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763 points tartoran | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.216s | source
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mikeyouse ◴[] No.45682307[source]
> Tim Rieser, former senior aide to Senator Leahy who wrote the 2011 amendment mandating information gathering, told the BBC the gateway's removal meant the State Department was "clearly ignoring the law".

We're in a really bad place... with a servile congress, it turns out there aren't really any laws constraining the executive branch. When everything relies on "independent IGs" for law enforcement inside executive branch departments, and the President can fire them all without consequence or oversight, then it turns out there is no law.

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softwaredoug ◴[] No.45683230[source]
TBH The Right in the US has such a structural advantage, that Congress's silence becomes de-facto acceptance. Congress choosing to not do oversight becomes a de-facto repeal of the law.

The only other option is to find someone with standing being harmed and sue. And that will take time to wind through the courts, with not great chances at SCOTUS.

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JKCalhoun ◴[] No.45683799[source]
We are, it appears now, a country of laws…uits.
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1. actionfromafar ◴[] No.45684439[source]
We have that, for now.

The talking heads on Fox have started to prepare us for a country without judges and lawsuits. Or at least without any Democratic judges.