Blumenthal to Kavanaugh: Nothing in Heckler v. Chaney Suggests the President Can Nullify a Law, Unilaterally

EXCERPT: 

BLUMENTHAL: "I want to talk to you now about real-world consequences. Impacts in the real world on real people of the decisions that courts make. We were talking yesterday about the statement that you made. I think we have it here. Under the Constitution, essentially, that statement says to me a president can deem a statute to be unconstitutional, even if the court has held or would hold the statute constitutional. Now, you stated yesterday, when we talked, that your view was compelled by Heckler versus Cheney. I disagree. Nothing in Heckler suggests that the President can essentially nullify, simply deem a law, unilaterally, unconstitutional, based on his personal view of the law's constitutionality. So Heckler stands for the principle that courts will generally not second-guess the executive branch’s decision on how to you use enforcement resources like I did or as Attorney General of my state of Connecticut. Nowhere where it says that chief executives are free effectively to nullify statutes that have been upheld by the courts. But I want to go to the real world impact. Clearly, Heckler doesn’t say that there are no limits, but for the sake of real-world impacts, I think there must be impacts. And one of them affects the Affordable Care Act. And the protections it provides to millions of Americans, about 13 million Americans, including 500,000 in Connecticut, who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, or mental health issues. There are 15-20 or more pre-existing conditions, and one of them affects a young man. His name is Connor Curran. He is eight years old. He suffers from muscular dystrophy. Now I want you to think about Connor. This is a chronic and terminal condition. It will slowly erode his motor functions. Unless we find a cure. , eventually, it will take his life. I have gotten to know his family pretty well. Although he appears happy and healthy today, he will slowly lose his ability to walk, run, even hug them good night. As Connor gets older, he will need more and more help. He will need the Affordable Care Act more and more. He will need protection from abuses that involve pre-existing conditions. My reading of your view of the constitutional authority of Donald Trump is that he could simply —"