OPINION:
I find it ironic that the Democrats are urging officials to disobey orders deemed illegal (“Democratic lawmakers urge U.S. service members to defy ‘illegal orders’ from Trump administration,” Web, Nov. 18). The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land. Every official — U.S., state and local, elected and appointed — swears an oath of office to support, uphold and obey that Constitution.
The 10th Amendment reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” In other words, the U.S. government can legally exercise only those powers specifically granted to it by the states through the Constitution.
I defy any Democrat to show where the Constitution grants the U.S. government any authority whatsoever over the areas of education, health care, energy, transportation, housing or urban development, or the authority to create regulatory agencies.
THOMAS M. CRAWFORD
Laurel, Maryland
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