As we celebrate our nation’s independence this month, it’s a time to reflect on the genius of the Founding Fathers, who wrote a Constitution that separated the powers of government into three branches, with a set of checks and balances that assured no one branch could run roughshod over the other. Fearing a president who would assume the powers of a monarch, they purposely infused the Congress with powers that checked the work of the president. Given President Donald Trump’s inclination to govern with a heavy hand and no limitations on his decision-making, the work of the framers seems particularly prescient.

That became crystal clear a few weeks ago, when the House Foreign Affairs Committee invited former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to testify and explain the foreign policy decision-making process under the Trump family dynasty. Tillerson’s departure was bizarre enough, notified by one of Trump’s tweets that he was no longer secretary of state, but what Tillerson revealed to the committee shows an administration that has departed from conventional diplomatic practice and opted for a bizarre and unprecedented approach to foreign policy.

Tillerson claimed that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law – who was denied top security clearance until his father-in-law stepped in and overruled the officials responsible for granting such clearance – set up a shadow foreign policy operation. Kushner has traveled the globe to meet with foreign leaders without seeking collaboration with or participation from the State Department, which has official responsibility for handling affairs with other nations in the promotion of America’s foreign policy.

According to Tillerson, both he and Secretary of Defense James Mattis were shut out of policy meetings by Kushner. Those who have followed the relationship between the White House and the State Department point to senior White House aides in the past who would oversee foreign policy issues, but none with as small a portfolio or as little experience as Kushner....