Don’t bet on Sullivan doing the right thing

(Photo from U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s official Facebook page)

By Rich Moniak

Last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan called the longest government shutdown in history the most unnecessary and useless one he’s ever seen. He argued Senate Democrats needed to do “the right thing” and “show a tiny bit of courage” by standing up to their minority leader.  

It was pure grandstanding from the inside of a glass house. Because when given the choice between defending the Constitution and the rule of law or giving cover for the lawless behavior of President Donald Trump, Sullivan has failed time and time again. 

His misplaced loyalty may soon be tested in another way. It appears the House will pass a bill that Trump vehemently opposes. It will require the Department of Justice to release files from the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, a former close friend of his who committed suicide after being indicted for the sex trafficking of minors.

First, let’s examine Sullivan’s hypocrisy by revisiting the events surrounding what had been the longest government shutdown until now. 

In December 2018, an appropriation bill that he supported included $1.7 billion to construct a wall on the southern border. Trump had asked for $7 billion for it. However, officials in the White House led Republican congressional leaders to believe he didn’t want to shut the government down over the disagreement.

After the bill passed the Senate unanimously, it was roundly criticized by pundits in the conservative media. After it was passed by the House, Trump vetoed it. 

The shutdown ended in late January when Trump signed a continuing resolution that still lacked the funding he wanted for the wall. Three weeks later, Congress passed a final, veto-proof appropriation bill without it. Trump signed that too. 

Clearly, nothing was accomplished by that shutdown. It’s worth noting that essential federal employees showed up for work but weren’t paid until after it ended. Among them were air traffic controllers whom Sullivan argued Democrats were refusing to pay now. 

But the story doesn’t end there. On the same day Trump signed the final bill, he declared a national emergency and said he would divert congressionally appropriated defense funds for construction of the border wall. 

In September, he moved $3.6 billion out of the defense budget and earmarked it for the wall. Soon after, Congress passed a joint resolution to terminate the phony emergency.  In the Senate, 11 Republicans supported it. Sullivan wasn’t one of them. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately determined Trump had violated the constitutional separation of powers doctrine. 

That may prove to be true regarding his use of emergency powers this year to impose tariffs on countries around the world. It’s been ruled unconstitutional by judges on the U.S. Court of International Trade, a District Court and an Appellate Court. The Senate voted three times to terminate the emergency. Sullivan opposed it every time. 

A few days before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Trump’s appeal of the lower court rulings, he called the case “one of the most important in the History of the Country.” He added the preposterous warning that if they rule against him “our Country could be reduced to almost Third World status.”

The majority of the justices didn’t seem impressed by arguments his administration presented last week. If they do uphold the lower court ruling, Sullivan will have to choose between undermining the court’s authority and reputation or admitting Trump was wrong by imposing the tariffs. 

The Epstein files will present him with a different test. Even though Trump and Epstein were close friends for years, Trump has denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct.  But plenty of the evidence from public records and the limited files that have been released suggests he knew and may have even taken advantage of some of the victims.

On Wednesday, a discharge petition was submitted with enough signatures to force the House to vote on a bill that will require the release of all the files. It’s likely to pass. 

If the Senate passes it, Trump could still veto it. 

But he knows that could be construed as an attempt to cover up misconduct on his part. Instead,  he’ll pressure Senate Republicans to kill the bill. And we can expect Sullivan to do the wrong thing by voting to deny the American people the opportunity to examine the evidence themselves.

• Rich Moniak is a Juneau resident and retired civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience working in the public sector.