Constitutional Crisis and Murthy v. Missouri

In two weeks, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri (formerly known as Missouri v. Biden) to consider whether to uphold an injunction that bars the White House, CDC, FBI, CISA, and Surgeon General’s Office from coercing or encouraging social media companies from censoring constitutionally protected speech. 

Brownstone has detailed the facts of the case, which District Court Judge Terry Doughty described as “arguably the most massive attack against free speech in United States history” and “akin to an Orwellian Ministry of Truth.”

Under every traditional standard, the plaintiffs should prevail – the Biden administration has not even denied its brazen censorship demands in their appeal. But perhaps the Regime hasn’t bothered to rebut the allegations because they don’t adhere to traditional standards at all. 

Power, not the Constitution or vague statements about “democracy,” is the sole focus of this administration. It is a North Star that dictates every policy, both foreign and domestic. 

That power, in large part, hinges on the November election, and there is ample evidence to suggest that their electoral priorities will triumph over the rule of law. 

Just weeks ago, President Biden boasted to his constituents that he disregarded the Supreme Court’s ruling on his student loan forgiveness initiative.

“The Supreme Court blocked it,” he said. “But that didn’t stop me!” 

“Canceling” student loans was a clear and obvious vote-buying gambit that the Biden administration launched ahead of the midterm elections. Now, with the President trailing in the polls, he’s desperate for young voter turnout, so he has become the first executive since Andrew Jackson to celebrate his disregard of a Supreme Court ruling.

But billions in student loans pales in comparison to the importance of the federal government’s censorship program.

Nothing is more critical to the Biden Administration’s re-election strategy than the control of information. It secured his victory in 2020 as the national security apparatus suppressed inconvenient narratives on Hunter’s laptop, Covid, and Biden’s basement campaign.  

If the administration is willing to overthrow our Constitutional system for a relatively minor campaign flank like student loans, it will not accept the First Amendment as an impediment to its objectives. 

For years, the left has waged a war hellbent on smearing the reputation of the Court. Halfwits like John Oliver and the New York Times’ editorial staff have carried out a sinister campaign on behalf of an agenda that extends to the top of Democratic leadership. Now, President Biden has championed that assault on the judicial system. 

The legal question underpinning Murthy v. Missouri – whether the federal government violated the First Amendment through its vast censorship apparatus – is straightforward, and four federal judges have found that it clearly did. 

The far more complicated question arises outside the chambers of the Court – to what extent will this regime go to maintain its power? And, even if President Biden summons unexpected humility and accepts the ruling, there are far more powerful and unaccountable power centers like CISA, the FBI, and the CIA that already operate unshackled from Constitutional restraints. 

Who guards the guardians? It’s the great question from the entire history of government. In this country, we have parchment to set the rules to which everyone is expected to comply. When the government itself becomes lawless, what is to be done? It’s wrong that we should have to depend on the Supreme Court to say the plain truth, and for the courts to enforce it, but that’s where we are.