We begin today’s roundup with The New York Times editorial board and its piece on the Trump administration blocking of congressional investigations:
“We’re fighting all the subpoenas.”
With this vow to reporters on Wednesday, President Trump laid bare his approach to the concept of congressional oversight. As the Democratic-controlled House ramps up its investigations of his administration, Mr. Trump is throwing up a stone wall. [...]
Presidents clash with Congress, at times fiercely. The founders wanted it that way. But in declaring war on congressional oversight, Mr. Trump is not looking to maintain a balance of powers. He is looking to blow up the scales.
Jamelle Bouie meanwhile, puts attempts to undermine the law in a broader context:
It’s clear, then, that from the White House and its allies on the Supreme Court down to individual state lawmakers, conservative Republicans have decided that their agenda cannot survive fair competition on equal ground. They reject efforts at electoral expansion — early voting, automatic registration and mail-in balloting — and embrace strategies that put the burden on voters themselves.
Americans have long struggled over the scope of voting and representation. Democracy is — and always will be — a fight. And the lines of this particular conflict are clear. Rather than try to expand our democracy or even preserve it as it stands, Republicans are fighting for a smaller, narrower one that favors their voters over all others so that their power and the interests they serve become untouchable.