(CNN) Here's a way to think about the current state of affairs in political Washington: Two cars are speeding toward each other. They started a mile from each other at the start of the week. Now they are 100 feet from one another. And both drivers just keep pushing down on the gas pedal.

Whether you choose to use the phrase "constitutional crisis" to describe the current state of affairs or not, it's quite clear that we are in the midst of a historic fight over the system of checks and balances that have long governed how the legislative, executive and judicial branches interact with one another.

Consider:

The House Judiciary Committee voted this week to hold Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt for his refusal to turn over the full, unredacted Mueller report.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) on Friday issued subpoenas in order to get President Donald Trump's past tax returns.

The White House barred former counsel Don McGahn from complying with a subpoena to testify on Capitol Hill.

Trump invoked executive privilege over the entire Mueller report

The Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr.

Everywhere you looked, there was a battle between the White House and Democrats (and even Republicans!) in Congress.