Newt Gingrich: I would ignore supreme court as president

[MFrohike]

16. Interesting

There are situations where the executive would be justified in ignoring the court. Foreign policy and war are the only two subject areas I can think of right now, but they would qualify. The court has no authority nor legitimacy to rule on questions in those areas. They're clearly designated to the executive and the legislature, not the court. Well, an executive agreement could be legitimately challenged by the court if it was unconstitutional, but that's about it. Or it's as far as my imagination can go at the moment.

The above being said, Newt would find himself in impeachment waters faster than he could blink. The idea that the executive could willfully ignore the court concerning criminal trials is just hilarious. I'm guessing Herr Professor is unaware that the executive lacks the right to get in the way of the other branches in their subject areas. Nixon tried to claim executive privilege for the Oval Office tapes and got slapped down 9-0 by the court because he was obstructing a criminal investigation. Newt would try to argue national security, but I highly doubt the court, even this one, would completely allow the judiciary to be overrun by the executive.

The Roe thing would be fun, too. Newt would quickly find out just how fast injunctions can be slapped on the entire apparatus of the executive. Further, upon leaving office, he'd get to experience the joy of a class-action civil rights lawsuit. While it's true the president can't be sued for his official actions after he leaves office, those actions can't be illegal/unconstitutional (only applies to domestic affairs). While I would really, really enjoy that show, it just wouldn't be worth the dull horror of seeing him as president.