With Inauguration Day just a few days away, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) believes lovers of American democracy are “in the fight for our lives.”
The 62-year-old Raskin, who represents the 8th District in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, has been a longtime critic and adversary of President-elect Donald Trump.
A former constitutional law professor at American University, Raskin was the lead manager for the second impeachment of President Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6th attack of the U.S. Capitol.
Jmore recently caught up with Raskin, who is the newly elected ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Are we moving from the rule of law to the rule of man?
This has been a struggle for most of the history of our species. People have lived under dictators and bullies like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. The founders of America pledged to each other their fortunes, their honor and their lives to create a government based on a different principle. That was stated in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. They wanted government to be based on the consent of the governed. They did a pretty magnificent job of re-centering government on a popular principle and away from the monarchical claims of divine right and privilege.
Only democracy insists on every person’s equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are in the fight of our lives. This exact same struggle reappears today all over the world where liberal democracy is under attack by the autocrats, oligarchs, racist people who would place the rule of the few over Democratic government, which is ruled by everyone.
Are there areas of potential cooperation between Democrats and the incoming Trump administration?
Yes, there are tons of crossover issues. For example, I think we could get together and honor Joe Biden’s popular vote by more than seven million in 2020 and Donald Trump’s popular vote in 2024 by three million. We can honor both of them and the idea of popular democracy by abolishing the Electoral College. It is an accident waiting to happen every four years and it is inconsistent with the principle of majority rule.
Another thing we could get together on is a ban on individual stock trading by members of Congress. Senators and representatives should be able to invest in big mutual funds and certificates of deposit, but it doesn’t make sense for members of Congress, who are privy to inside information, to be able to invest in individual stocks.
What can be done to help protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
The party of the 47th president supports a total ban on abortion rights across the country, which would turn what was a constitutional right into a felony crime. They want to nullify birthright citizenship, which is built into the very first sentence of the 14th amendment.
To stop these and many more examples, we have to use every possible democratic means at our disposal. It might mean using the filibuster in the Senate. In the House, where MAGA will be operating with a very slender margin of 217 to 215, it might mean bringing over one or two Republicans to the Democratic side to stop unconstitutional legislation.
To help protect the Constitution will certainly mean lots of public protest and clamor over proposals to do unlawful things. The good news is we are practiced at this, we are battle-hardened, having gone through the first Trump administration together.
Are there ways to prevent the weaponization of the Department of Justice?
We have a new administration that wants to convert the Department of Justice into an instrument of political revenge. Prosecuting the prosecutors is an authoritarian tactic. When a despot or a tyrant faces any kind of scrutiny or investigation for any actual crimes they commit, they turn around and attack the prosecutor. We can recognize what’s going on there.
Are you concerned about your own safety?
I’m an old hand at this point in terms of violent threats. A bunch of my colleagues and I have used security at various points against different kinds of threats coming from antisemitic, racist and right-wing vigilante groups. At a certain point, you decide you’re not going to allow that to get in your way.
I have a job to do, I’ve sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I intend to live that out.
What can be done about the proliferation of antisemitism?
Antisemitism is the gateway to the destruction of liberal democracy. It’s the original hatred and conspiracy theory. We the people have to oppose antisemitism, racism and every form of hatred and bigotry that pits people against each other. Liberal democracy needs a spirit of toleration. We have to oppose every form of tribalism.
We the people are the authors of the American experiment and those of us who serve in office for periods of time are nothing but the servants of the people. Here the people rule. That’s the difference between a democracy and a monarchy, an autocracy or some other form of dictatorship.
How can we stop the rule of the few over democratic government?
We have the federal government, we have state, county and local government. We have different political functions that exist within each kind of government. And then we have a vibrant civil society with media entities, universities, civic associations, private businesses, labor unions and an infinity of different associations.
People have got to keep all of these different kinds of groups and associations going and make them strong. That is our best bet to defeat authoritarianism and fascism.
Peter Arnold is a freelance writer based in Rockville.
A former college campus activist, Veksler will speak at Chizuk Amuno on June 8 at the Ruth and Jay Lenrow Visiting Scholar-in-Residence for Combating Antisemitism.
A lifelong Baltimorean, Judge Rosenberg served as a U.S. magistrate judge from 1973 to 1998.
A former resident of Baltimore and central Florida, Ritt was active in the Soviet Jewry movement of the 1970s and 1980s.