Contrary to our expectations, Trump has shown us that uncodified constitutional norms are not universally accepted, and are largely unenforceable. How should Biden deal with that, if he wins?
Here are a few items:
- It is of the utmost importance that he appoint someone without strong political affiliations as his AG.
- The independence of the DOJ from the rest of the executive branch should be given a statutory basis in order to prevent politicized law enforcement and put an end to the unitary executive theory.
- Ethics statutes which exclude the president should be revised. In particular, the president should be required to disclose his tax returns.
- The right of Congress to conduct investigations and to demand material from the executive branch should also be given a clear statutory basis.
Given that the GOP will want to be able to hold President Biden accountable, it should be possible to get a bipartisan consensus for these kinds of actions. Without them, the next GOP president will be tempted to go even further than Trump; illiberal democracy is just around the corner.