George Will, for example, has railed against “institutional vandalism of Barack Obama’s executive unilateralism.” But in his admiring profile of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, George Will says that Rauner has “a powerful voice and a plan to break ‘a totally rigged system.’” How? “By executive order, Rauner has stopped the government from collecting for unions ‘fair share’ fees from state employees who reject joining a union.”
Rauner was inaugurated in January. In February announced that he would no longer obey the state statute requiring the state to collect the “fair share” fees from public employees. Why? In the 2014 case of Harris v. Quinn, his proclamation says, five justices “questioned” the fees.
It is one thing to refuse to defend a law in court because a chief executive believes its unconstitutional; it is another thing to assert a right to break it because the Supreme Court may eventually strike it down. President Obama has never claimed the power to set aside a federal law. He didn’t defend the Defense of Marriage Act, but he enforced it until it was struck down. Imagine the furor if he had refused to follow it.
