Democrats have proposed a number of unconventional measures to reverse most of Donald Trump’s legacy in the four years following his first term as president.

From stacking the Supreme Court to abolishing the Senate filibuster, Democrats have put up a wide range of proposals that would drastically alter the political landscape in the United States.

Democrats should be glad that they were able to avoid taking such hasty and extreme actions at the beginning of Trump’s second term.

In actuality, Republicans are probably going to try the same choices that Trump made in his absurd recess appointments plan. There is a propensity for politics to finish a cycle.

Recess appointments would destroy typical confirmation process

Team Trump has suggested that Republicans push through an absurdly underqualified slate of executive nominees for the second Trump administration by taking use of a legal loophole in the United States known as the recess appointments provision.

When the Senate is not in session and cannot confirm its nominees, the Constitution gives the president the authority to appoint people. This appointment process has never been employed by a president at the beginning of his term.

Republicans would be incredibly naïve to behave in this way, even if they ignore the reality that such a recess appointment scheme is constitutionally questionable at best and that Senate Republicans are unlikely to undermine their own advice and consent power.

Should this appointment process be upheld in court, which is extremely doubtful, do Republicans fail to see that Democrats will eventually employ the same strategy to select an equally absurd slate of nominees?

Assuming that Republicans would hold in power indefinitely, those who support this plan put Trump’s authority over the federal government ahead of the wellbeing of our nation.

2nd Trump term will show Democrats why norms are good

Democrats now contend that institutional rules that benefit American politics include the Senate filibuster and the Supreme Court’s nine-justice limit.

Trump has made it clear that he will do whatever it takes to force his vision for the nation on Americans.

He stated intentions for radical change in other areas, many of which will require congressional collaboration, nominated a preposterous slate of Cabinet officials, and laid out aggressive measures to deal with illegal immigration even before he took office.

Republicans were able to pass legislation without any compromises because Democrats refrained from making the hasty choice to give up on the filibuster.

While the idea of packing the court was never seriously considered, eliminating the filibuster has gained traction as a staple of Senate Democrats in tight races. Democrats previously lacked the votes to pass filibuster reforms because Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., opposed them. Otherwise, the Senate’s 60-vote rule might have already been abolished.

Imagine an expanded Supreme Court with Trump as president

In terms of packing the court, if Democrats were successful in increasing the size to 13 justices as proposed, Republicans would now be poised to expand SCOTUS and most likely increase that majority.

Democrats should instead be grateful that the court is filled with conservative justices who are committed to limiting executive power to the intent of the constitution.

We saw this when the Supreme Court overturned the infamous Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council case. Prior to that June decision, in cases where laws were ambiguous, courts deferred to agency interpretations, giving the executive branch broad authority to shape American law that would otherwise be determined by Congress.

Democrats had warned that the conservative court would undermine executive branch power. Now, I ll bet they re relieved Trump s ability to impose his will on American bureaucracy has been curtailed.

How will Republicans govern now that they have the majority?

Given Senate Republicans support for the tradition, the filibuster is likely to survive for the foreseeable future. Republicans would be wise to maintain other norms, such as the traditional Cabinet appointment process.

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The shortsighted assumption that your party will remain in power indefinitely leads to the destruction of political norms, which is clearly not the case. Since 2000, for example, the balance of power in Congress has shifted several times.

The guardrails against tyranny work because they are nonpartisan. Any attempt to abolish the filibuster or change the size of the Supreme Court should cause Americans great concern, not only because of the threat posed by the party doing so but also because of the reaction of their opponents.

The fundamental design of America resists single-party rule, and achieving complete control requires an overwhelming mandate for either major party.

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