The New York Times and the Left’s Dangerous Dream of a New Constitution

Constitution, Shutterstock

Abolishing the Senate. Ending the Electoral College. Packing the Court. These are not just fringe talking points anymore. Two individuals recently gained national attention by suggesting America needs a new Constitution, arguing that such a rewrite is required for the political left to win the nation back. Their ideas, however, strike at the very core of the system that has governed this nation for more than two centuries.

National Political leaders came out in force expressing their concern about the conversation.

🧵 1/ The Left’s latest push to “save democracy” is just a rebrand of their war on the Constitution. This @nytimes piece calls for abolishing the Senate, ending the Electoral College, and packing the Supreme Court. Let’s break this down. pic.twitter.com/BsKMn3fGpb

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) August 15, 2025

Townhall.com columnist Phil Holloway did not minced words targeting the New York Times, stating:

The @nytimes has abandoned any pretense and now confirms it actually hates the United States and loathes our democratic republic form of government pic.twitter.com/6vKIoor7ij

— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) August 15, 2025

The Senate Under Fire

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat sat down with Osita Nwanevu of The New Republic to discuss “how radical ideas and radical critiques from the left might end up being very influential in Democratic Party politics going forward.”

Nwanevu argued that California, with 40 million people, could be its own country, yet it has the same number of senators as Wyoming with fewer than 600,000. He added, “That means functionally that people in Wyoming have about 60, or more than 60, times the representation than people in California do in the Senate.”

But this misses the point. The Senate was never designed to mirror the House. William Rawle, appointed by George Washington as U.S. District Attorney for Pennsylvania, explained: “But every state is to be represented; and if anyone should by casualties be reduced below that number, she is still to have one representative, as she will still retain two members of the senate.”

In short, the Senate was designed to give equal representation to the states and to check the passions of the House. To abolish it would remove one of the most stabilizing features of the Constitution.

Permission to Rewrite Government?

Nwanevu went further: “But I also think it gives us a kind of permission. This was not some kind of sacred compromise that came down a mountain on tablets. This was a particular contingent agreement, and we should consider ourselves empowered — with all we know now about governance, with the values we have now — to make dramatic changes to the political system, with just as much right as the founders did.”

While technically true, Thomas Jefferson wisely wrote in the Declaration of Independence that governments should not be changed for “light and transient causes.” The grievances Nwanevu cites are not simply trivial, they cut directly against the principles of the Constitution. And here’s the bigger question: who are they appealing to? The Founders appealed to God, viewing the injustices against them as violations of His law.

The Electoral College Debate

Eventually, the conversation shifted to the Electoral College. Douthat asked Nwanevu to sketch the “new Constitution that you think the United States should have.”

This debate is not new. Since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, critics have targeted the Electoral College as undemocratic. Yet it was designed precisely to prevent raw majoritarianism. It balances popular vote with the interests of states, forcing candidates to appeal beyond population centers. Without it, America would edge closer to pure democracy, something the founders passionately rejected.

Court Packing and Its Dangers

Nwanevu and Douthat also touched lightly on the Supreme Court. The Constitution does not fix the number of justices, leaving it to Congress. The Judiciary Act of 1789 originally set five seats, which later expanded. But as debates about “court packing” resurface, the term itself has been twisted.

Democrats often use “packing” to describe any politically motivated appointment. Historically, however, court packing means adding new seats to tilt outcomes. As critics point out, there is no rational reason to add seats other than to manipulate rulings, a move the founders would have seen as reckless.

Why This Matters To The Church

These debates raise big questions. Some are worth asking, since they force us to revisit principles too often neglected in civic education. But Christians should also see the danger. Behind lofty language about fairness or representation lies the temptation to dismantle the very framework that preserves liberty.

This moment is both an opportunity and a warning. It is an opportunity to teach the truth about why our government was designed as it is. But it is also a warning that ideas which seem “progressive” can quickly turn destructive. As believers, we must hold fast to God’s standards and remember that government exists to restrain evil and promote good. To lose sight of that is to risk losing the very freedoms entrusted to us.

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