How much power?

Habeas Corpus.

What those two Latin words mean is simple: They mean the government can’t throw you in jail without a trial. Unless you’re guilty.

That old doctrine that goes all the way back to the Magna Carta. The Founding Fathers wrote it into the Constitution, saying habeas corpus can only be suspended by Congress if there’s an invasion and it’s necessary to protect innocent people.

But Kristi Noem – who’s in charge of keeping our country safe – doesn’t see it that way: The way she sees it President Trump has the power to suspend habeas corpus. No trial. No day in court.

And even after judges told Trump , You can’t deport someone unless you give them a day in court – he’s deporting away.

And that’s just one way Trump’s changing the Constitution.

The Constitution says only Congress has the right to set taxes, duties and levies – like tariffs. And that only Congress has the right to spend money. It gives the president the right to veto spending he doesn’t like. And he gets to hire the folks who spend the money – but at the end of the day only Congress gets to say how much is spent.

Trump doesn’t see it that way. He set dozens of tariffs without Congress having a say. And that landed him in a mess.

In the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York three judges – a Reagan Republican, an Obama Democrat, and a Trump Republican – threw the book at Trump, ruling all his tariffs broke the law. That case is now headed to the Supreme Court.

But none of that fazed Trump. After the judges ruled he was wrong he did it again – doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Trump also wants the power to cut spending on his own. The way he sees it if Congress votes to spend money on, say, cancer research he doesn’t like he can simply impound the money. And not spend it. If Congress votes to fund a government agency he doesn’t like – like the Department of Education – he can shutter the agency. And not spend the money.

Now, personally, to me, spending less on the bureaucrats at the Department of Education makes sense. But the Constitution says Trump can’t shutter the department unless Congress agrees. And letting a president, any president, throw the Constitution out the window leads to a mess, leaves the country on shaky ground.

Trump could have avoided all these problems: He has a Republican Congress – he could simply say, Here’re the tariffs I want – pass ‘em! Or, Here’s the spending I want you to cut – cut it!

And even if Congress tells him no he still has two roads forward: He can veto Congress’ spending. To stop it. And he can lay those issues in front of voters, tell them, Here’s the wasteful spending I want to cut – but your Congressman told me no. Give me a helping hand by voting this guy out of office.

That’s the way our country worked for years. Bu it’s not the way Trump works.

So now we’ve got a bigger fight on our hands: Over whether Trump has the power to overrule Congress and the courts – to do what he wants. And that’s not a little spat. If Trump wins, two centuries of American history and tradition fly out the window.

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Telling stories, in his memoir Carter Wrenn follows The Trail of the Serpent twisting and turning through politics from Reagan to Trump. Order his book from Amazon.