional Cracks, and Democratic Infighting
President Trump has been absent from public view for seven consecutive days, generating mounting health questions at a moment of acute foreign policy and economic stress. His own party's pollsters are reportedly warning of Republican turnout trouble ahead of midterms, with approval ratings hitting new lows according to GOP internal surveys.
Constitutional questions are multiplying within the executive branch itself. Former Vice President Mike Pence has publicly questioned the legality of Trump's selection of Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence — an unusual challenge from a member of the same party. Treasury Secretary Bessent, meanwhile, told senators he is 'performing the duties' of IRS commissioner even though his formal acting tenure expired months ago, raising unresolved questions about proper legal appointment and executive succession.
On the Democratic side, former First Lady Jill Biden is pushing back in her new memoir against characterizations made by Vice President Kamala Harris, insisting that President Biden would have defeated Trump in 2024 and objecting to Harris's framing of certain events as 'reckless.' Such public disagreements between senior party figures typically remain private.
In Congress, the House is advancing a constitutional amendment to cap the Supreme Court at nine justices — widely seen as a response to court-packing fears rather than realistic legislation, given the two-thirds congressional threshold and three-fourths state ratification requirement. California voters rejected tax measures statewide in the June primary, signaling anti-government sentiment even in one of the country's most reliably liberal states.
Republican lawmakers filed a resolution to end the annual 3.8 billion dollars in military aid to Israel, a notable shift in traditional GOP foreign policy alignment during an active Middle East crisis. The Senate moved to advance a 72 billion dollar immigration bill after stripping contested provisions, including an anti-weaponization fund and ballroom funding. During a Senate hearing, Treasury Secretary Bessent and Senator Wyden traded personal attacks over Epstein files — an exchange that underscored what observers described as a complete breakdown of governmental decorum.