Opinion: Four ways Trump will undermine the authority of Congress

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Opinion | Four ways Trump will undermine the authority of Congress

The president-elect is setting the stage for a vast, dangerous and unconstitutional expansion of presidential power

(Rob Dobi for The Washington Post)

By Ruth Marcus
November 22, 2024 at 6:30 a.m. EST

While a worried nation tries to make sense of Donald Trump’s spate of unqualified, extreme nominees, the president-elect is setting the stage for an even more alarming takeover: a vast, dangerous and unconstitutional expansion of presidential power. This agenda includes not just emasculating the Senate’s advice-and-consent role but also refusing to spend money that lawmakers have appropriated, curbing the independence of federal regulatory agencies and eviscerating the nonpartisan civil service.

Political appointees, however appalling, come and go, and the worst of Trump’s picks should be stopped. But we cannot lose sight of more enduring perils to democracy. These aren’t just bad policies (Trump has plenty of those, starting with his threat to conduct mass deportations); they are structural changes. And once these guardrails are demolished, restoring them will be nearly impossible, and the damage to the constitutional order might be irreparable.

This might sound overstated — I hope it is. Congress could frustrate some of Trump’s efforts; more likely, although far from assured, courts could step in. Still, it would be foolish not to consider what his plans might do to our constitutional system of checks and balances.

George Washington warned against exactly this in his farewell address, advising national leaders to “confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres; avoiding in the exercise of the Powers of one department to encroach upon another.” That “spirit of encroachment,” Washington cautioned, “tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism.”

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Opinion by Ruth Marcus
Ruth Marcus is an associate editor and columnist for The Post.follow on X @RuthMarcus

[LymphocyteLover]

1. Great, more reasons to worry about this insane clown presidency