When the chief justice of the Supreme Court finds it necessary to reprimand the president of the United States for undermining the independence of the federal judiciary, it can be difficult to objectively know if that signifies a constitutional crisis.
Compared with Watergate, we are living through a slow-motion Saturday Night Massacre as the president and his allies test the limits of our democracy every week and sometimes every day. Instead of igniting from one clearly crossed red line, a constitutional crisis is creeping up on us.
As philanthropic leaders, we find it especially challenging to know what our role should be at a time like this. We represent nonpartisan institutions concerned about issues as disparate as civic engagement, civil rights, the environment, the arts, and more. That work can only truly thrive when our democracy is healthy, and so while we remain committed to our individual missions, we must also stand up and support people and organizations working to protect constitutional norms.
Calling out the actions of a sitting president and getting in the middle of what can look like a simple partisan dispute can be uncomfortable, even when we are deeply concerned about threats to our Constitution. In a period of profoundly abnormal politics, many of us are struggling with how to balance our traditional philanthropic priorities and posture with the need to respond to unprecedented attacks on our democratic norms and institutions.
Our constitutional crisis has been brewing for almost two years. It started in 2017 with the president’s decision to fire the FBI director leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Then, after the deputy attorney general appointed a special counsel to conduct an independent investigation, the president and his allies went to great lengths to undermine public confidence in it. The president’s ongoing public criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions following his recusal from the special counsel’s investigation made explicit that the president did not respect the independence of the Justice Department.
With the president’s recent decision to force the resignation of the attorney general and replace him with an ally who has spoken against the investigation and has not been confirmed by the Senate, it is increasingly clear the president is taking steps that threaten the integrity of the rule of law in our country. This is not a simple partisan dispute — it is an attack on a fundamental tenet of our Constitution.
The health of our democracy depends on a robust system of checks and balances that is strong enough to face moments of great stress. It depends on an understanding that government decisions are based on laws, rules, and the best interests of the American people — not the political or personal advantage of those charged with executing them. The president’s series of decisions, however, suggests that he seeks to live in a system not of laws but of men.
In the face of these threats, all of us who believe in our Constitution should speak up and make our voices heard. That’s why I was proud to join with more than 40 other foundation leaders last week in signing a joint statement calling for the protection of the special counsel’s investigation. It would be easy for philanthropic leaders to sit on the sidelines, threatened by potential perceptions of partisanship or by the risk of drawing fire from political trolls or the president himself. And yet, by signing the statement, my colleagues and I seek to join with many other Americans in drawing a clear line in the sand: Our democracy cannot abide the behavior that we are witnessing.
I hope other philanthropic leaders will join us in speaking out and that those who are able will take additional steps to preserve the health of our democracy, such as donating to advocacy groups committed to protecting our democracy. I strongly believe philanthropy can play an important role in helping to ensure that the special counsel’s investigation continues independently and that the results of the investigation are shared with the public.
Allowing the president to hamstring an investigation that involves his own campaign and close allies is an affront. The American people, including philanthropic leaders, must not stand idly by and wait for Congress and the judiciary to right the wrongs of the executive branch.
How Our Money Can Help
We must come together and stand up to bolster our institutions and protect our democratic norms. Philanthropy can do its part in three ways.
First, we need to provide financial support and other aid to the cross-partisan coalition of advocates who are rallying the public to make clear that no one is above the law and that the administration must be held accountable. While still recovering from an election held only days before, these advocates rallied more than 100,000 people at protests across the country. These organizations need ongoing support to keep the pressure on.
Second, it is equally important that Americans across the political spectrum know the facts about the investigation. A recent poll by Democracy Fund’s Voter Study Group found that the overwhelming majority of Americans, including Trump supporters, believe that the allegations being investigated by the special counsel are “serious,” including 51 percent of Trump supporters who said obstruction of justice would be “serious.” We can support educational efforts to ensure that Americans are informed about the investigation so they can keep an open mind and forcefully stand up for our shared democratic principles.
Finally, a number of legal organizations are bringing these fights to the courts. Including legal challenges to the appointment of the acting attorney general, to the analysis of the pardon power, organizations are ready to uphold the rule of law and need our dollars and other support as quickly and as generously as possible.
Shared Values
Over the past two years, Democracy Fund has joined dozens of grant makers in bolstering the community of organizations that serve as watchdogs against abuse of power and ethics violations by the executive branch. In close collaboration with our peers at the Bauman and Open Society foundations, among others, we collectively raised nearly $13 million in new funds in 2017 for this accountability work. I hope we can raise more to respond to today’s threats.
As a nation, we are ideologically diverse. We have different policy goals and hold a range of issues close to our hearts. We often disagree about how to make the future brighter and safer. The same can be said of philanthropic leaders. But in this time of unprecedented crisis, we must stand up for the shared fundamental values and constitutional principles that define our country.
Joe Goldman is president of the Democracy Fund.
