Presidential intransigence threatens our health and national security
Note: This piece was co-authored by Checks & Balances co-founding member Stuart Gerson.
In the wake of his reelection loss and failure to accept it, the president is behaving less like a government head and more like a petulant child. Even when warranted, a president cannot be told: “Go to your room until your term expires.”
While he continues in office, Mr. Trump is not only shattering time-tested norms — most prominently, refusing to facilitate the orderly transition of power — he is also acting, and failing to act, in ways that could cause incalculable harm: needless thousands of deaths, and the weakening of our security, particularly our cybersecurity and relations with allies.
Let’s start with his passive failures. Having blocked his GSA chief from following the law and certifying the transition of the president-elect, President Trump not only deprives the transition of public funding required to operate effectively, he also exposes us to unpreparedness for terrorism.