The Founders Saw Congress as Supreme, Not ‘Coequal’

The House impeachment managers state in their brief: “Our constitutional system simply cannot function if the President, acting to extend his own grasp on power against the expressed will of the people, prompts an armed attack against a coequal branch that prevents it from performing its core constitutional responsibilities.”

I agree entirely, except for one thing—the word “coequal.”

Listen to representatives and senators, Democrats and Republicans, talk about impeachment or other issues that touch on the relationship among the three branches of government, and you’ll hear the word “coequal” over and over again. In 2019, when Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as speaker of the House for the second time, she proclaimed Congress “coequal to the presidency and judiciary.”

Richard Nixon must be having a good laugh.