This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of people participated in “No Kings” rallies across the country, including here in West Virginia, to protest Trump administration policies. The overarching theme of the rallies was that President Trump has pushed the authority of the executive branch too far and by doing so has turned the presidency into the singular source of power in the government.
If Trump has become a king, then Congress is the court jester who has allowed it to happen.
Since the turn of the century, Congress has become a vestigial organ of the three equal branches of government, unable to perform the most basic duties. The federal government is shutdown and federal employees are either furloughed or working without a paycheck because members of congress are unable to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government for several weeks, let alone pass all 12 appropriations bills on time.
Republicans and Democrats the House of Representatives and the Senate have been willing participants in the expansion of executive branch authority and only raise alarm when a member of the opposite party is in the White House.
Under President George W. Bush, Congress passed the Patriot Act which transferred significant decision-making authority from the courts and Congress to the executive branch allowing surveillance, searches and detentions with minimal external review. The Bush administration also promoted Unitary Executive Theory which justified the President’s ability to interpret laws independently of Congress and the court.
President Barack Obama continued the trend of expanding presidential authority using executive action in 2012 to establish the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The administration delayed key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) despite statutory deadlines in the law itself. The administration unilaterally set new climate regulations, used executive orders to establish new restrictions on the Second Amendment and used signing statements challenging or interpreting congressional intent in appropriations and national security legislation.
Congress even conceded its power to approve treaties when it passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, allowing President Obama to lift sanctions on Iran and implement a new nuclear agreement without formal congressional approval.
The expansion continued under the Biden administration as the president used executive orders to reverse many of the policies of the first Trump presidency, bypassing Congress to set policy in key areas like civil rights, climate and public health. President Biden attempted to cancel vast amounts of federal student loan debt through executive action and sidestep Congress setting new immigration policy for asylum seekers, refugee caps and enforcement protocols.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have taken turns over the last quarter century expressing their outrage or approval of the executive branch’s actions, depending on who is in the White House. Congress has allowed current and past presidents to assume increasing authority either through legislative action or by simply ignoring its responsibilities.
Following the lead of his predecessors, President Trump has pushed the limits of executive branch authority. He is not a king and a new president will be elected in 2028. It is up to Congress to restore balance and to fulfill its responsibilities and obligations rather than engage in political theatre that more closely resembles a satirical skit befitting the court jester, than actual governance.