Trump expected to sign executive order making English the official US language

[MotoToTheMax]

Do eggs understand English so we can tell them to lower their prices?

 

[RileyG]

Do eggs understand English so we can tell them to lower their prices?

Does bird flu know enough English to stop infecting chickens, geese, and ducks?

 

[FireDragon76]

Well, let's let the Supreme Court decide. But I am willing to guess that you will not like the result.

It's not a matter of liking the result, it's the matter of the 1st Amendment ensuring our liberties to our own speech, in whatever form we choose

This is a meaningless gesture by Trump, and has only the color of law.

 

[JSRG]

Show me where it says he can't.

That's not how the Constitution works. The Constitution gives powers to the different branches of government, and that is the powers they get. To ask where it says he can't is to miss the whole point of it; it would be like if I say "you can have apples or strawberries to eat" and you were to say "I can have bananas! Show me where it says I can't!" The fact it isn't listed there is the very reason. Indeed, the fact the Constitution only gives the powers it actually says it gives is a critical portion of the federalism that underlies the entire relationship between the federal government and the states, which is that the federal government can only do things the Constitution says it has the power to.

Now, as noted, the President can have powers granted by congress by law (although, obviously, it has to be something that is actually a power of congress). One of the reasons the President has grown so popular (far more powerful than ever intended by the Founders) is because Congress over the last several centuries has been passing laws giving more power to the President for the purpose of expediency, but then is unable to ever take those powers back because the Presidential veto makes it nearly impossible. At any rate, for the President to do something, it must be either a constitutional power (which making an official language definitely is not), or a power granted by congress. And while I know they've ceded a lot of power to the President, I don't think they ever gave him this power.

Granted, Trump has the obvious power to say that the official language is English, just as how anyone can say the words "the official language is now English!". But if he wants to enact some kind of policy about it, then that needs to come from congress. Otherwise, Trump declaring English the official language of the United States is akin to Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy in The Office:

 

[Hans Blaster]

IS HE GOING TO DEMAND ALL CAPS FOR WRITTEN DOCUMENTS??!!!

I HOPE NOT.

 

[Malleeboy]

Do eggs understand English so we can tell them to lower their prices?

Don't you mean eyren? Eggs is Norse word, not English. (I know it is now but it was an import)

English speaking countries generally don't have English as official language, not UK nor Australia.

 

[Belk]

Because he is working within his constitutional powers whether people like it or not.

Baloney. Try that one somewhere else.

 

[Nithavela]

If I understand correctly, Germany and Austria (and parts of Italy, too!) speak standard German, but Switzerland speaks Swiss German, which is a dialect? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong!

Not exactly.

German is a very dialect-heavy language. While everyone speaks and understands standard (high) german, many people speak their regional dialect. Those dialects change and shift by region, with some dialects only spoken in a single cities and others slowly morphing into another dialect by kilometers.

In switzerland, Swiss German is in it's many forms is the prevalent dialect. If you turn on TV to watch the news, they speak german. If you approach a swiss person and ask them something in german, they will understand you and easily be able to answer in german. But when they talk to each other and switch to swiss german, it becomes all but incomprehensible to someone only accustomed to german. It's much more extreme than the dialects of, say, bavaria or cologne, where some words might be unclear, but the general meaning is comprehensible.

It's also much more prevalent for swiss people to speak their dialect, while in most parts of germany, the dialects are slowly fading away.

 

[Larniavc]

Yeah, they have two official languages, this is clearly an incremental move towards such horror.

I thought that, too. If America can have ONE official language it can only be a matter of time before it has two or even three official languages.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

That's not how the Constitution works. The Constitution gives powers to the different branches of government, and that is the powers they get. To ask where it says he can't is to miss the whole point of it; it would be like if I say "you can have apples or strawberries to eat" and you were to say "I can have bananas! Show me where it says I can't!" The fact it isn't listed there is the very reason. Indeed, the fact the Constitution only gives the powers it actually says it gives is a critical portion of the federalism that underlies the entire relationship between the federal government and the states, which is that the federal government can only do things the Constitution says it has the power to.

Now, as noted, the President can have powers granted by congress by law (although, obviously, it has to be something that is actually a power of congress). One of the reasons the President has grown so popular (far more powerful than ever intended by the Founders) is because Congress over the last several centuries has been passing laws giving more power to the President for the purpose of expediency, but then is unable to ever take those powers back because the Presidential veto makes it nearly impossible. At any rate, for the President to do something, it must be either a constitutional power (which making an official language definitely is not), or a power granted by congress. And while I know they've ceded a lot of power to the President, I don't think they ever gave him this power.

Granted, Trump has the obvious power to say that the official language is English, just as how anyone can say the words "the official language is now English!". But if he wants to enact some kind of policy about it, then that needs to come from congress. Otherwise, Trump declaring English the official language of the United States is akin to Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy in The Office:

Again, I will wait for the Supreme Court to decide. I am sure they are going to be extremely busy for the next 4 years.

 

[DaisyDay]

It's not a matter of liking the result, it's the matter of the 1st Amendment ensuring our liberties to our own speech, in whatever form we choose

This is a meaningless gesture by Trump, and has only the color of law.

Actually, that can be used to harass others, like passing laws that limit street signs and official papers to be in English only. They can make it so that the driver's license tests instructions are English only. They might be able to have workplace regulations that only English can be spoken in the workplace (that's been tried before, don't remember how it turned out).

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Actually, that can be used to harass others, like passing laws that limit street signs and official papers to be in English only. They can make it so that the driver's license tests instructions are English only. They might be able to have workplace regulations that only English can be spoken in the workplace (that's been tried before, don't remember how it turned out).

How on earth can you be a U.S. citizen and can't understand the English language? This executive order is obviously targeting illegal aliens. Those who did not go through the proper channels and were properly vetted and are now in our country. Let us be real, Americans, including myself, will not take the time to learn Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, or even Italian, because we are so dumb that many high school graduates can't even read and write in comprehensive English. This is why the official language of aviation and maritime is ENGLISH. So the question that I ask is that if someone is in the country and cannot speak or write in English, how can they succeed?

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Baloney. Try that one somewhere else.

Fine. It will be tried in the Supreme Court. Why? Because Obama and Binden has demonstrated that Congress is useless. So in order to accomplish anything requires bypassing congress by signing executive orders and expecting the opposition to litigate the issues in court which will be appealed to the SCOTUS that will eventually let the executive get their way. So please, I beg the Democratic opposition to start yet another lawsuit amongst many, so that when they lose by de facto in the court of law, it would require an useless congress to undo Trump's executive order, not just another sitting president to sign a piece of paper to undo it.

 

[Belk]

Fine. It will be tried in the Supreme Court. Why? Because Obama and Binden has demonstrated that Congress is useless. So in order to accomplish anything requires bypassing congress by signing executive orders and expecting the opposition to litigate the issues in court which will be appealed to the SCOTUS that will eventually let the executive get their way. So please, I beg the Democratic opposition to start yet another lawsuit amongst many, so that when they lose by de facto in the court of law, it would require an useless congress to undo Trump's executive order, not just another sitting president to sign a piece of paper to undo it.

So first you claim he is working within then constitution then claim he is bypassing congress.

QED

 

[Oompa Loompa]

So first you claim he is working within then constitution then claim he is bypassing congress.

QED

Yes. He is working within the constitution. Just Obama and Biden had when they blamed the GOP congress for not being able to get anything done. What goes around, comes around.

 

[loveofourlord]

stuff like this is just hilarious, good thing the economy and goverment aren't burning down so he can spend time on stupid things like this.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

So first you claim he is working within then constitution then claim he is bypassing congress.

QED

Yes, and yes. Who needs congress when you have executive orders, a conservative SCOTUS, and a majority in both the house and the senate? So Trump can have his cake and eat it too. He can bypass congress through executive orders and still be within the guidelines of the constitution. And frankly, I am glad. That is what I voted for.

 

[PloverWing]

Who needs congress when you have executive orders, a conservative SCOTUS, and a majority in both the house and the senate?

Since there's a Republican majority in both the House and the Senate, why is there a need to bypass Congress? That's been part of the mystery here. If President Trump and the Republican members of Congress actually agree on policies favored by the Republican Party (a big "if"...), then why not do things properly and have Congress pass some legislation?

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Since there's a Republican majority in both the House and the Senate, why is there a need to bypass Congress?

There is no mystery. Congress is slow and inefficient. There would be faster results for Trump to sign executive orders to get the ball rolling while congress catches up and put the executive orders into law. For the left, it is a long process to file a lawsuit and fight the appeals until the Supreme Court makes it law anyway.

 

[Pommer]

There is no mystery. Congress is slow and inefficient. There would be faster results for Trump to sign executive orders to get the ball rolling while congress catches up and put the executive orders into law. For the left, it is a long process to file a lawsuit and fight the appeals until the Supreme Court makes it law anyway.

If one branch of our government is incompetent to do their Constitutionally determined job, then we have to rely on the other two branches to pick up the short fall?

No.
We demand the deficient branch eliminate their own slack!