The current administration has continued a decades-long effort by the hard right to reposit broad authority in the executive branch.

From warrantless domestic surveillance to the broad assertion of executive privilege to thwart congressional inquiries, this administration has asserted its authority to act outside the knowledge and consent of the other branches of our government, thereby upsetting the constitutional balance of power.

Alliance for Justice has first-hand experience of the current administration's efforts to arrogate power to the executive at the expense of the other branches.  The president's nominees to the federal courts, particularly the Supreme Court, were chosen without consultation.  Moreover the administration sought to avoid turning over documents relating to nominees' past executive branch service, speciously asserting executive privilege.  And nominees were coached to offer as little insight into their substantive views on the law as possible during their confirmation hearing, thereby making it impossible for senators to make an informed judgment.  The Senate's role as a check on the executive's nomination power was thus reduced to little more than a rubber stamp.

This executive power grab extends to many other aspects of the administration's conduct.  And Alliance for Justice has made it part of its mission to resist these efforts and to restore balance of power – which ensures the proper balance of democratic process and the preservation of individual rights.  For example, abetted by its allies in Congress, the administration has eliminated habeas corpus rights for certain non-citizen detainees – based on the executive branch's determination that these detainees are enemy combatants.  The process for determining enemy combatant status is woefully flawed and has caused many cases of mistaken detention.  Habeas corpus is the only means to ensure that detainees are given a fair hearing to assess whether they are being held lawfully.  Yet the White House refuses to subject itself to even the most basic form of judicial scrutiny – resulting in the deprivation of the basic right of liberty for individuals unlawfully held.