GOP To Recommend The Adoption Of A Rule Requiring Lawmakers To Provide Constitutional Authority For Every Bill

The Hill reports that "Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the head of the House Rules Working Group, on Thursday said the GOP transition team will recommend the adoption of a rule requiring lawmakers to provide constitutional authority for every bill."

“The Constitution is not that long. The operating manual for a Toyota Camry is more than five times longer, so it should not be that difficult,” Bishop said.

This is a good symbolic move that will show that the GOP Congress is serious about Constitutional conservatism. However, the GOP must make clear that it is the original meaning of the Constitution's provisions that will serve as the basis for any piece of legislation passed by Congress. If this is not to serve as the basis, the Democrats will simply point to the Commerce Clause as encompassing just about everything. The Obamacare mandate makes it clear that judges and politicians have absolutely no problem stretching the Constitution passed any logical limitation. The elastic, living, evolving interpretation given to the Constitution by liberals who in reality have no loyalty to what the Constitution demands, and by Supreme Court precedent itself, makes it all too easy to abuse the Constitution by linking a piece of legislation to a provision of the Constitution that in reality was never intended to provide the basis for the bill. However, insofar as the Constitution is part of the debate in Congress and will help make it part of the public debate, it is a worthwhile effort.