Before you declare the death of our system of representative democracy, allow me — please — to offer these words in the form of a pre-rebuttal.

The federal judiciary.

The court system has stepped up and performed its constitutionally mandated duty in reigning in the overreach of the executive branch of government … precisely as the nation’s founders said it should.

Federal judges have ruled this week that (1) Donald Trump has no constitutional authority to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to spend at his discretion, and (2) there is no way the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts can have Donald Trump’s name installed without a constitutional approval.

On top of all that, the D.C. rumor mill has kicked into hyper-high gear with reports that Trump might have to vacate his office with worsening health conditions and the stress of an agenda that is getting the better of him.

I don’t know about you but my head is spinning. I cannot begin to keep pace with what I see and hear coming from the nation’s capital.

Trump also is reportedly going to offer pardons to several convicts who were tried and found guilty of crimes involving the Jan. 6 assault on the government, the attack that injured several DC police officers. Such a pardon, according to the courts, would be an arrogant flouting of constitutional law.

I am not a constitutional scholar. I have no law degree. I know, though, what the document declares about government finances. It puts that authority solely in the hands of Congress. Trump doesn’t seem to get that fact. Article I, Section 7, says this: “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives … “ Throughout Article I, there isn’t a single word that reveals any wiggle room on the issue of congressional authority on budget matters. Congress owns it exclusively … full stop!

Keep standing tall, federal judges. Keep doing your job. Our founders gave you the power that never ends.