Partisanship Shows Why Federalism Is so Important
Fed·er·al·ism: a system of government in which entities such as states or provinces share power with a national government.
/ˈfed(ə)rəˌlizəm/
As talks of impeachment heat up around Washington, the workings of the federal government are grinding to a complete halt. After walking out of an infrastructure meeting with congressional leadership, President Trump showcased his anger towards the Democratic Party and his unwillingness to compromise. In a fiery speech at the White House, President Trump said that he would no longer work with the Democrats until they stopped the investigation of him.
With the release of the Mueller Report, the calls for impeachment have steadily increased. Adding to the frenzy is President Trump’s continuing refusal to work with congressional oversight. This has sent many top Democrats to publicly call for the removal of Trump from office. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic candidate for president, called for President Trump’s impeachment during a speech on the Senate floor. Senator Bernie Sanders, also a candidate for president, has said that the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives needed to start an impeachment inquiry. Representative Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has called for an impeachment inquiry as a way to get the handed-out subpoenas honored by the Trump Administration.
With the focus of both Congress and President Trump on the battle between investigations, subpoenas, and impeachment, the federal government is once again stricken with partisan battles designed to halt progress. Herein lies the best argument for federalism: our elected officials in Washington, D.C. are so partisan and so unwilling to work together, the only way that policy will be made and that issues will be solved is for federalism to take root in American politics once again.
The founders of our constitutional republic did not design it to be full of tribalism and negativity, they designed it to be a place where power was not in the hands of the federal government, but instead in state and local governments which make the majority of the decisions that affect those closest to them. The constant focus on Washington to solve our nation’s most minute problems was never the goal of our founders. But as the size of the federal government increased, so has the bitter partisanship. States have not jealously guarded their constitutional prerogative; instead, they have allowed the federal government to take more power for itself, killing federalism in the process.
For the foreseeable future, and especially with the 2020 election coming up, nothing will get done in Washington. The focus will be on the personality battles between President Trump and Nancy Pelosi, and the bitter struggle over the House Democrats’ investigations of President Trump. Partisanship will rage and the national news cycle will consist of Republicans and Democrats blaming one another for the same problem, no matter what it is.
For our many issues to be solved, each state will have to take more responsibility of its own and do what it can to fix the nation’s problems; this is what the states were designed to do. Federalism must take more prominence in governance, and it will be up to the states themselves to take their power back.