Trump, the "Take Care" Clause, and Pardons

[kennetha]

The take care clause articulates the most fundamental constraint on the exercise of the president's enumerated powers.

The stupid and insipid commentary on Trump and his unconstrained use of the pardon power simply ignores the fact that the President swears an overriding oath to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." None of his enumerated powers, including the pardon power, or his oversight of the executive branch, or his power as commander-in-chief, entitles him to use those enumerated powers in a way that is inconsistent with his duty to faithfully execute the law. Moreover, in requiring the president not just to do this, but to "take care" to do this, it seems to me that the constitution is requiring the president not to act on mere whim or impulse or grievance but deliberately and only for good and considered reasons. Failure to do so, is a violation of his solemn oath and an abuse of his enumerated powers. Bottom line, it seems to me that independently of what Mueller eventually comes up with in the Russia probe, there is already ample evidence that Trump routinely violates his oath of office. Indeed, he openly flaunts his violations of the oath, and flaunts them with glee. If this madness is not stopped soon, it is basically the end of the presidency as the constitution envisions it.

Here are a couple of important articles on this score, one journalistic, the other academic. both worth reading.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-overlooked-part-of-the-constitution-could-stop-trump-from-abusing-his-pardon-power/2018/03/14/265b045a-26dd-11e8-874b-d517e912f125_story.html?utm_term=.6ed653708a44

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3177968

[marylandblue]

1. "Taking care" is too vague to be legally enforceable

Which is not say a Democratic Congress could't impeach him over it, but I'd think there would need to be criminal misconduct also for it to work politically.