Let Each Do His Duty: The Balance of Power That Preserves Our Republic

[AustinLiberator]

By David Crockett, Esq.

There’s an old frontier saying: Don’t let your horse pull the wagon, and don’t let your gun do the talking unless it’s time to fight. In government, as in life, there’s wisdom in knowing your role and sticking to it.

The Framers of our Constitution, men of fierce conviction and sobering foresight, understood this deeply. Having thrown off the yoke of a king, they did not crown a new one—they built a Republic of separated powers, where no branch would reign supreme and every branch would be checked by another.

They didn’t build this system because it was easy. They built it because it was right.

 A Structure Meant to Withstand Ambition

The American government, properly understood, rests on three co-equal pillars:

1. The Legislative Branch, which writes the laws and controls the purse strings;
2. The Executive Branch, which enforces the laws and commands the military;
3. The Judicial Branch, which interprets the laws and guards the Constitution.

Each has power—great power—but none may exercise it without limit. And each, in turn, can be restrained when it strays. This is not chaos—it is constitutional order.

James Madison, in Federalist No. 51, warned us that “if men were angels, no government would be necessary.” But knowing men to be ambitious, proud, and fallible, the Founders built a system where “ambition would be made to counteract ambition.”

 The Dance of Power—And the Reins That Hold It

In this noble structure:

• Congress can impeach the President, deny funding, and override a veto.
• The President can veto Congress, command the armed forces, and appoint judges.
• The Courts can declare acts of both the President and Congress unconstitutional.

Each branch has tools—but also limits. Each is mighty—but only when it acts within its constitutional bounds. Like well-trained sentries at the gates of liberty, each is assigned its post and expected to hold it—not abandon it, and not usurp another’s.

  The Danger of Overreach—and the Courage to Resist It

The gravest threats to liberty don’t always come from without. Often, they arise when one branch forgets its station and attempts to govern the whole. When a court declares itself supreme policymaker, or when a President rules by pen and phone, or when a Congress tries to direct the army like a council of warlords—we fall into imbalance.

It is then the sacred duty of the other branches—and of We the People—to say no more. This is what the Supreme Court did in its recent decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc.—when it struck down the abusive practice of universal injunctions that let a single federal judge dictate national policy. That wasn’t judicial modesty. That was constitutional fidelity.

 The Republic, If We Can Keep It

Our Republic is not maintained by apathy or by convenience. It is preserved by structure, by vigilance, and by obedience to constitutional order. When the branches of government each do their duty—and only their duty—liberty flourishes.

But when one branch grows too bold, too eager to dominate, the whole tree leans, and the fruit of freedom begins to rot.

Let no President crown himself king.
Let no Congress become a mob.
Let no court dress itself in robes of command.

Let each do his duty.

Let the law be supreme—not the lawmakers.
Let the Constitution guide—not the passions of the day.
And let every American remember: we are governed by a structure, not by men.

 

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David Crockett is a constitutional law & tax attorney, political writer, and Editor-in-Chief of The Austin Liberator. He hails from a proud lineage of military service, freedom fighters, and firebrands—and writes in defense of law, liberty, and the American soul.