Thomas B. Griffith, a non-resident fellow at Wheatley Institute, co-authors a Deseret News opinion article on the characteristics of compromise and plurality found at the heart of the American legislative branch.
The most important part of a recent 170-page Supreme Court ruling might boil down to a single paragraph, Thomas Griffith argues.
Griffith, a non-resident Constitutional Government Fellow at Wheatley Institute, co-authored an opinion piece for Deseret News with Joshua Topham earlier this week. Together, the two authors examine how Justice Gorsuch's explanation for the Court's decision to strike down President Donald Trump's tariffs points to "the most important feature of the government the framers created".
Ultimately, legislation belongs with Congress and not the executive because of how the need for cooperation and compromise was deliberately baked into the structure of the legislative branch by the Founders. The article quotes Gorsuch's commentary, stating: “The deliberative nature of the legislative process... was the whole point of (the Constitution’s) design.”
"Gorsuch’s insight recognizes that the Constitution was designed for and thrives within a pluralistic society," Griffith and Topham write. "Indeed, this is the type of society that the Constitution envisions for our nation."
However, for this structure to function, both citizens and representatives must understand and commit to how the Constitution forces individuals to work together despite their disagreements.